March 23, 2001

(March 22, 2001) - Cleveland Browns President Carmen Policy took the witness stand for a second day Thursday and testified that he personally kept the Raiders updated on the NFL’s negotiations with Hollywood Park over the terms of a second-team option at the proposed stadium. Policy "thought it was critical" to deal with Al Davis and get his input on the option terms. The Raiders claimed they were excluded from the negotiations.

Policy concluded his testimony Thursday morning and was followed by former NFL President Neil Austrian during the Raiders vs. NFL trial in State Superior Court in Los Angeles. Austrian will resume his testimony on Friday morning.

Among the key points made during Thursday’s testimony:

• Policy testified that he sought out Davis after the Commissioner asked Policy in May 1995 to be on the special four-man committee. Policy said he told Davis, "I didn't want to be involved if he didn't want to stay in Los Angeles. If it was about the best buck, I didn't want to be involved."

• Policy said the Hollywood Park deal would "benefit the Raiders and the entire NFL." It was a "big win-win deal," Policy said.

• Policy, a member of the four-person committee appointed by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to negotiate the terms of a second-team option at the proposed Hollywood Park stadium, testified that he was the committee’s point person in speaking with Davis. He spoke with Davis a "significant number" of times -- more than 10, he testified -- in May and June 1995. This included phone calls before and after a June 1 negotiating session in Denver between the committee and Hollywood Park officials - a meeting from which the Raiders claim they were excluded.

• Policy testified that Bob Speck, a longtime business associate of the Raiders who used the Raiders logo on his personal letterhead, was at the June 1 meeting in Denver. Policy said that Speck was the "go-between" between Hollywood Park owner R.D. Hubbard and Davis. Policy said he didn't object to Speck's attendance. "I was sure he'd give a detailed report to Mr. Davis," Policy testified. "I welcomed it." Policy said Speck would be able to confirm to Davis the work the committee was doing on Davis' behalf.

• Policy testified that he spoke with Davis two or three times immediately before the June 1 meeting in Denver. Policy said he advised Davis that the committee believed Davis himself should not attend this meeting so that the committee could better negotiate with the racetrack officials on certain aspects of the deal. Davis had no objections, Policy testified, and gave Policy advice on how to negotiate with Hubbard.

• Policy testified that Al Davis gave Policy three phone numbers so that Policy could stay in touch while in Colorado for the June 1 meeting.

• Immediately after the June 1 meeting, Policy returned to his hotel room to find two messages from Davis. Policy testified that he spoke with Davis for an hour to give him an account of the day's meeting. "We were on the same page, and in my opinion, headed in the right direction," Policy testified.

• Policy testified that he was informed of a June 10 press conference for Hollywood Park and the Raiders to announce the deal. That press conference was never held.

• Policy testified that he took an "emergency" phone call on June 22, 1995 from Al Davis. (Policy was at a vacation spot where phone calls were permitted only for emergencies.) Policy testified that Davis said, "I'm taking the Raiders back to Oakland. Everything's done. Everything's sold. All I have to do is bring my team there."

• Policy testified that Davis told Policy in the June 22 phone call that the NFL should come to an agreement with Hollywood Park to put another team in Los Angeles. "You shouldn't let that deal fall through," Davis said.

• Policy stated that Hollywood Park would have been considered for future Super Bowls beyond the two Super Bowls that the league had already offered. Los Angeles could be a "perennial host, possibly every four years," Policy testified.

• Policy testified that in the terms of the Raiders move to Oakland, which were submitted to the NFL's Finance Committee, the Raiders were promised a $64 million "loan" from Oakland that would never have to be paid back. The Finance Committee recognized that this "loan" was not "debt" and therefore did not count it under the league’s debt ceiling rules.

• In response to questioning by a Raiders attorney, Neil Austrian testified that it was in the league’s interest to assist the Raiders in negotiating the Hollywood Park deal.

Austrian will resume his testimony in an abbreviated court session on Friday.