Opening remarks:

"Good morning. I’ve been visiting some training camps and today’s luncheon, in my mind, is an extension of that. I’ve been trying to get around as we kick off our 80^th season and the last season of the 20^th century. A few weeks ago at the Hall of Fame I was reminded of the great tradition here in Detroit seeing people like Lem Barney and ‘Night Train’ Lane and I think the opportunity is here to have that tradition renewed in the new stadium that is going up downtown. There is a very, very strong commitment to getting the franchise back to the glory days.

"Obviously Barry Sanders’ retirement is one of the big stories right now and on behalf of the league and of the league’s fans I think we owe him the same thanks that we expressed to John Elway earlier in the year for great memories and great performances. When you think of Barry Sanders, you think of the impossible and the things that only a very few people could do. Gale Sayers was one and Tony Dorsett was another. It is a limited universe of people that could do what they do and their memories will be with us for a long time. The challenge for the team is to take the talent that is there, the Herman Moores, the Johnnie Mortons, and put it together with the young talent and go out and win.

"Last year we had six teams win their divisions that had not won their divisions the prior year. We had a Super Bowl team, Atlanta, which was 3-13 two years before it was in the Super Bowl. So we have a system where the competition is wide open and everybody is in the fray and that includes the NFC Central."

On the Lions maintaining their Thanksgiving Day game:

"I think two things happened. Number one, there was a strong reaffirmation by our owners that the tradition in Detroit and Dallas continue. Clearly more than two-thirds of the owners spoke up in March and expressed that point of view. The other thing was that, in some ways, the traditions become so great that other people want a piece of it on a rotating basis. After we did have the discussion and focus on the point, it was a very strong reaffirmation that the tradition of Thanksgiving football should remain in Detroit and Dallas."

On his approach to the discussion of possibly changing the Thanksgiving Day football tradition:

"I try to create the impression that my hands are off everything that is coming up for owner discussion. I think it is important that the owners have a good debate, particularly on something like that, which a number of them felt was a tradition they might want to have in their town. When we did have the discussion, it was clear there was a strong consensus to have the games remain where they are."

On why Detroit deserves the Thanksgiving Day game:

"That is a question we face a lot in our league: ‘What is tradition?’ Tradition creates passion, we know that. Tradition creates loyalty. It becomes a rallying point and it is important. We have this with alignment and realignment. We have traditional rivalries. Washington-Dallas becomes a hot button. You have other rivalries, Cleveland-Pittsburgh coming back this year, which is a hot button and a lot of it is just tradition. In sports, tradition is important because it is part of memory. It is part of what connects one generation of fans to the next and that is really a big part of what sports are about. It’s about community and generations linking with generations and cheering for the same thing. It’s about bringing people together, so it’s an intangible, but it is critical."

On having a Super Bowl in Detroit:

"We are committed to having a Super Bowl here. Once there is a firm construction schedule I think we can move on through our processes and pick a specific date for the Super Bowl. Casino gambling would not be a factor. It is not a factor in New Orleans. It is a factor with some of our policies in terms of what hotels and facilities we use, but it is certainly not a factor in Detroit getting the game, which will happen once the stadium is becoming a reality."

On a connection between Detroit remaining with the Thanksgiving Day game and having games scheduled on Halloween night and Christmas day:

"They were completely unrelated. The Christmas day thing was anomalous. What we came down to was some games that could’ve been played on Christmas that would have involved very unfair travel and we looked at the one possibility where a team would be traveling cross-country two weeks in a row. We had some real travel problems. The theory could be that Dallas is playing on Christmas Eve and Detroit on Christmas day because they have the Thanksgiving Day games, but in reality it had nothing to do with it. It had to do with travel commitments and a very attractive match-up---Detroit and Denver. It had mostly to do with travel commitments and some television commitments, including getting that game (Denver vs. Detroit) on national television."

On the possibility of salary cap adjustments for the Lions due to Barry Sanders’ retirement:

"There will be no adjustments. That is the system. You can’t create a system that becomes a way for teams to lose players. I don’t think it has much to do with what is going on. There is nothing that is going to change, I can assure you of that."

On Sanders’ retirement:

"Retirement for a professional football player and any professional athlete is really a coming to terms with some very difficult aspects of life. I really can’t project myself into Barry Sanders’ shoes, or John Elway’s shoes or Wayne Gretzsky’s shoes or anyone else. What I do know is that if you talk to any professional athlete it is an end of a tremendous phase of their life. It is an end of a period of achievement at an extraordinary level and I think it is difficult for most people to handle that and sometimes the biggest difficulty is convincing yourself you want to do it. I think all of us who haven’t had faced that decision should be somewhat understanding of how tough a decision it is for professional athletes to retire. It is a very tough decision for people who have had the high of performing at the level of a Hall of Famer, which is where Barry has achieved. There are such a complex set of factors that go into these decisions and that is why it is tough to second guess. You would like to have it done in a more orderly way, but let’s face it, if it had been done earlier in a more ‘orderly’ way you’re still not going to replace Barry Sanders."

On the instant replay system:

"If you understand how different the system is from the one we had back in the late 1980s and early ‘90s you’ll understand why I say ‘I hope we have it around.’" Two elements are totally different. The digital technology enables the replay official to review as many as four different camera angles on a play. That is in 25 seconds, which before would run into minutes because you would have to continually role tape forward and backwards with the VCR technology that there was. Secondly, the present system has computer-assisted ability to fix images and let the replay official compare the camera angles on a monitor and then make a quick decision as to which angle should go down to the referee on the field. The technology is so improved and the system is limited to two minutes and two challenges that it should be a good aid to officiating."

On the health of the game of football:

"I think the game right now is very healthy. The one area uppermost in the minds of football people and the minds of the teams is something we have discussed with the Players Association and that is having a bigger portion of player salary, player compensation, geared toward performance. We discussed the concept where a segment, a percentage, of the salary cap would be dedicated, on a league-wide basis, to performance payment. Even players resent the fact that money gets paid in such large sums on an unconditional basis irrespective of performance. With the cap being the way it is, you could still have very healthy base salaries. You could still have very healthy bonuses even with a very significant portion of the cap dedicated to performance bonuses that would reward those who are playing and not those who just have the potential to play. In the long term for the players and the game, a greater component of pay for performance would be healthy for the game.

"I think our system of free agency has worked well. Football is a sport that you can’t play at half speed. So even with the bonuses and the unconditional money you have tremendous competition on the field right now. Another positive is the number of outstanding young players coming into the league. The strength of high school and college football and the talent coming into the league, you lose a Marcus Allen and you get a Terrell Davis and it is a coincidence, but they are both from the same high school. It seems that every time you lose a great player there are two great players to replace him and that is a real reason for excitement around the league."

On the Lions past, present and future:

"It goes back to the ‘50s and some of the great teams. This year we’ve been thinking about Doak Walker. His untimely death as a result of his accident has brought a lot of memories back of those great teams. I think through the ‘90s the playoff participation of which I’ve attended two games, in Washington and Philadelphia, where the hope was to take the next step in the playoffs, but they didn’t, but they did make the playoffs and it is an achievement in itself. They didn’t go further and that is going to produce some frustration. I think there is a very positive view of the future. With a the new stadium, with a coach that has taken a team to the Super Bowl, with the talent that is on the team, Herman Moore, Johnnie Morton, Robert Porcher and Luther Elliss, they have a good balance on offense and defense. I think there is a reason for a renewed commitment to excel and get back to the top. The goal of making the playoffs is not enough. Now the goal is make it to the NFC Championship Game and to the Super Bowl. Atlanta may host the Super Bowl this year in its own stadium and maybe in 2004 or 2005 the Lions will do the same. That is not a prediction. That’s a possibility."