McKay not worried Glazer will sell Bucs

He discounts talk of owner buying Dodgers.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 17, 2003

TAMPA -- A Bucs official expects Malcolm Glazer's interest in buying the Los Angeles Dodgers to result in a swing and a miss.

General manager Rich McKay said Wednesday he believes NFL rules against cross ownership will prevent the Bucs owner from wanting to place the Super Bowl champions for sale.

"I'm really not concerned because I don't believe it will ever happen," McKay said. "I don't envision the Glazers selling this football team. I didn't envision it two years ago when the rumors started and I don't envision it now, even though the Dodgers talk is out there.

"So I'm not concerned about it. Now if it happened, could it be a distraction? I can't say it wouldn't be. I just don't think it's going to happen."

Glazer, 74, has been considered a frontrunner among three bidders for the Dodgers. News Corp. has had the team on the block for more than a year.

NFL policy prohibits its owners from purchasing another major professional sports team unless the franchise exists in the same market or one that does not have an NFL team and is not considered a potential NFL city.

Because Los Angeles is at the top of the list for an expansion franchise, Glazer would be forced to sell the Bucs.

McKay wouldn't comment on any discussions with Glazer or his sons regarding possible interest in Major League Baseball, except to say the Palm Beach financier investigates hundreds of investment opportunities every year.

McKay scoffed at reports that Glazer's plan to buy the Dodgers would be accompanied by an attempt to gain ownership of an NFL team in Los Angeles through expansion or relocation, saying the cost of owning both franchises could top $1-billion. That might be too prohibitive even for the Bucs owner, who is said by Forbes magazine to be worth more than $750-million.

Former Mariners owner Jeffrey Smulyan, who tried to move his baseball team to St. Petersburg in the early 1990s, is expected to bid more than $850-million for the Dodgers and six Fox-TV stations. The third offer was made by Los Angeles real estate developer Allen Casden.

Glazer's bid to buy the Dodgers is just one of the headlines that has marred the Bucs' Super Bowl celebration.

McKay also has been rocked by reports of a deteriorating relationship with coach Jon Gruden and by the reaction of quarterback Brad Johnson after the team attempted to remove a $1.5-million guarantee from his 2004 salary.

"It (the controversy) is not distressing in any way, shape or form," McKay said. "It wasn't anticipated, though. It's not what I thought it would be. Now that I've been through it, I understand it. Because I think we're probably facing more scrutiny and more attention than we've ever received, and we've received a lot in the offseason. But because of the bar being raised even higher, I just feel like there's just more scrutiny and more attention. And with that is going to come some negativity."

McKay said he recently met with Gruden to clear the air about comments attributed to the coach at the NFL owners' meeting last month that were critical of the GM.

"Jon and I have a good working relationship," McKay said. "He's not different from other coaches I had as general manager in that coaches want players, they like players and they're not restricted in their mind by a salary cap. The bottom line is the person who sits in my chair has to make decisions based on the salary cap.

"But we've never had any problems trying to make decisions on players or discussing decisions."

Wednesday, McKay took responsibility for the "misunderstanding' that led to bad blood with Johnson.

"No, there isn't any problem with Brad Johnson's contract," McKay said. "It was a situation I don't particularly like and I feel like I had a responsibility for creating a misunderstanding with one of our best players and one of our core players. You have to take responsibility for that and I do. I think we've cleared it up. Brad is the quarterback of our football team and he will be the quarterback of our football team."