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NFL briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2001

Attorney pleads guilty in case against agent

GAINESVILLE -- The attorney who worked at indicted sports agent Tank Black's company pleaded guilty Thursday in the case accusing Black and others of defrauding NFL players of millions of dollars.

James A. Franklin, the former general counsel at Professional Management Inc. in Columbia, S.C., cooperated with federal prosecutors and entered guilty pleas to charges of wire fraud, obstruction of justice and money laundering.

The maximum prison sentence for the crimes is 25 years, although Franklin likely will get a reduced sentence for pleading guilty. Sentencing is set for July 9.

Franklin became the third of seven co-defendants to plead guilty. On Wednesday, South Carolina businessman Robert Ellenburg pleaded guilty. He joined Alfred Twitty, who was accused of making cash payments to players Black was trying to recruit to his business.

Black is scheduled to stand trial May 29.

Black has been convicted of laundering money for a Detroit drug ring. He could face up to 61/2 years in prison. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for May 10.

League starts defense in trial with Raiders

LOS ANGELES -- The NFL opened its defense in a $1-billion lawsuit by the Raiders with an economics expert testifying that a return to Oakland was more valuable to the team than a new stadium at Hollywood Park.

The Oakland deal was worth $52-million to $87-million more for the team, depending on the projections used, Richard Gilbert, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said.

"Oakland was the more valuable opportunity" for the Raiders, he said, based on an examination of revenue estimates.

The Raiders claim the NFL forced the team to leave the lucrative Los Angeles market by pushing for a second team to play at the proposed Hollywood Park stadium in nearby Inglewood.

Chargers president says it's goodbye Vick if he does not sign before the draft

SAN DIEGO -- Chargers president Dean Spanos said he's not posturing by demanding a contract with Michael Vick be completed before Saturday's NFL draft or the team will choose someone else or trade the first pick.

"We are getting very close to where John (Butler, the general manager) and I will decide to go in another direction," Spanos said.

"Time is running out fast."

Spanos wouldn't say what the drop-dead hour is. The draft begins at noon Saturday.

"Both sides will know when that is," Spanos said. "Both sides know where everybody's at. We're not closer to making a deal."

The two sides spoke by phone Thursday.

The holdup appears to be that Vick's agents want him treated as a first pick even though he would sit on the bench behind Doug Flutie for a season or two. The Chargers, still smarting over the Ryan Leaf fiasco, apparently want to treat him differently.

Leaf got an $11.25-million signing bonus as the second pick overall in the 1998 draft, then responded with poor play and poor behavior. He was waived in March and picked up by the Bucs. Vick left Virginia Tech with two years of eligibility remaining.

The Chargers, meanwhile, re-signed free agents DeMingo Graham, a guard, and Tony Darden, a cornerback, to one-year contracts.

CHIEFS: Agent Jim Steiner said he is not an obstacle to a trade for quarterback Trent Green.

Team president Carl Peterson indicated this week that Steiner could hinder his team getting Green from St. Louis.

"I have nothing to do with the trade," Steiner said. "I have zero to do with the trade."

DOLPHINS: Miami re-signed defensive end Lorenzo Bromell to a one-year contract.

PATRIOTS: New England re-signed wide receiver Shockmain Davis, who made the team last season as an undrafted free agent. Terms were not disclosed.

RAIDERS: The NFL opened its defense in a $1-billion lawsuit by the Raiders with an economics expert testifying that a return to Oakland was more valuable to the team than a new stadium at Hollywood Park.

The Oakland deal was worth $52-million to $87-million more for the team, depending on the projections used, Richard Gilbert, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said.

"Oakland was the more valuable opportunity" for the Raiders, he said, based on an examination of revenue estimates.

The Raiders claim the NFL forced the team to leave the lucrative Los Angeles market by pushing for a second team to play at the proposed Hollywood Park stadium in nearby Inglewood.

SAINTS: New Orleans signed kicker Jeff Hall to a one-year contract. Hall is a candidate to replace Doug Brien, who was released last month.

STEELERS: Pittsburgh secured the rights to Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala for the 2001 season by matching New England's tender offer to the restricted free-agent running back.

Fuamatu-Ma'afala agreed to a one-year, $700,000 offer with the Patriots April 13. If the Steelers had not at least matched the offer, they would have gotten the first of New England's sixth-round picks in the draft.

XFL

Galen Hall of the Orlando Rage was chosen as the XFL's inaugural coach of the year.

The former University of Florida coach led the Rage to a league-best 8-2 regular-season record. Orlando won the Eastern Division title by three games, despite losing starting quarterback Jeff Brohm to a shoulder injury in the seventh week.

The Rage's season ended Saturday in a 26-25 semifinal loss to San Francisco.

"I've very honored with the award, but we still came up short," Hall said.

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