SUPER BOWL XXI : DENVER vs. NEW YORK : Davis Raids Rozelle’s Big Speech : Owner Subpoenas Commissioner During State-of-the-NFL Talk

No sooner had Commissioner Pete Rozelle of the National Football League said Friday that he was optimistic about the league’s future because of its shortened legal agenda than he was served with his second subpoena in 10 minutes.

The second was served by a private investigator representing Al Davis, the Raiders’ managing general partner, during Rozelle’s news conference at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

The first, identical to the second, had been served by an unidentified man moments before Rozelle entered the conference room.

Rozelle was ordered to testify in former San Diego Chargers owner Eugene Klein’s lawsuit against Davis.

Klein sued Davis for malicious prosecution after the Raiders’ successful 1980-81 antitrust suit against the NFL. Klein claimed that a heart attack he suffered on the witness stand in August 1982 was a consequence of Davis’ naming him as a defendant in the suit.

Klein won a judgment Dec. 10 for more than $5 million in compensatory damages against Davis. The punitive damages phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Monday in Superior Court in San Diego.

After Rozelle had completed his opening remarks in the annual pre-Super Bowl news conference, a man approached the podium, handed Rozelle the subpoena and introduced himself as “Carson Lowe, private investigator.”

Seemingly unfazed, Rozelle said: “So you’re Carson Lowe.”

Then, turning his attention to the 500 or so reporters in the room, Rozelle said he had been warned earlier this week that an attempt would be made to serve him.

Indeed, Rozelle had the first subpoena in his coat pocket as he was served with the second. “I guess the second one was a publicity ploy on the Raiders’ part,” NFL spokesman Joe Browne said. “I guess it was Al’s way of getting into the Super Bowl limelight.”

When the news conference resumed, Rozelle said he had been advised by league attorneys that the subpoena is invalid and that he will not have to appear in court.

“Our attorneys say it’s invalid on the basis that he’s an out-of-state resident who is in California for a specific purpose and will be leaving shortly after,” Browne said.

But in an interview with the Associated Press, an unidentified Raider spokesman said the subpoena was valid.

“The lunacy of the Klein case that we feel will be overturned shortly necessitated that Rozelle be a witness,” the spokesman said.

“The attorneys involved in the case did this, and I understand he has evaded service at some quiet and unpopulated spot at his hotel.

“Klein and Klein’s lawyers linked Rozelle and the owners as supporters and witnesses in this case, and our lawyers simply followed through.

“Mr. Rozelle is expected to testify as to the decreasing value of NFL teams plus the status of television contracts since we no longer have a contract after this game, and the fact we no longer have a labor agreement after this game.”

The NFL’s contracts with the three major television networks will expire Feb. 1. The collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the NFL Players’ Assn. will expire Aug. 31.

Browne said that the allegation that Rozelle had avoided being served the subpoena at his hotel was nonsense.

When a reporter asked Rozelle how the private investigator had obtained a credential to attend the news conference, the commissioner joked: “From a former league employee.”

Despite the two subpoenas, Rozelle appeared in a positive mood.

“I feel more complacent, relaxed and optimistic about the future of the National Football League than I did a year ago (at the Super Bowl) in New Orleans,” he said.

He said that was because of the NFL’s successes during 1986 in court.

Not only was the league ordered to pay only $3 in damages to the United States Football League, which had sued the NFL for $1.6 billion, the $33 million award the Raiders won in their antitrust suit was overturned. Both cases are under appeal.

Rozelle indicated that the most pressing issue facing the NFL during the off-season is the collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners.

He said there is a possibility of a player strike that would affect the 1987 season but added he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached.

“This time around, I don’t think anyone wants to strike,” he said. “I think they (owners and players) remember what happened during the last strike in 1982.

“The owners lost $150 million and the players lost seven games worth of paychecks. The climate is better than it was then.”

Rozelle said he hopes the players will accept his proposal for unscheduled drug testing and not use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

“I hope they take the position the NBA players did, that they want to tackle the problem,” Rozelle said.

As part of his proposal, players would be tested at least once a year for anabolic steroids.

On the pending negotiations with the television networks, Rozelle said the owners do not expect an increase over the five-year, $2.1-billion deal they signed in 1982. He said the networks have lost money during the last two seasons.

“The owners know we can’t expect the escalation we’ve had in the past,” Rozelle said. “Whatever will be, will be.”

Contrary to speculation that a cable network next season will televise “Monday Night Football,” Rozelle said he expects ABC again to bid and win the rights to the program.

He also said he expects the experiment with instant replays to continue next season.

“I’m much more in favor of it than I was early on,” he said. “In only 40 cases, two in the postseason, were officials overturned. Considering there were about 35,000 plays, only once in six games were changes made.

“We had to learn on the job, but we were able to cut down on the time it took as the season progressed.”

Rozelle said the instant replay issue will be on the agenda when the owners meet in March.

He also said the owners also will study rule changes to make the game safer for players. As possibilities, he mentioned eliminating the intentional grounding rule and preventing defensive players from making contact with quarterbacks on passing plays.

Rozelle said the league might expand by two teams, from 28 to 30, as early as 1989. He said the most likely candidates are Oakland; Baltimore; Memphis, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Phoenix, and Jacksonville, Fla.

The next three Super Bowls have been awarded to San Diego in 1988, Miami in 1989 and New Orleans in 1990.

Rozelle said the owners will decide whether they want to return to the Coliseum in 1991 as a sentimental choice for the Super Bowl’s 25th anniversary. The Coliseum was the site of the first NFL-AFL championship game.

“Some people have said that we’ve avoided Los Angeles out of spite,” Rozelle said, referring to comments by Mayor Tom Bradley that league officials are bitter because the city supported the Raiders and Coliseum Commission in their antitrust suit against the NFL.

Both teams and the media this year are housed in Orange County, although the game is in Pasadena.

“But from what I understand, the big tourist money is being spent in Los Angeles,” Rozelle said.

As for his relationship with Davis, Rozelle said: “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him recently.”