The attorney for two Philadelphia businessmen said...

The attorney for two Philadelphia businessmen said they will buy the New England Patriots for $63 million within two weeks, even if owner William H. Sullivan Jr. has changed his mind about selling the financially troubled National Football League franchise.

Robert Popeo said his clients, Fran Murray and John Charlton, will exercise an option to buy that they obtained from Sullivan last December, and that they do not plan to move the club.

General Manager Patrick Sullivan said recently his father no longer wanted to sell.

Popeo said: “The legality of that option does not depend on Billy Sullivan’s state of mind.”

Joe O’Donnell, a former baseball and football player at Harvard who runs a Boston-based concessions business, plans to join Murray and Charlton as owners once the NFL approves the sale, Popeo said, easing concern about outside ownership.