All Agree, There’s No Agreement on Rozelle Successor

Former Congressman Jack Kemp is on almost every team’s short list of candidates for the office of National Football League commissioner, several club presidents said this week.

They agreed, however, on two things:

--No consensus on Kemp or anyone else as Pete Rozelle’s successor has yet developed within the league.

--There is considerable discontent with the membership of the search committee, which will meet Tuesday in New Orleans.

“I think the committee should have been elected instead of appointed,” Hugh F. Culverhouse said, speaking as president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and chairman of the Management Council.

His view is shared by about half the owners, who are talking about seeking a change in committee membership next Wednesday or Thursday during the NFL’s annual spring meeting, which is also scheduled for New Orleans.

But Norman Braman, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and a leader of the dissidents, said: “I won’t propose a change.”

The split is between the NFL’s old guard and the newer club owners, men such as Braman, Tom Benson of the New Orleans Saints and Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos.

The old guard is represented by the presidents of the league’s two conferences, Wellington Mara of the New York Giants and Lamar Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mara and Hunt, co-chairmen of the search committee, appointed the four other members, Art Modell of the Cleveland Browns, Ralph Wilson of the Buffalo Bills, Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Judge Robert J. Parins of the Green Bay Packers.

Braman, making a typical comment, said: “I do have confidence in the committee selected. They’re competent people. Would I be more pleased if the committee had been elected? Yes. If it were more representative? Yes.”

Culverhouse and Braman both noted that they had personally disqualified themselves from search committee service. In the last year or so, Culverhouse has given up all of his league responsibilities except the Management Council.

Braman declined because of his friendship with Kemp, who is now in President Bush’s cabinet as secretary of housing and urban development.

“Nothing would make me happier than to recommend Jack Kemp as commissioner,” Braman said. “He’s what the NFL needs for the ‘90s. But what he’s doing now, he thinks it’s the most important thing he’s ever done. I don’t know if he would leave it.”

After 30 years on the job, Rozelle resigned this spring, effective with the election of his successor.

The leading candidates, in addition to Kemp, are Pete Dawkins, Jim Finks and Peter Ueberroth. Dawkins, a former football star at Army who went on to become a brigadier general, is a New York politician; Finks, who has been in the front offices of the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, is general manager of the Saints, and Ueberroth is the retired baseball commissioner.

Hunt, speaking from his Dallas office, said: “At this point, it’s probably true that the (candidates) who have been mentioned most are more in front. But it’s very possible that the eventual (commissioner) will be someone who hasn’t yet been mentioned, or has only been named once or so.”

In all, Hunt said, 32 candidates have been formally suggested by club leaders, although four teams have submitted no names.

“In addition, we’ve hired an executive-search firm,” the Kansas City owner said. “They will augment and screen other names, and report to us in New Orleans Tuesday.”

The firm is Heidrick and Struggles of New York.

Culverhouse, asked to profile the next commissioner, said: “He should be young, vigorous, well-educated, and well-trained as a leader. He could be a lawyer or business leader. A football background isn’t an absolute necessity.”

Hunt said: “He should have as many of Pete Rozelle’s qualities as possible, along with a genuine love for the game of football. It’s hard to define the qualities needed--but they aren’t hard to see.”

The concern of Braman, Bohlen and other new owners is that a candidate chosen by an old-guard committee will listen most closely to old-guard owners on NFL problems.

“We have a whole host of new issues that weren’t there when (Rozelle) took office,” Culverhouse said. “It’s essential that a new commissioner be responsive to the new problems.”

That is so important, he said, that: “I think it will be difficult to get the 19 votes (needed for election).”

Asked about this, Braman said: “It depends on the individual named (by the search committee).”

Hunt doesn’t expect a prolonged fight over either committee members next week or the committee’s recommendation--which will be coming in the next three or four weeks.

“In other years, I’ve noticed that a unanimous recommendation by any large NFL committee carries a lot of weight with most (owners),” he said. “There will be six votes (for the nominee) from those on the (search) committee. And six is one-third of the way to 19.”

Asked when he expects the new commissioner to be elected, Hunt said: “My guess is that it will be sometime next month.

“When next week’s meeting is over, everybody will be focusing on the front-runners.”

NFL Notes

The site of Super Bowl XXVI in January, 1992, will be chosen by a vote of NFL club owners next Wednesday. The game will be played in one of the four northern domes, at Indianapolis, Seattle, Detroit or Minneapolis. . . . The owners also expect to make some International Football League decisions at this meeting. . . . An effort will be made by the Raiders and some other clubs to overturn the 80-player roster limit before it can be implemented this summer.