NFL Names 2nd Panel to Look for Successor to Commissioner Rozelle

The NFL resolved today--at least temporarily--what Commissioner Pete Rozelle called the worst split in his 30 years in office by starting over in its search for Rozelle’s successor.

And Jim Finks, the New Orleans Saints president and the original choice for the job, seemed to be in a stronger position than ever to get it.

Rozelle resolved the dispute by appointing a new six-member committee to replace the one that recommended Finks and only Finks for the job. Eleven teams had blocked Finks from getting the 19 votes he needed for the job.

Also today, the owners approved with 27 votes and the Chicago Bears abstaining to form a new international league, to start play either in the spring of 1990 or a year later. The later date seems more likely.

The new selection committee contains two of the 11 who blocked Finks--Minnesota’s Mike Lynn and Seattle’s Ken Behring; the co-chairmen of the old committee, Kansas City’s Lamar Hunt and Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, plus Al Davis of the Raiders and John Kent Cooke of Washington. It is the first major committee assignment in 12 years for Davis, who was a minority of one while he was suing the NFL over his team’s move from Oakland.

That seemed to bode well for Finks: Mara, Hunt, Cooke and Davis voted for him the first time and Lynn also supported him until 20 minutes before the ballot. Nonetheless, Rozelle said the new committee will recommend more than one candidate.

“Oh, yes,” Lynn replied when asked if Finks remains a viable candidate, and the echo was similar from almost everyone else.

“Everyone on the new committee is an announced Finks supporter,” said Ed McCaskey of the Chicago Bears.

Finks ‘Very Strong’

“I think Finks is very strong right now,” said Victor Kiam of New England, one of the 11 who blocked Finks’ election. “I think a lot of the owners that voted against him liked him as a candidate, they just didn’t like the process.”

“I think his candidacy is alive and well, and I think it will stay that way,” said Cleveland’s Art Modell, a member of the first search committee.

And Finks himself said: “I think this committee will do what some owners think the other committee should have done.”

The appointment of the new committee followed a series of late night meetings involving Rozelle and many of the 11 dissidents, most of whom had different reasons for abstaining on the vote.

Of the 11, however, six were not even present for the discussions--Norman Braman of Philadelphia, Hugh Culverhouse of Tampa Bay and Georgia Frontiere of the Rams didn’t attend; San Francisco’s Edward DeBartolo left before they began and Patrick Bowlen of Denver and Joe Robbie of Miami left during Monday’s session.