Sports Agents Say Montoya Demanded That They Play Ball

Two representatives of the National Football League Players’ Assn. testified Monday that Sen. Joseph B. Montoya asked for money and suggested that a political contribution would produce favorable action on legislation.

And a former aide to Montoya testified that the senator was pleased when a Los Angeles sports agent offered to give the senator a campaign contribution of more than $5,000 to ensure that a bill would pass the Legislature.

The testimony came on the fifth day of Montoya’s trial in federal court on 12 felony counts of extortion, bribery, racketeering and money laundering.

David Meggysey, western regional director of the players association, said Montoya asked the union to contribute money at the same time he was carrying a bill to curb the union’s authority.

Montoya (D-Whittier), who had sided with the union on previous legislation, introduced a measure in 1986 that would have stripped the union of its power to mediate disputes between football players and their agents.

Meggysey told the court that he requested an appointment with Montoya to find out why the senator had “reversed his field.”

At a luncheon meeting, Meggysey testified, Montoya told him, “ ‘I’ve done a lot of work for you guys and you guys don’t contribute.’ ”

“My inference was, if we could help out he might change his mind,” Meggysey testified.

The former linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinals said that he felt betrayed by Montoya and that his stance was “a direct stab in the back of the players association and what we were trying to accomplish.”

After the meeting with Montoya, Meggysey telephoned Gene Upshaw, a former offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders, who is now executive director of the players association.

In that conversation, Upshaw told the court, Meggysey said he now understood why the union was having so much difficulty with Montoya’s sports agent bill.

“He was upset we were even solicited,” Upshaw said. “He just couldn’t believe it. We don’t have any money so we thought it was ridiculous in the first place.”

Both union officials said the players association has a policy against making political contributions and never gave money to Montoya. At one point, however, Meggysey said he paid $35 for a ticket to a Montoya fund-raising dinner.

Jeffrey Walsh, a San Francisco attorney who has represented the players association for more than a decade, testified that he also received requests from Montoya for money when the senator was carrying an earlier bill that benefited the football players.

Walsh said he attended a Senate hearing in 1984 on the legislation and had a brief conversation with Montoya: “He kind of chuckled and said, ‘If you need some help on this, I need some help, too,’ ” Walsh told the court. “I thought it was bad taste.”

During that period, Montoya was carrying a bill on behalf of the players association that placed a series of restrictions on sports agents, including a limit on the amount of money agents could charge professional athletes.

Walsh told the court that within two weeks of first meeting Montoya in 1983, the senator sent him a fund-raising letter and continued asking for money on a “semi-regular” basis. On one occasion, he said, Montoya raised the subject of a contribution while talking with Walsh on the telephone about the bill.

Former Montoya aide Kathleen Somerton testified that, while the football players’ representatives were finding that Montoya was turning against them, the senator was accepting a contribution from their opposition, sports agent Michael Trope.

Somerton, a former consultant to a Senate sports subcommittee chaired by Montoya, testified that Trope had agreed to pay more than $5,000 to win approval for a bill limiting the union’s power over sports agents.

In a conversation with Montoya, she testified, “I stated that he (Trope) was willing to make a significant contribution. He was willing to commit $5,000 to $10,000 to see the bill pass.”

Montoya was pleased upon hearing the news, she testified. “He said, ‘Great,’ and asked me for Mike’s number.”

At another point, Somerton said Montoya told her, “The union does not support me and I’m not going to support them.”

Last week, Trope testified at the trial that Montoya sent him a schedule of fees requesting $10,000 in campaign contributions and honorariums. He ultimately gave the senator $8,100, he said.

After receiving one $5,000 campaign contribution from Trope, Somerton said, Montoya expressed disappointment that it was not an honorarium, which he would have been able to keep as personal income.