Raiders’ Davis Appointed to Key Committee

Raider owner Al Davis was appointed Tuesday by the NFL to the Management Council’s executive committee, which also received unlimited power in labor negotiations in a vote by the league’s 28 clubs.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said that the club owners voted overwhelmingly to be bound by any settlement terms the executive committee arranges as it attempts to negotiate a settlement with the players this week before the Freeman McNeil antitrust trial resumes Monday in Minneapolis.

The vote would seem to remove the major stumbling block to labor peace in pro football, the longtime opposition to any form of free agency by a minority of the clubs.

The players have asked for free agency after three years. Most owners would grant it after six years, it was said, if each club is allowed to name several exemptions, including the quarterback and a defensive player or two. Representatives of the players have been opposed to any exemptions.