PRO FOOTBALL : Teams Aren’t Families, They’re Businesses

George Halas, the pioneer NFL club owner who coached the Chicago Bears for 40 years, used to win some and lose some.

And when he was losing, Halas often heard a familiar cry from his critics: “Sell the club to a rich guy. We want a winner.”

The cry was raised again this fall when the Bears started 2-3, but now the target is Halas’ grandson, Michael McCaskey, club president and part owner.

“The Bears are family owned,” writer Brian Hewitt said before Monday night’s game, in his Sun-Times column recommending McCaskey’s departure. “The family’s principal business is football--but to compete with wealthier clubs, the Bears need more capital.

“If (McCaskey) is the businessman he says he is, he’ll sell. The franchise has been (out-bid) for too many good players--Wilber Marshall, Jim McMahon, Jay Hilgenberg and others.”

Similar charges are frequently made elsewhere when ownerships are perceived to be underfinanced--at Pittsburgh, for instance, and Cincinnati, Green Bay and Phoenix, among other NFL towns.

Hall of Famer Jimmy Conzelman, a former NFL coach and owner, once said: “This is a league where some teams are owned by poor millionaires and some by rich millionaires. It isn’t easy for the poor to compete.”

In the 1992 NFL, how serious is that problem?

McCaskey declined an invitation to talk about it. But another club owner who has known McCaskey’s kind of pressure, Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was less reticent.

“Most of the revenue in pro football is shared,” Rooney said, noting that television and gate income are divided. “We all start from about the same revenue base--so the difference in owners’ (net worth) isn’t really a problem.

“(Rich owners) don’t throw in their own money, anyway. They run their teams as a business. The Redskins are a good example. They win, but they aren’t doing it on Jack Kent Cooke’s money. The reason they’re tough on the rest of us is that the nation’s capital has a depression-proof economy. Everyone wants Redskin tickets.”

Even so, many Chicagoans are worried about the Bears. They reason that a deep-pockets owner would be less interested in profit-and-loss statements than the man they have now.

One billionaire: Seven of the NFL’s 28 clubs are owned by immensely wealthy investors, who, if they are using their own money to buy football players, aren’t buying wisely.

At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be much correlation between their net worth and team performance.

The only NFL billionaire on this year’s Forbes magazine list is Preston Robert Tisch, half-owner of the New York Giants. Tisch is worth $1.4 billion. The Giants are 4-4 in the NFC East.

In Washington, Cooke’s fortune has recently slipped from $1.1 billion to $900 million. The Redskins, 8-0 at this time a year ago, have slipped to 5-3.

Others, their records, and their reported fortunes:

--Detroit Lions (2-6): William Clay Ford, $750 million.

--New York Jets (2-6): Leon Hess, $600 million.

--San Diego Chargers (4-4): Alex Spanos, $400 million.

--Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5): Hugh Culverhouse, $360 million.

--Seattle Seahawks (1-7): Ken Behring, $330 million.

Among the NFL owners who fell out of the Forbes 400 this year is Ed DeBartolo of the San Francisco 49ers.

Man overboard: The owner isn’t the only Chicago Bear going through a stressful season. The coach has had his troubles, too.

For Mike Ditka, it has been this kind of year:

--When the coach publicly endorsed a Republican for the U.S. Senate, the Democratic candidate disclosed that Ditka had only voted in three of Illinois’ most recent 17 primaries and general elections.

--A day after verbally assaulting his quarterback on the Minnesota sideline last month, Ditka declined to apologize, “because the last thing I told him was not to call any audibles.”

--A week later, after cussing out a reporter, the testy Bear coach walked out of a news conference--after the reporter had walked out.

--The next week, asked about a Chicago newspaper poll in which most fans favored his resignation, Ditka replied: “Any more football questions?”

Then he walked out again.

An eyewitness to all of the above, Tribune writer Don Pierson, said: “(Ditka) does that sometimes to take the pressure off his team and put it on himself. But some of his best friends are wondering if he’s going overboard this year.”

New team: The Dallas Cowboys, 7-1 and the only team with fewer than two defeats, are where they are today in large part because they aren’t the team they were in September just before the regular-season bell rang.

They’re much better:

--The late trades for right end Charles Haley, San Francisco’s best pass rusher, and strong safety Thomas Everett, one of Pittsburgh’s two best coverage backs, have changed a good defense into a dominating defense.

--The young players on the NFL’s youngest ballclub, including rookie middle linebacker Robert Jones, have matured early.

Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, who is proving to be the shrewdest talent scout in the league, is winning with, among others, 16 players who have two or fewer years of NFL experience.

Nine of the 16 are second-year pros--four of whom started Sunday when the Cowboys embarrassed the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-10.

Dallas’ sophomore starters are wide receiver Alvin Harper, 25; offensive tackle Erik Williams, 24; defensive tackle Russell Maryland, 23, and cornerback Larry Brown, 22.

Plus Robert Jones, 23.

That’s some scouting.

Havoc creator: Emmitt Smith excepted, the most gifted member of Johnson’s team is Haley, who joined just before Game 1 and was a starter by Game 2, knocking veteran Jim Jeffcoat out of the lineup.

What does Jeffcoat think about that?

“(Haley) is the reason our defense is what it is,” he said. “Charles is the reason we have the pass rush we do. He creates havoc.”

Said Maryland: “We needed a catalyst, and that catalyst is Charles.”

Quote Department:

--Ray Handley, New York Giant coach, on fighting through television crews from seven New York-area stations last week to get to his office: “I regret that I have been the story and not our football team.”

--Ken Herock, Atlanta Falcon personnel director, comparing athletes: “Bo (Jackson) couldn’t play corner(back). Deion (Sanders) can play wide receiver, he could play tailback, he hit .533 in the World Series. Deion is the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen.”

--Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay’s deposed quarterback: “When (Coach) Sam Wyche came in this year, he promised me the first snap. He didn’t promise anything else.”

--Steve DeBerg, Testaverde’s replacement: “A lot of people think I came here to back up Vinny Testaverde. I came here to start and play.”