NFL in Denial on Seahawks?

The NFL must be receiving its news via Pony Express or that slow boat yet to dock in New York.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who is in danger of being run over by moving vans at every turn, said Friday he is very concerned about the Seahawks “just picking up and moving their practice facility to Southern California.”

No mention of Seahawk owner Ken Behring’s proclaimed “commitment to Los Angeles.” No comment on Behring’s plan to play in the Rose Bowl, find an L.A. partner and build a new stadium.

That explains Behring’s willingness to buck a resolution keeping all interlopers out of Los Angeles without the written consent of the NFL.

“As far as we’re concerned, with all the meetings that we have had with the NFL, there are no objections,” Behring said. “No one has said, ‘Don’t go there.’ ”

Some NFL owners, though, expected the league to begin legal action against Behring after he announced his commitment to Los Angeles. But Tagliabue & Co. have acted as if nothing has happened.

“I can see why they’re moving because they’re having problems, but why L.A.?” said Alex Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers, who asked Behring to address the owners at the meeting Friday. “Southern California has had two teams go, and they haven’t done anything about it. I just can’t see a team going to L.A.”

Twenty-three NFL owners, including Behring, voted for a resolution after the Rams and Raiders departed, securing the L.A. market for the league.

“When that resolution was put in, I think everybody thought that was the hottest market in the country and every team would be swarming to go there,” Behring said. “That’s the only reason that was passed. Everyone thought every team would try to jump in there and make a killing.

“Well, every team that was available went down and looked and came away saying this is probably the toughest market. So there is nobody interested. The only two possible ones are Billy Bidwill [Arizona] and the [Tampa Bay] Bucs. I don’t think either one [is interested].”

The NFL wants to build a new stadium in L.A. and then select a team to play there. Behring, however, has not been impressed.

“How long have they had control there? They’ve been working on it since the Rams left, and where are they at? They are further down than when they started. When I talked to Paul [Tagliabue] I said, ‘Can you give us any help on any of the sites?’ He said, ‘God, no, we haven’t found anything that we really like.’ ”

Since Tagliabue hasn’t gotten the message that the Seahawks intend on coming to L.A., he confined his remarks to the Pacific Northwest.

“It is very important to us that we have a Seahawk team in the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me that practicing in Southern California goes very far toward playing in the Pacific Northwest.”

Sooner or later that boat has to dock, and when Tagliabue learns that Behring is headed to Los Angeles, will he have the league take legal action?

“That’s not something I normally discuss with people until I’ve made my decision,” he said at a news conference.

Tagliabue, behind closed doors, however, told the owners: “We will enforce our resolution.”

Behind those same doors, Behring told the NFL owners about the Kingdome’s seismic woes, but did not mention Los Angeles, and no one asked.

Reporters were not so bashful. Asked if he expects the NFL to make him pay dearly to move to Los Angeles, he said, “If I was going in and getting a pile of money, they would extract it, and I would expect them to.

“But you’re not going to go down and get a pile of money from anyone. You’re going to put money in. This is what they didn’t realize in the beginning [with the resolution]. After they got into it, I think they found out.

“At one time they had this big dream that the NFL would build this stadium and have all the Super Bowls there. That’s not going to happen.”

Behring has interpreted the NFL’s silence as an indication all is well with his proposed move.

“The TV contract is coming up and the word I’m getting is that the broadcasting companies want a team in Los Angeles,” he said. “I think management is feeling pressure, and that’s why there have been no objections when we have met with management.”

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NFL owners voted 25-2 with three abstentions to approve the interim agreement allowing Art Modell to move his team to Baltimore, while leaving the Browns’ name and colors behind in Cleveland. Buffalo and Pittsburgh cast dissenting votes, while Arizona, St. Louis and Oakland, three teams that have moved in the last decade, abstained.