It’s Not All Fun, Games Now

For athletes, coaches and college and professional sports teams, this is part of the new daily routine:

Fan mail?

Scan mail.

The anthrax scare, subsequent hoaxes and accompanying anxiety have reshaped how athletes, professional sports leagues, other governing bodies and management agencies are dealing with incoming mail.

For now, packages and letters are being closely scrutinized by front-office personnel or building security or simply placed in another location, unopened.

Despite the security measures and extra scrutiny, some players have decided not to take the risk.

“For right now, no, I will not open it,” Denver Bronco linebacker Bill Romanowski said. “Unless one of those guys on TV covered in those white suits wants to be hired; I’ll hire him to do it.”

Romanowski’s teammate, quarterback Brian Griese, has his concerns but will still open his mail.

“It’s an important part of my job, and I’ll continue to do that,” Griese said. “[But] I will take a little bit more precaution when looking at where the mail’s coming from and whether it looks suspicious.”

The Miami Dolphins are holding fan mail at a team facility until further notice. Defensive end Jason Taylor is asking for understanding from the public.

“I’m not opening anything, not after this,” Taylor said. “I hope the fans don’t get upset thinking we’re not opening their letters. But at a time like this, you’ve got to step back.”

One of the leading sports management agencies, Cleveland-based IMG, was among those that changed policies at the onset of the anthrax crisis.

IMG represents, among others, tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and golfers Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.

Julie Kachner of IMG, who works with the high-profile Williams sisters, said they receive about 10 letters a day.

“What we are doing is just setting it aside without opening it or doing anything with it right now,” Kachner said.

The four major professional sports leagues--the NBA, the NHL, the NFL and baseball--have taken precautions. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league’s mail is being screened by security personnel wearing rubber gloves. Anything looking suspicious is withheld.

Locally, sports organizations also have taken extra measures. At the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, fan mail for Mighty Duck players is sorted by a worker wearing rubber gloves. Next, the fan mail is taken by a front-office worker, also wearing gloves, who opens it and checks it. After that, the mail goes to the players.

Additionally, on game days, any packages delivered after 4 p.m. are returned until the next day by the Mighty Ducks. Before 4 p.m., packages are opened and contents are checked immediately.

At Staples Center, mail for King players is checked by building security and eventually forwarded to the team’s practice facility in El Segundo. The Kings will not accept a package not addressed to a specified person.

A Laker public relations assistant said he recently purchased rubber gloves to open player fan mail.

In Salt Lake City, officials with the organizing committee for the upcoming Olympics are following the FBI’s recommendations for handling mail and packages.

“We do have a security program in place for all incoming mail,” said SLOC President and CEO Mitt Romney.

“Every company from GM to Coca-Cola to the NHL and even the Olympic Organizing Committee is handling mail differently until this round of scares subsides.”

At USA Gymnastics, a receptionist opens mail before forwarding it to the athletes. She wears rubber gloves and is on alert for any suspicious looking packages or letters.

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Times staff writers Chris Foster, Helene Elliott and Tim Brown contributed to this report.