A ‘Huge’ Step for Coliseum

Taking what one called an “absolutely huge” step toward making their stadium NFL-ready, Coliseum officials on Wednesday certified their environmental-impact report, closing the books on a project that began 20 months ago.

“I would describe this as a milestone, a very significant piece of history,” said Don Knabe, a Los Angeles County Supervisor and president of the Coliseum Commission.

Knabe said the Coliseum is now as much as two years ahead of the Rose Bowl and Carson sites in terms of planning. The reports for both of those proposals are in the early stages.

“This puts us where we can be playing football by 2006, and I don’t think anyone else can say that,” Knabe said.

The NFL, which has been cautiously even-handed lately in dealing with the three proposed L.A. sites, was neutral in its response to the Coliseum’s news.

“It’s not unexpected,” said Joe Browne, an NFL vice president, when asked about the completed report. “We continue to work with all three of the groups.”

Asked whether the development was positive news for the Coliseum, Browne said: “It’s not up to us to describe it that way.”

Unlike the Rose Bowl and Carson groups, backers of the Coliseum proposal say they are not interested in receiving financial support from the NFL, at least not yet. By paying their own bills, stadium officials say, they can ensure they won’t be beholden to the league and therefore are free to work directly with a team, a developer or the NFL.

“[The NFL] would like us to work through them, I’m sure,” said Pat Lynch, general manager of the Coliseum. “But we’re not obliged to. We can talk to whoever we want to. We are now clear to do a deal. It will take the other sites a very long time to catch up to where we are today in terms of being able to build an NFL stadium. A very long time.”

-- Sam Farmer

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The San Diego City Council will file legal action this week asking that a Los Angeles judge transfer the Chargers’ lawsuit to a San Diego court. The lawsuit alleges that the Chargers’ finances have deteriorated so badly that the team deserves the right to negotiate with other cities unless San Diego modifies the Chargers’ lease for Qualcomm Stadium.

The council Tuesday rejected the team’s offer to have the suit transferred to Orange County or San Francisco.

The Chargers have offered to drop the lawsuit if the city would agree to binding arbitration. The council has refused.

-- Tony Perry

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Running back Garrison Hearst will miss the San Francisco 49ers’ game against Arizona on Sunday because of a sprained right knee. Hearst was injured in the third quarter of San Francisco’s loss at Baltimore last week. He had minor arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to repair cartilage in the knee, and he was on crutches Wednesday.

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Buffalo Bill quarterback Drew Bledsoe missed practice, feeling tired and dizzy and unsure if he would play against the New York Jets on Sunday. Bledsoe refused to describe his symptoms as concussion related, but he said they stem from a helmet-to-helmet hit that forced him to miss the final 19 minutes of Sunday’s 24-7 win over the New York Giants.

Buffalo will be without starting left tackle Jonas Jennings for the rest of the season. Jennings has a broken toe on his right foot.

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Suspended Cleveland Brown running back William Green will have a March 8 pretrial hearing on drunken driving and marijuana possession charges. He appeared in court in Rocky River, Ohio, on Wednesday, when the hearing had been scheduled. Green’s lawyer was granted the new date, telling the judge he recently moved his office and did not receive case documents.

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Washington quarterback Patrick Ramsey reinjured his right foot at the end of practice when he slipped on a dirt patch during a throwing drill. The second-year starter left practice early for X-rays, which revealed no new damage to his foot.

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David Carr practiced lightly and remains on track to start Sunday for the Houston Texans against Jacksonville. Carr is recovering from a sprained right shoulder.

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Referee Tom White was fined $2,600 for failing to restart the clock at the end of the Seattle-Baltimore game, a mistake that contributed to the Seahawks’ 44-41 overtime loss. The fine represented half of White’s game check, supervisor of officials Mike Pereira said.

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The Atlanta Falcons claimed cornerback-kick returner Derek Ross, one day after he was waived by the Dallas Cowboys.