LA Braces for an NFL Invasion
Here's the irony:
- Dan Reeves, new owner of the Cleveland Rams, pulled up stakes for Los Angeles the year after winning the 1945 NFL championship;
- Barron Hilton bought an AFL franchise for Los Angeles in 1959 when that league was formed to challenge the NFL; and
- Al Davis, legendary foil to Pete Rozelle, beat the NFL in a lawsuit in order to move the Raiders to Los Angeles in 1983.
Here's the hell of it: All three teams grew disenchanted with Tinseltown in one form or another and put it in their respective rear-view mirrors.
And, now, officially, all three bad pennies are angling to return:
The current owners involved can put whatever rationale they fancy on their motives, but the only hurdle between them and the future they see in Los Angeles is their peers.
The only question, then, is the percentage of fellow bloodsuckers who actually consent. That sifting process begins on Wed-Thu 6-7 Jan in New York in three NFL committees:
- Los Angeles Opportunities,
- Los Angeles Stadium, and
- Los Angeles Finance.
Not included in those titles, but obvious, is the key word: inevitable.
When all is said and done, whether or not the future in LA this time around is any more long-term than it was the last time for these three franchises, the hard fact is -- with this crowd -- it doesn't really matter.
There will always be somewhere else.