For the first time since it decided to add Houston as its 32nd team, the NFL had a candid discussion Tuesday on how to realign into eight four-team divisions.
Surprise: The realignment plans don't appear that difficult to resolve into one.
"The NFC East and Central and the AFC East and West seem pretty well set," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said as he unveiled seven of the dozen or so plans under consideration. "The more difficult decisions are in the others."
There seems to be a pretty clear consensus in the seven plans unveiled, with expansion Houston going into the AFC, and Seattle or perhaps San Diego switching to the NFC to balance the conferences.
Two NFC divisions look set.
One is the East with Dallas, the New York Giants, Philadelphia and Washington (Arizona would shift to the West.) The other is the Central as it was before Tampa Bay joined the NFL in 1976 the "black and blue" or "frostbite" division of Minnesota, Detroit, Green Bay and Chicago.
The AFC would keep the basic configuration of Buffalo, New England, the New York Jets and Miami in the East, with Kansas City, Denver, San Diego and Oakland in the West. Those teams, all original American Football League franchises, were aligned similarly in the AFL and have longstanding rivalries.
All are part of Option A1, which many league and team officials consider the most likely.
"I think that's the one," said Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh, one of the league's most influential owners.
The other divisions in that plan would be Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland in the AFC North (the Bengals, Browns and Steelers are locked together in most of the plans); Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Tennessee in the AFC South (an orphan division of new or transplanted franchises); Arizona, St. Louis, San Francisco and Seattle in the NFC West; and Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay in the NFC South.
Most of the other scenarios are minor variations of that, flip-flopping Houston and Baltimore in one plan, Indianapolis and Baltimore in another. A couple would put Dallas into the NFC West, an unlikely scenario favored primarily by Arizona owner Bill Bidwill, who gets his only sellouts when the Cowboys come to town.
Most league executives don't seem as hardened to change as some critics claim they are. And teams that are moving seem resigned to it.
Bill Polian, president of the Colts, said he was willing to go anywhere the owners decide.
"We'll do what's good for the league," he said.
The same goes for an official of the Seahawks who declined to be identified, but suggested the team wasn't happy, but was willing to do what was best.
Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy said, "We know we're moving; we're resigned to that."
Houston is scheduled to rejoin the league for the 2002 season. The deadline for realignment is June 1. And it's likely to be decided either at a lengthened meeting already scheduled for Chicago at the end of May or a special meeting the first week of May.
There is also another twist: Four relocated or new teams do not have votes Houston, St. Louis, Baltimore and Tennessee. Those votes have been awarded to Tagliabue.
The commissioner said it hasn't been decided if those votes would be abstentions, with just 28 teams actually voting. That would make 21 votes necessary for a plan to be approved.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.