PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NFL once again compromised on instant replay, deciding Tuesday to continue it for five more years rather than putting it in permanently.
The owners did decide, however, to add an extra challenge for teams who have successfully used two challenges. Since replay was reinstituted in 1999, teams were limited to just two challenges, except for the last two minutes of each half, when a replay official could order a review.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and league counsel Jeff Pash also said that a federal appeals court in New York agreed to hear arguments to overturn the lower court ruling allowing Ohio State sophomore Maurice Clarett and other underclassman and high schoolers into the draft. Pash said if the court rules in the NFL's favor before the April 24-25 draft, Clarett, Southern California sophomore Mike Williams and seven others would not be included.
Should that happen and the NFL subsequently loses the appeal, a supplemental draft for those players would be held within 10 days of the court decision.
The vote on replay was 29-3, with Kansas City, Indianapolis and Cincinnati voting against, but Arizona voting for it for the first time in the two decades it has been considered.
"Some people were still concerned about replay," Tagliabue said about not instituting it permanently. "And there were many, including myself, who felt that putting it in for five years rather than permanently would provide an incentive for the officiating department and the league office to continue to find ways to improve it."
In other action Tuesday:
The owners renewed the NFL Trust, which provides $4 million per team in licensing revenue for shirts, hats and other products with team logos. But Tagliabue agreed to appoint a nine-member committee to look at all aspects of revenue sharing in the face of questions from several teams, led by Washington, Dallas and Miami.
Tagliabue said he was receptive to a contract extension beyond May 2005, when his current contract expires. However, the commissioner, who will turn 64 in November, added: "I don't want to work forever."
The owners heard more on the proposal to build a new stadium for the New York Jets on the West Side of Manhattan. Tagliabue said there would be further discussion on the stadium, perhaps even on Wednesday but emphasized there had been no commitment by the league for a future Super Bowl there.