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| Wednesday, January 10 Associated Press | |||
| NEW YORK -- Hiring Dick Vermeil will cost the Kansas City Chiefs two draft choices as compensation to St. Louis, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue ruled Wednesday.
"I thought they made it fair. I feel good about it. I'm glad the Rams got something," Vermeil said from his home in the Philadelphia area. "They were good to me for three years. This is a way of paying something back to them."
In a statement later Wednesday, Chiefs president Carl Peterson
said the team will move ahead with hiring the man who led the Rams
to the 2000 Super Bowl title.
"In any dispute like this, probably neither party is totally happy with the outcome," said Peterson, who had argued that the Chiefs did not owe St. Louis anything in compensation.
"But as members of the National Football League we respect the
authority of the commissioner and we will certainly be bound by his
decision."
The Rams will be awarded the Chiefs' second-round pick in 2001 and Washington's third-round selection in 2002 -- acquired from the Redskins as compensation for their recent signing of Marty Schottenheimer as coach.
The Chiefs also must reimburse the Rams the $500,000 paid to Vermeil during the past year. The Chiefs reportedly have agreed to pay Vermeil more than $2 million per year.
Tagliabue held a two-hour hearing in New York on Tuesday as officials from the Chiefs and Rams argued their cases.
The commissioner announced his ruling Wednesday, clearing the
way for the 64-year-old Vermeil to take over the Kansas City team
that finished 7-9 last year under the fired Gunther Cunningham,
missing the playoffs for the third straight season.
Chiefs president and general manager Carl Peterson, one of
Vermeil's closest friends, maintained the Chiefs should not have to
give the Rams anything because of the way his contract as a
consultant was written. The Rams reportedly were asking for first-
and fourth-round picks.
Vermeil announced his retirement from St. Louis last February with two years remaining on his contract, turning the head coaching job over to offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Vermeil then entered into a new four-year agreement with the Rams that terminated and
superseded the 1997 contract.
Rams president John Shaw said when Vermeil left, the team gave him a $2 million bonus as a thank-you for the Super Bowl championship, but did not intend that as a payoff for the remainder of the contract.
In his ruling, Tagliabue found that, although the Rams-Vermeil
agreement in February 2000 did not prohibit Vermeil from seeking a
coaching position with another club in 2000 or 2001, "the clear
purpose and effect of the agreement ... was that Vermeil would
remain retired from coaching through the 2001 season."
Vermeil, who coached Philadelphia to the 1980 Super Bowl when Peterson was director of player personnel for the Eagles, spent 13 years as a TV broadcaster before taking the St. Louis job.
He broadcast Kansas City's preseason games from 1989-96.
"I'm not a lawyer, so I didn't know for sure. But I knew what I had in my hand and how to read it," Vermeil said of his contract.
"I guess it was just meant to be," he said of his reunion with
Peterson. "We were together at UCLA and the Eagles and now we're
together again in Kansas City. I'm appreciative of how the
commissioner ruled. I respect his decision. It allows me to do what
I'm best at, with people I admire and respect. It allows me to be
with the premier owner in the NFL and in a community I've enjoyed
coming to."
In a prepared statement, Shaw said he would accept the commissioner's ruling "as complete and final."
"The Rams feel vindicated that Commissioner Tagliabue has awarded us significant draft compensation. This decision protects and upholds the NFL's anti-tampering policy and the integrity of a coach's contract," the statement said.
"This matter is now closed. We will focus our efforts on completing the Rams' coaching staff, free agency, the upcoming collegiate draft, and preparing for the 2001 season."
Peterson and Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt were not immediately
available for comment.
This is the third time in the last four years that the
commissioner has had to step into disputes between teams regarding
coaches. The other two involved the move of Bill Parcells from New
England to the New York Jets in 1997 and Bill Belichick's move last
year from the Jets to the Patriots. In negotiated settlements of
both those cases, draft choices were awarded.
| AUDIO/VIDEO
  Mort explains the compensation factor surrounding Dick Vermeil's return.RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   It is hard for team president John Shaw to accept that the Rams may not receive compensation.wav: 119 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Chiefs president Carl Peterson believes Dick Vermeil is free to coach again.wav: 101 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Rams president John Shaw says it is a pretty easy argument.wav: 90 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | ||