New nesting grounds: Seahawks' move to NFC West likely with NFL realignment on table
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KIRKLAND - The NFL owners and general managers gathered in Chicago for the annual spring meeting will likely approve a realignment plan tomorrow which will return the Seahawks to the NFC West, terminating a 24-year lease in the AFC West that resulted in five playoff berths and two division titles.
Seattle is one of 11 teams severely affected by a favored proposal that will dramatically alter the landscape of the league and culminate a decade-long desire to align the league into a proper geographical model.
To do so, Seattle, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans would change divisions, but only the Seahawks would switch conferences.
"The last time the league realigned was 1970, so I guess something that happens once every 30 years is significant," said Greg Aiello, the NFL's vice president of public relations. "We're hoping to reinvent the NFL in a positive way."
The addition of the expansion Houston Texans next year has allowed Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to reshape the league. It's the biggest makeover since three NFL teams - Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh - agreed to join 10 American Football League teams and form the American Football Conference.
Since the NFL-AFL merger, six expansion teams have entered the league and six franchises have relocated, creating uneven divisions and causing a major imbalance in scheduling.
Under the current model, the AFC Central has six teams and three of the five teams - Atlanta, New Orleans and Carolina - in the NFC West are from the South.
To correct its problems, the league intends to format the 32 teams into eight, four-team divisions. The new scheduling formula ensures that every team meets every other team in the league at least once every four years.
Still, there are obstacles.
Because Houston, a founding AFL city, was promised an AFC franchise, one of the current teams must move to the NFC. The candidates include Seattle and San Diego, but the Chargers have history on their side. Founded in 1961, they're one of the original members of the AFC.
"Nothing has been decided just yet," Seahawk vice president Ted Thompson said. "There are a lot of opinions about what might happen, and there are several different proposals. So who's to say what the final vote will be?"
League owners will select from one of seven proposals.
A 75 percent vote - 24 of 32 teams - is needed to approve any realignment plan and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue holds voting privileges surrendered by the three teams who have relocated in the past seven years - Baltimore, Tennessee and St. Louis - plus expansion Houston.
He has not publicly endorsed any of the proposals and intends to use his proxy to vote with the majority.
In the favored proposal, Option A1, five divisions are virtually untouched and those 20 teams are likely to vote for that plan. Combined with Tagliabue's votes, the league would then have 23 of the necessary 24 votes.
Under such a scenario, only one of the remaining nine teams is needed to provide the swing vote. Tampa Bay, which favors a move out of the NFC Central and into a newly formatted NFC South, likely will cast the final vote for the plan.
"We know we're moving and we don't have a problem moving," Tampa Bay Coach Tony Dungy said. "We'll play where they tell us to play."
Seahawk President Bob Whitsitt will attend the meetings with Mike Holmgren, the coach and general manager who has lobbied to remain in the AFC West. Still, Whitsitt has not vehemently protested a possible move.
In two of the seven proposals, Seattle would remain in the AFC West. But in the plan that's favored by most league execs, the Seahawks would return to the NFC West, the division where they started in 1976.
"We would miss playing against our old division rivals, but on the other hand, we would have a pretty attractive division rival in San Francisco," Thompson said. "It would be positive for our fans to create a Northwest rivalry."
The new NFC West will likely consist of Seattle, San Francisco, St. Louis and Arizona.
Some owners, however, are not thrilled about realignment.
"I don't believe the pain is going to be shared equally around the NFL," Arizona team president William V. Bidwell said.
Clearly, some teams will benefit more than others and Bidwell's comments may reflect a backlash a few owners have expressed toward Dallas and the Cowboys' desire to remain in the NFC East.
"There is a natural resistance to change," Aiello said. "Often times people find that when they get through it, that the change is the best thing that could have happened. ... You can't look at this in the short term, or at the quality of teams right now. Rivalries tend to ebb and flow."
The league was determined to preserve some rivalries, which might explain why Dallas and Miami are likely to remain in eastern divisions.
The proposed changes will satisfy football purists and return the league to an older look. The NFC North (Detroit, Chicago, Green Bay and Minnesota) and the AFC West (Denver, Kansas City, Oakland and San Diego) will be restored.
The owners will discuss the realignment plans today and trim the options before a final vote is cast tomorrow.
Whatever decision is reached, it surely won't be permanent.
The league has no immediate expansion plans, but if the teams in Minnesota or New Orleans move into the potentially lucrative Los Angeles market, it will be thrown geographically out of balance once again.
"I guess that depends on who it is," Aiello said. "But I have to acknowledge that it would change things. ... But we've had that situation before and even if that were to happen, (realignment) is not something you do every three or four years. I don't know if it'll be another 30 years, but it won't be anytime soon."
Percy Allen can be reached at 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com.