NFL DISHONEST, SAYS MAYOR
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says he has “no appetite” for seeking another NFL team, adding the league had always planned to let the Rams move to L.A.»
st. louis» The NFL is abandoning St. Louis again, and this time, the mayor has no interest in trying to bring pro football back.
League owners voted Tuesday to allow the Rams to move back to Los Angeles starting next season. It means that St. Louis is losing a team for the second time in three decades. The Cardinals left for Arizona in 1987, and St. Louis was without football until the Rams arrived from Los Angeles in 1995.
The decision stunned some in St. Louis who thought plans for a $1 billion riverfront stadium would persuade the NFL to let the Rams stay. The stadium plan was deemed inadequate, opening the way for Tuesday’s decision that also gives the Chargers the first option at sharing a new, $1.86 billion stadium planned by Rams owner Stan Kroenke in Inglewood, Calif.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay has had enough, saying the NFL strung St. Louis advocates along while never intending to block Kroenke’s move. The decision “sent a loud and clear message.”
“Their home cities and hometown fans are commodities to be abandoned once they no longer suit the league’s purposes,” Slay said Wednesday.
Asked if he believes the city should pursue another team, Slay gave a definitive no.
“At this point I’m so frustrated and disappointed with the NFL,” Slay said. “Why would anybody want to, in any way, even entertain any suggestions from the NFL after the way they dealt with St. Louis here? I mean, it was dishonest. They were not being truthful with us. There’s no appetite that I have to take another run at an NFL team.”
Dave Peacock, co-chairman of the St. Louis stadium task force, wasn’t as adamant but seemed resigned to life without the NFL. He said he believes St. Louis has the fan support, but “it would need to be a fully committed effort by the league and the owner.” Besides, he said, the league is not planning to expand, and no teams seem poised to move.
Peacock called the interactions he had with the leadership of the NFL “a head-scratcher.”