NFL Announces New Alignment Plan

The NFL realigned itself quickly and amicably Tuesday, skipping the squabbling of the past and leaving even the uprooted teams saying they were satisfied.

Five of the new divisions will have basically the same makeup, and the most drastic step is moving Seattle from the AFC West to the NFC West.

"We couldn`t look at personal choices," said Dan Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who shifted to the AFC when the NFL and AFL merged in 1970. "A lot of people wanted a lot of things. I think this is best for everyone."

What was best for the league, as it turned out, was a relatively painless shift to eight four-team divisions for 2002, when Houston will rejoin the league as an expansion franchise -- in the same division as Tennessee, which left Houston after the 1996 season.

The Seahawks made a token argument against the shift but said afterward they were delighted. They must have been -- the vote was unanimous.

"I think it`s really good for the league," Seattle president Bob Whitsitt said. "It`s also good for the Seahawks."

The new format is the one that was considered the most likely when the NFL announced almost two years ago that it would realign into eight divisions from the current six.

Five of the new divisions will have all four teams from the old alignment and another will have three -- the new NFC South, which contains three teams from the old NFC West. Each conference will have a North, South, East and West division, and most of the divisions are relatively compact geographically, unlike the old lineup, which had Arizona in the East and Atlanta and Carolina in the West.

The lineup:

AFC East -- Buffalo, Miami, New England, New York Jets.

AFC North -- Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh.

AFC South -- Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee.

AFC West -- Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego.

NFC East -- Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Washington.

NFC North -- Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota.

NFC South -- Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay.

NFC West -- Arizona, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle. In addition to Seattle, the team most affected may be the Cardinals, who move out the same division with Dallas, the only team to draw capacity crowds in the desert. Arizona owner Bill Bidwill fought hard to stay in the same division with the Cowboys but said he was happy after the league agreed to a new scheduling format for exhibition games that will retain old rivalries.

The Houston-Tennessee matchup wasn`t a surprise, particularly since Baltimore, which left Cleveland in 1995, has been in the same division as the expansion Browns and will continue to be paired with them.

"I think it was decided two years ago when we came into the league," Texans` general manager Charley Casserly said.

Bidwill was even happier after Dallas owner Jerry Jones said he would be glad to play the Cardinals in an exhibition game every year they aren`t scheduled to play in the regular season.

"I`m very happy that Jerry agreed to do that," Bidwill said. "The NFC West fits for us geographically."

Whitsitt said the same, noting that the Seahawks will have preseason games against the Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders, whom they`ve met in the regular season so often.

Another plus for most of the owners is the new scheduling format, under which every team will meet every other at least once in four years. There will be six home-and-home divisional games; four against teams in another division within a conference; and four more against a division in the other conference on a rotating basis.

The final two games will be against conference teams based on the previous year`s standings -- first against first, second against second, and so on.

The exact format for the playoffs hasn`t been decided yet. For the time being, the number of teams will stay at six from each conference -- the four division winners and two wild cards.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has said the league will consider expanding the number of playoff teams to 14.

The biggest surprise in the plan was the speed with which it was done.

Although various proposals had been under study for 18 months, no vote was expected until Thursday. But there was only an hour`s debate and the consensus was to get it over with.

"I think everyone realized that everything that could be said had been said," Tagliabue said.

There also were the memories of the problems of the last realignment 31 years ago, brought to the fore by old-timers such as Rooney, the Giants` Wellington Mara and Baltimore`s Art Modell.

"That old realignment was the toughest thing I`ve been through," said the 84-year-old Mara, who has been involved with the NFL since starting as a ball boy for the Giants when his father bought the team in 1925.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)