Chargers and Raiders announce joint stadium plan

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have been holding their respective municipalities hostage over a new stadium deal for several years, and now they finally have a bullet for their gun.

Shortly after a Los Angeles Times report about the teams showing interest in a shared stadium in suburban Carson hit the internet, the teams released a joint announcement confirming the story.

• We have both been working in our home markets to find a stadium solution for many years, so far unsuccessfully.
•  We remain committed to continuing to work in our home markets throughout 2015 to try to find publicly acceptable solutions to the long-term stadium issue.
• We also both understand and respect the NFL’s relocation process, and we intend to adhere strictly to the relocation procedures that the League has set forth for Los Angeles.
• In particular, we respect the right of the NFL’s owners to decide on all Los Angeles-related relocation issues and understand that any relocation application that is filed for Los Angeles must obtain the approval of three-fourths of the NFL’s owners.
• Both teams have kept the NFL owners’ committee on Los Angeles, and the Commissioner, fully informed about our joint efforts.
• We are pursuing this stadium option in Carson for one straightforward reason: If we cannot find a permanent solution in our home markets, we have no alternative but to preserve other options to guarantee the future economic viability of our franchises.
• In short, for the remainder of 2015, we intend to move down two tracks simultaneously:
  o On track one, we will continue to work in our home markets to find permanent stadium solutions that are publicly acceptable.
  o On track two, we will work in Carson to preserve our options, and the future economic viability of our franchises, in the event that our efforts in our local markets fail.
• Throughout this process we will respect the rules and procedures set forth by the League and defer completely to the ultimate decision of the NFL’s owners.

This comes a month after Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced his intentions to build a stadium on a site in Inglewood, California. Thus, we have a high-stakes game of chicken involving five cities: Carson, Inglewood, St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland.

Given the unlikelihood of the league’s other owners approving three teams in Los Angeles, it will be interesting to see which side in the drama is bluffing.

The upfront nature of all three owners about moving to LA is also interesting, given that it seems like a good way to anger their current fanbases. Of course, if there is a lesson to be learned from the movie “Major League,” that could also be the best way to assure you can get out of town – after all, in LA, truth is often stranger than fiction.

Seattle’s post-Super Bowl injury woes continue

Seattle’s Super Bowl loss continues to be painful in more ways than one.

If Pearl Jam were to write a song about the experience, it may well be entitled “Jeremy’s Broken.”

Cornerback Jeremy Lane, who suffered a gruesome broken arm while returning a first quarter interception, also tore an ACL on the same play. Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed the severity of Lane’s condition at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

Because of the knee injury, Schneider indicated it is now likely Lane will miss the beginning of the regular season.

Lane’s absence is one of the more under-the-radar factors in Seattle’s loss. Replacement Tharold Simon was lit up multiple times by the Patriots, including on Tom Brady’s game-winning touchdown pass to Julian Edelman.

Most of the Seahawks secondary exited the Super Bowl as walking wounded, though both Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas had sustained their injuries prior to the game. Sherman will rehab his injured left elbow, while Thomas will need to undergo surgery on his injured left shoulder.

Peterson expresses unease about returning to Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings have expressed that they would welcome Adrian Peterson back with open arms in multiple recent public statements, but the running back sounds less amenable to the idea.

In an interview with ESPN Vikings beat reporter Ben Goessling, Peterson expressed his frustrations with how the team treated him during his suspension as he faced charges of child abuse in Texas.

“I’m still uneasy, to be honest with you,” Peterson told Goessling. “I’m still uneasy about a lot of things that took place within the organization.

“I know there are a lot of people in the organization who want me back. But then again, I know the ones who don’t. It’s a difficult transition, and it’s not just about me. I have a wife who was able to sit back and see how people in Minnesota said this and said that, how media in Minnesota took the head of the situation with my child, and were digging into things that weren’t even relevant. That wasn’t people in Texas — it was people in Minnesota that dug in and brought things out. That impacted me, but most importantly, it impacted the people around me — my family, my kids. This came from the state I love so much, that I wish to bring a championship to? This is how they treat me when I’m down and out? You kick me? My wife (and I), we’ve had several conversations about me returning to Minnesota, what the best options are. If I left it up to her, I’d be somewhere else today, and that’s with her weighing everything. It’s a lot for me to weigh; she understands that. But there are some things that I’m still uneasy about.”

There has been speculation about Peterson desiring to play in his home state for the Cowboys since well before his suspension, but he is still under contract to play for Minnesota next season. If the Vikings give in to what appear to be Peterson’s wishes and let him play elsewhere, it seems like they’ll want something in return from another team.