Behring Lobbies Davis, Spanos

Seahawks owner Ken Behring strolled through the lobby of the Los Angeles Airport Hilton Wednesday night and bumped into Oakland Raiders boss Al Davis and San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos.

“Why in the world would you move into Los Angeles?” Spanos said with the look of a businessman who just had money taken out of his pocket. “It just isn’t right. They’re not ready. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Behring tried to diffuse Spanos’ resistance by saying, “I had to get out of there,” referring to Seattle. Behring tried to lobby Davis in the hotel lobby by reminding him that he’s voted for everything the Raiders boss presented through the years. The argument didn’t sell.

Now that he’s arrived at the owners meeting and the NFL worked out a deal to let the Cleveland Browns move to Baltimore, Behring will be quizzed hard today about his abrupt swiping of the Seattle football team. Like Art Modell, who left behind the Browns logo, tradition and a potential three-year void of pro football, Behring has moving vans heading down I-5 to Anaheim and has his franchise in limbo until two Washington Superior Courts unravel whether earthquake concerns can break one of the NFL’s toughest stadium leases.

“I don’t know where I’m going to be down there,” Behring told Spanos and Davis about his Los Angeles plans. “I might end up in Cleveland.”

Davis turned and gave him a halfhearted greeting to Los Angeles even though it didn’t appear to be sincere. Davis joked later that moves such as Behring’s are making him look good because he never left a city with years remaining on a lease.

“Maybe we can work something out,” Behring said later in a brief interview by the elevator. “There’s no need for both of us (Seattle and Behring) to be going at each other like this. Cooler heads might prevail and maybe we can work something out.”

Though not elaborating on what might be worked out with Seattle, Behring might not necessarily be thinking in the terms of selling to a billionaire Northwest savior. He just watched Modell, a league traditionalist, receive league endorsement on a plan that would leave Browns fans without a Dawg Pound until 1999 unless an existing team moves there.

By establishing turf in Los Angeles, Behring believes the league and his fellow owners won’t do anything because of the anti-trust laws. Longtime owners such as Ralph Wilson of Buffalo are pushing for the league to block moves at the risk of a lawsuit.

Around the league

Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar proposed a $465 million plan for a domed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront that would provide a new home for the Bears. … San Diego Padres owner John Moores wants to bring together investors to attract an NFL team to Houston to follow the Oilers, the Houston Chronicle reported. … The annual NFL scouting combine opened at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis as more than 300 of the nation’s top college players began arriving for workouts and interviews with team representatives. … The Pittsburgh Steelers accused the New York Jets of tampering with free-agent quarterback Neil O’Donnell.