No Talks, Say Hawks
Seattle Seahawks president David Behring denied late Monday that meetings with a prospective buyer of the NFL team were ever scheduled during the weekend and reiterated the club is not for sale.
Behring’s father, Ken, who owns the Seahawks, announced earlier this month his intention to move the team from Seattle to the Los Angeles area.
“News media reports about supposed meetings (in Palm Springs, Calif.) this weekend between my father, myself and individuals interested in purchasing the Seahawks are false,” David Behring said in a statement. “Contrary to news accounts, I never stated a scheduled meeting was either taking place or was called off due to media publicity.
“The recently announced relocation of the team has caused a great deal of speculation and rumor concerning the sale of the team. My father does not intend to sell the team and we remain committed to relocating the franchise in Southern California.
“We will be working with the NFL and plan to file a formal petition to move the franchise.”
It was reported in Seattle that a meeting between Ken Behring and a prospective buyer was called off because of a newspaper article.
“… I want to again stress that it is not the fans of Seattle that are causing us to relocate to Southern California,” David Behring said. “Instead, the reason for moving is what we consider to be an insoluble stadium situation in political, financial and safety terms.
“We firmly believe that King County has breached its use agreement for the Kingdome, and that we will prevail on the merits of our case.”
The Seahawks’ lease with the Kingdome runs through 2005. Lawsuits aimed at blocking the team’s move have been filed in state and federal courts, and the Seahawks have filed court action to declare their Kingdome lease invalid because of earthquake safety concerns.
“Our organization is aggressively moving forward to prepare for the season,” David Behring said. “We have a very good, young team and excellent coaching staff all expecting to challenge for the AFC West title.
“To that end, our organization has resigned several key players and, just yesterday, signed one of the NFL’s top strong safeties in free agent Darryl Williams from the Bengals. We’ll be ready to play.”