Tagliabue Tells Behring He’s Walking A ‘Fine’ Line

The noose around Ken Behring’s neck tightened a notch Wednesday night when National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue told Behring he would fine the Seattle Seahawks owner unless he returned the team to Seattle.

The fine, for conduct detrimental to the league, would be at least $500,000, sources close to the negotiations said.

Behring and Tagliabue met Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Fla., where the NFL’s finance committee is also meeting.

Tagliabue, reached at his hotel room in West Palm Beach, would not discuss what transpired during the meeting.

“I’m not going to be making any comment,” he said.

Behring could not be reached for comment. “I have no knowledge at all about a meeting between the two of them,” said William Temko, one of Behring’s attorneys.

But Seattle football boosters said Tagliabue intended to tell Behring that he would fine him unless Behring returned the Seahawks and all their equipment to their headquarters in Kirkland, Wash.

“If the meeting was as successful as we hope, a rather clear message will have been delivered,” said one Seattle-area official, who declined to be identified.

In the three weeks since Behring informed King County officials he was breaking his Kingdome lease and moving the Seahawks to Southern California, Behring has transferred much of the team’s training equipment to a temporary home in Anaheim, Calif., and reached a tentative deal to lease a new headquarters there.

After the NFL owners’ meeting two weeks ago, Tagliabue said he told Behring to return the equipment and stay in Seattle until a court voided his Kingdome lease, which has 10 years to run.

At the time, Behring denied that Tagliabue had told him to return the team.

Behring has filed a lawsuit claiming that the lease is no longer valid because the Kingdome is no longer the first-class facility the lease requires and would be unsafe in an earthquake.

Meanwhile, a memo from the Seahawks’ front office has been sent to staff members telling them to prepare to move into Rams Park in Anaheim at the end of March.