Tagliabue Suggests Two Monday Games

NFL owners may be asked to consider the possibility of two Monday night games each week to avoid the recurring problem of meaningless late-season games in the league’s showcase telecast.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue floated the idea in the second of a two-part interview aired Thursday on HBO’s “Inside the NFL.”

“We’d like to look to see if we could put more than one game in the prime-time window,” he said. “The one that is more attractive would be telecast nationally; the other could be telecast regionally.”

The Monday night schedule is released in early spring. The majority of the prime-time games include teams with winning records the previous season.

But parity induced by the salary cap has led to drastic annual fluctuations. If this season ended now, nine of last season’s 12 playoff teams would not reach the postseason.

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The NFL’s salary cap is rising by a little more than 5% next season, a smaller increase than in some other years.

The NFL Management Council told owners this week that the cap is expected to be between $78.7 million and $79.2 million per team for 2004. Those figures are subject to adjustment after the league’s final gross revenues are determined.

The cap is $74.8 million this season. The new cap takes effect March 2, when the contract year begins.

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New York Giant tight end Jeremy Shockey did not practice Thursday and probably will sit out a fifth consecutive game this weekend against the New Orleans Saints.

Shockey, who practiced Wednesday, has not played since spraining his left knee during a 27-7 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 9.

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New York Jet defensive end John Abraham, a Pro Bowl selection the last two seasons, was put on season-ending injured reserve because of a strained right groin muscle.

Abraham, 25, was limited to seven games this season because of the injury and finished with six sacks and 32 tackles. He had 10 sacks and 82 tackles last season.

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The survivors of Korey Stringer owe the Minnesota Vikings and other defendants in the family’s lawsuit more than $47,000, a judge ruled.

Hennepin County (Minn.) District Judge Gary Larson ruled that plaintiffs Kelci Stringer, the player’s widow, his estate, and his parents, James Stringer and Cathy Reed-Stringer, are responsible for $47,588.03 that defendants spent on expert witnesses, depositions, medical records, court fees and other lawsuit-related expenses.

The judge filed the order this week. In April, Larson threw out most of the lawsuit’s claims and dismissed the allegations of negligence against the Vikings and their employees.

Korey Stringer, a 27-year-old Pro Bowl offensive tackle, collapsed after practicing in high heat and humidity on July 31, 2001, at the Vikings’ training camp. He died of heatstroke the next day. His survivors then sued the Vikings; team officials, and some doctors and clinics.