Baltimore’s Colts? It’s Not Very Likely

Baltimore’s chances of regaining the Colts nickname and horseshoes seem be fading.

Indianapolis is making a bid to keep the Colts, and owner Jim Irsay doesn’t seem keen on moving.

Last week, the Indianapolis City Council voted for a 1% increase in the auto rental tax to fund renovations at the RCA Dome.

At a Tuesday meeting, it’s expected the city will make more concessions. For example, the Capital Improvements Board, which oversees the Dome operation, took in $8 million last year, and the Colts got only $700,000. The Colts get no share of parking, food or drink concession revenue. They also got none of the $10 million RCA paid to put its name on the dome for 10 years.

The Colts figure to get a share of this revenue in the future.

On top of that, Irsay doesn’t appear to want to give up the Colts nickname, which he would have to do if he moved the team to Cleveland, where it would become the Browns.

“Anyone who knows me knows what the colors and the horseshoe mean to me,” Irsay said. “It has nothing to do with money. The Colts are dear to my heart. My first introduction to the Colts was when I was sitting at the training table and someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me to move my butt. It was Johnny Unitas.”

Incidentally, next month will be the 25th anniversary of the purchase of the Colts by Jim’s late father, Bob Irsay. Five games into the Irsay regime, with the Colts at 1-4, Unitas was benched. It was all downhill from there.

On July 11, Bob Irsay will be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. The 357 members include Knute Rockne and Weeb Ewbank.

Imagine, Knute Rockne and Bob Irsay in the same Hall of Fame.

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It appeared to be a public relations coup for the Arizona Cardinals when they drafted quarterback Jake Plummer on the second round in April.

The Arizona State star was already a hero in Phoenix, so he figured to help sell tickets while challenging Kent Graham for the starting job.

It turns out, though, that Arizona is the worst place for Plummer to be these days.

That’s because he has been charged with four counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor assault for allegedly fondling four women during a party at a Tempe nightclub on March 23.

The Cardinals didn’t know about the charges when they drafted him, but the incident has since become front-page news in the state.

The case took another turn last week when Plummer’s high-profile agent, Leigh Steinberg, charged that the county district attorney, Rick Romley, was a publicity seeker.

“I feel like we’re dealing with a publicity hungry attorney, akin to the role Tommy Lee Jones played in ‘The Client.’ He has a full-time P.R. man. He’s trying Jake in the newspapers. He’s attempting to turn a misunderstanding in a student bar into O.J. Simpson,” Steinberg said.

He added that three of the four women have reached a settlement with Plummer in which he says no money changed hands.

“He (Romley) knows the women initiated the process but won’t say it,” Steinberg said.

“The alleged victims asked the prosecutors not to go forward. They worked out with Jake a way of resolving it in a way to protect their confidentiality. An ambitious DA (Romley) insisted it go forward . . . for his own purposes. Jake and the victims have had their lives turned upside down. It’s not what Jake and the women wanted.”

Steinberg said the facts of what happened in the nightclub are “under dispute.”

He said, “The situation occurred at a dark, noisy bar and all were drinking alcohol. But it’s not for Jake to have a press conference and explain that. He is totally willing to deal with his behavior (in court).”

An assistant in Romley’s office, Barnett Lotstein, said the officials in the office had only responded to requests from the media.

“There have have been many cases in Arizona where the defendant is a celebrity who has received a lot of publicity. Mr. Steinberg’s comments are ridiculous. The media frenzy was created by the media. If you guys decided not to put it in the newspapers, it wouldn’t be in the newspaper,” Lotstein said.

Plummer appeared in court last Tuesday to hear the charges and will be arraigned at a June 27 preliminary hearing when it will be decided if there’s enough evidence to take the case to trial.

Regardless of how all this turns out, Plummer is just the latest celebrity to find out there can be a downside to being in the spotlight.

Trying to challenge Graham for the starting quarterback job is no longer the top priority in his life.

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It was virtually a foregone conclusion, but the Pittsburgh Steelers all but made it official that they’re going with Kordell Stewart at quarterback next year when they gave him a two-year contract extension last week.

That means the Steelers will probably dump Jim Miller, who didn’t survive the opener last year, and go with Mike Tomczak as the backup.

“I still have to get out on the field and prove myself,” Stewart said. “In my heart and soul, I know I’m very capable of leading this team. Once I get the opportunity, I have to seize it.”

Stewart is probably the key player in the AFC Central Division this year. If he plays well, the Steelers figure to win the division for the fifth time in six years. If he struggles, it’s likely to be wide-open.

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Quotebook: Bob Harlan, president of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, on the off-season controversies over the visit to the White House and the ring ceremony: “I’ll tell you, being 4-12 was easier.”