Policy Heads for Cleveland as L.A. Passes

SAN FRANCISCO —  In the next few days it will be officially announced that resigning 49er President Carmen Policy is joining billionaire Al Lerner in a bid to own the new Cleveland Browns’ franchise, leaving behind a San Francisco organization hellbent on self-destruction, and raising the question: Why did Los Angeles fumble the chance to secure such an influential force within NFL circles?

The answer: Los Angeles’ bid to regain football remains as disorganized as ever, with the survivors now spending much of their time trying to sabotage each other’s efforts rather than pressuring the NFL for immediate action.

Policy, at the heart of the 49ers’ success for the last decade, quit Wednesday because of an irreconcilable split with owner Eddie DeBartolo and an offer to gain an equity interest and a front-office position in Cleveland’s expansion franchise.

It had been a foregone conclusion in recent months that Policy would soon be ousted, and league officials had been encouraging prospective Los Angeles ownership groups to aggressively court Policy. Both Ed Roski, the force behind the New Coliseum Partners, and Michael Ovitz, pushing a Carson site, had been in contact with Policy.

But Policy, considered by many a candidate to one day replace Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and a strong advocate for the NFL returning to Los Angeles, was not impressed with either Los Angeles pitch and turned his attention to Ohio, where he had grown up.

At his farewell news conference, Policy said he was leaving the 49ers because, “I’m excited about the opportunities that have been presented to me,” but “no, no one from Los Angeles has approached me lately.”

Why not? Why not press for the most available convincing voice within NFL circles? Why not fill the void in L.A. leadership with someone who had the wits to wage a successful campaign in Northern California for a new publicly funded stadium?

Ovitz declined comment, and Roski said, “Carmen is a great guy and he would have been a great asset for L.A.”

Someone in Cleveland, however, took action. Lerner, despised by many Brown fans because he played a key role in helping Art Modell move his team to Baltimore, will have a credible front man in Policy, which should easily bring the required 23 NFL votes to win ownership.

Los Angeles and the 49ers, meanwhile, have been left behind to sift through the rubble.

The 49ers will be run on an interim basis by Larry Thrailkill, the chief operating officer of the DeBartolo Corporation, whose football experience has been limited to playing in high school.

Dwight Clark, famous for “The Catch” and still learning on the job as director of football operations, will be in charge of the team’s day-to-day operation. Thrailkill said no one has been contacted to fill Policy’s vacancy, despite reports that former 49er coach Bill Walsh will soon be hired.

If Walsh is hired, Coach Steve Mariucci, who was handpicked by Policy a year ago, will be subject to countless second-guessing. If Walsh is not hired, Mariucci better win, because Mike Holmgren, expected to leave the Packers at season’s end, will be looking to become a general manager and coach on the West Coast.

So why have the 49ers set themselves up for such instability? Policy had not talked with DeBartolo since January, although the two had been friends for 30 years. Policy had been critical of DeBartolo’s gambling interests, which ignited a rift, and after DeBartolo recused himself from team operations while waiting to see if he was indicted in Louisiana on gambling charges, Policy sided with Denise DeBartolo York, placing himself between brother and sister.

“The 49ers are bigger than any one individual, and while this is a heartbreaker for me,” Policy said, “I’m charged up about going into a new territory.”

That new territory will not be Los Angeles, which continues to falter in its organizational efforts to gain NFL interest.

Hollywood Park, tiring from the NFL’s inactivity, is no longer pursuing a football franchise, leaving for now only the New Coliseum Partners, Ovitz’s Carson site and a shaky Orange County presentation for the El Toro air base.

The Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission has put together a conference on July 30 to educate the media and drum up interest in the NFL, which will include an address from NFL Stadium Committee Chairman Jerry Richardson. But already there’s sniping, with charges being leveled behind the scenes that the event, which will include Los Angeles Councilman and chief Coliseum proponent Mark Ridley-Thomas as a panelist, is being staged for only the benefit of the New Coliseum Partners.

The NFL has received complaining phone calls from New Coliseum competitors. Representatives of the New Coliseum Partners, meanwhile, have conducted a smear Carson campaign, suggesting that Ovitz is pushing a toxic dump site that will have football fans glowing in the dark.

And now Policy, the best referee available, is headed to Cleveland, leaving behind these words, which read like the job description for what has been missing in Los Angeles to date.

“I was a problem-solver, who handled stress, adversity and transition in a straightforward, intelligent and appropriate way,” Policy said. “That’s what I’d like my legacy to be.”