Report: Qualcomm Stadium requires nearly $80 million in fixes

The San Diego Chargers' stadium needs a costly facelift, a finding that further clouds the team's future in the city.

Qualcomm Stadium, the Chargers' home field since 1967, needs $79.8 million in maintenance, repairs and improvements over the next seven years, according to a new report obtained Friday by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Qualcomm Stadium has been the San Diego Chargers' home since 1967. (Julia Robertson/Associated Press)

The two-part study, conducted for the city of San Diego, says the city will continue to lose more than $10 million per year operating the stadium through 2020 regardless of whether the Chargers stay, move to a new site in San Diego or leave the county.

Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani believes the city has some tough decisions to make.

"We believe we've presented some better alternatives," Fabiani said after reviewing the report Friday. "If people don't want to pursue those alternatives, then obviously the city has to make decisions about what to do with the building, and the decisions will only get more difficult as the building gets older.”

The report concluded that the stadium needs repairs including $18 million in mechanical issues, $17 million in site repairs and $12 million in plumbing. A new video display board would come with a $9.6 million price tag.

The Chargers' lease runs through 2020, but the team can break it at any time by paying an early termination fee, which presently sits at approximately $24 million. The Chargers have been on the hunt for a new home for years, and they continue to be in talks with Mayor Jerry Sanders to build a new downtown stadium near Petco Park, home of baseball's San Diego Padres since 2004.

Sanders released a statement on the study highlighting the difficult position in which the city finds itself.

"It's certainly no secret that Qualcomm Stadium is one of the oldest stadiums in the country and will consume an ever-increasing amount of taxpayer dollars to maintain it," the statement reads. "That's just one of the reasons we're working with the Chargers to develop a multiuse sports complex proposal that we can present to the voters. ... The proposal will, of course, take into account the financial implications of leaving Qualcomm Stadium and converting the site to other uses."

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Pats' Welker healthy, not worried about contract situation

Wes Welker provided one of the NFL's feel-good stories in 2010, making an early return from a serious knee injury for another productive season with the New England Patriots.

Wes Welker has 432 receptions in his four seasons with the Patriots, including 83 in 2010. (Robert E. Klein/Associated Press)

Welker is entering the final year of his contract, in which he'll receive $4.225 million in base and prorated salary, but the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver said money isn't on his mind as he prepares for his fifth season in Foxborough.

"I'm not really worried about it (a new contract) at all. Either way, before, after, during, it really doesn't matter," Welker told The Boston Globe on Saturday at his youth football clinic in Peabody, Mass. "I enjoy playing ball, so whenever it comes, it comes. Really, it's probably the last thing on my mind. I just want to go out play some winning football for my team and get out there and play."

Welker had reconstructive knee surgery in February 2010 after he tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in the 2009 regular-season finale. He underwent rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder a month later. The surgeries led to a difficult offseason that focused more on rehabilitation and less on a standard training regimen.

Despite the serious nature of the injuries, Welker played in 15 regular-season games for the Patriots in 2010, finishing with 86 catches for 848 yards and seven touchdowns. He had seven catches for 57 yards in a playoff loss to the New York Jets.

Welker has done the bulk of his offseason training work at the Bommarito Performance Systems clinic in Florida. Many other NFL players -- including Matt Forte, Greg Olsen and Chad Ochocinco -- also are training there.

"I feel so much better. It's been great, really," Welker said. "Being able to train, I have confidence in everything and I feel good out there and the running, there's not achiness, there's none of that, it's just going out there and being able to do everything that I've been able to in the past and not have the aches and pains in the morning or anytime through it all. So it's been nice to see."

Many teams around the league have gotten together for players-only workouts during this unusual offseason, but the Patriots have been quiet in that department. Welker said he and quarterback Tom Brady "talk quite a bit," though setting up workouts has been a challenge.

"We're always trying to coordinate a schedule," Welker said. "He's really busy, I'm really busy, and it's kind of tough not being able to just go up to the Patriots' facility and really get together and do something, but we're working on our schedules to get together and make sure we do some work."

Welker didn't hide his frustration when talking about the lockout that has shut down the league since March.

"Being players and growing up and not having much, the fact that we're squabbling about money is kind of ridiculous to me," Welker said. "I came into this league ... I probably made more money than I thought I ever would in a lifetime, so everything from here is just icing on the cake. So hopefully we get something fair done and we can move on and get to where we can play some football."

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Pat Williams says Frazier told him Vikings want him to return

The Minnesota Vikings might have their vaunted Williams Wall for one more season after all.

Pat Williams, who'll be a free agent once the NFL lockout ends, now pegs his chances of returning to the Vikings as 50-50, he told The Star Tribune on Friday night, just before teammate Ray Edwards' boxing debut in Hinckley, Minn.

Williams, 38, said he talked to Vikings coach Leslie Frazier last month during the short time that the lockout was lifted by a Minnesota court, and the defensive tackle received assurances that the team wants him to return. Williams previously said he didn't trust the Vikings, with whom he has spent six seasons after eight years with the Buffalo Bills.

"It's just guys up in the office, man," Williams said when The Star Tribune asked him whom he didn't trust. "You know how the front office is. It's just certain guys up in the office. I don't have a problem with Coach Frazier. Me and Coach Frazier talked. We talked a lot of times. It's just people up in the office, man. With a lockout going on now, it's all the same. Business."

Williams also said he was cleared to lift weights last week, after he recovered from offseason surgery to fix a torn left triceps. And when he does return, there's the whole matter of a four-game NFL-imposed suspension. In March, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the league's right to ban Williams and his linemate, Kevin Williams, after they tested positive for a banned direutic in 2008.

Kevin Williams, 30, decided not to appeal that decision, but Pat Williams isn't giving up.

"We're hoping everything gets solved ... so we don't get suspended, but if we do, we do," Pat Williams told The Star Tribune on Friday.

Kevin Williams jokingly added: "With all this (lockout stuff) going on, maybe they'll forget about it and we can go on with our regular work. If it happens, it happens. I found a great place to work out in Little Rock. I'll be there getting ready and see you in Week 5 if that's the case."

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Are '72 Dolphins the NFL's biggest divas? Get real, Morris says

Are the 1972 Miami Dolphins really the NFL's ultimate divas? Mercury Morris doesn't believe so, and he had a few choice words for the NFL.com writer who ranked the legendary team No. 1.

In a recent "Pick Six" column, Adam Rank called the undefeated '72 Dolphins the game's top divas, focusing on the players' supposed proclivity to celebrate any team falling short of matching Miami's perfect record with a champagne toast.

Rank: '72 Dolphins great but hyped I'd like to thank Mercury Morris for proving my point and shining a little more light on me here on the moon.

Morris talks about a lack of respect for his 1972 Dolphins, but I think it should be noted that he's giving a lack of respect to the Canton Bulldogs, who went undefeated for two seasons, in 1922 and 1923. But I don't blame him for that because the Bulldogs' Hall of Fame coach, Guy Chamberlin, didn't pop a bottle of champagne after other undefeated teams finally lost.

Seriously, the '72 Dolphins are one of the best teams in league history, and I have the ultimate respect for their accomplishment. But do we have to hear about them every time a team starts a season 2-0?

-- Adam Rank

But Morris, a Dolphins running back and kick returner from 1969 to 1975, recently said he could recall just two champagne toasts in the past 39 years, scoffing at the widely held belief that it's an annual celebration. So, Morris took exception to Rank's characterization.

"The moon has no light, so the only way you see this guy is when he's actually talking about real stars," Morris said Wednesday on "The Finsiders," a podcast on the Dolphins' official website.

Instead, Morris remembers the '72 Dolphins as a lunch pail-type squad that managed to translate hard work and unselfishness into immortality.

"During that era, we were a middle-class team with middle-class values," he said. "We had a middle-class coach who preached middle-class ethics: Work hard, practice hard, do something extra, stay out when practice is over and provide yourself a winning edge."

The Dolphins went 17-0 under Don Shula's guidance in 1972, capping their dream season with a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. Morris and Larry Czonka formed a vaunted backfield, becoming the first pair of teammates to run for 1,000 yards in an NFL season.

Several teams have come close to joining the 1972 Dolphins in perfection, but they've always fallen short. The 1985 Chicago Bears began the season 12-0 before losing to a Dan Marino-led Dolphins team on "Monday Night Football." The 1998 Denver Broncos started 13-0 before stumbling against the New York Giants. The Indianapolis Colts began 13-0 in 2005 and 14-0 in 2009 before falling in each instance. No team came closer than the 2007 New England Patriots, who won 18 consecutive games before a stunning loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Despite the unmatched achievement, Morris doesn't believe his team receives the respect it deserves. To Morris, Rank is just the latest in a long line of haters who can't properly contextualize what the Dolphins pulled off in 1972.

"That's why you have these sour grapes like people calling us a diva," Morris said. "People don't really understand what it takes to get there. They think it's simply winning, it's more than that. Because (out) of the 4,680 tries that they've had since the National Football League came into existence, it's only happened one time, and we're sitting in that seat."

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Scott sees Super Bowl-or-bust situation for confident Jets

Bart Scott believes the bravado-filled New York Jets need to win a Super Bowl or risk being considered "a joke."

The linebacker told ESPN that Jets players support coach Rex Ryan's latest "guarantee" that the team will win the Super Bowl, but they know they have lots to do to make it happen.

Brooks: Holmes or Edwards for Jets?

"That's what we got when we hired him, and we love it," Scott said in an interview posted Friday on ESPN.com. "That's his personality. We back him 100 percent. Because I know if he's out there writing checks, I'm going to have to help him cash them, so I know I'd better have my butt ready ... because the target's going to be on our backs as well. We embrace it, we embrace the challenge.

"I think it's about time we get it done and see this thing through, because, after a while, people are going to start looking at it as a joke."

Scott also touched on other subjects, including:

» Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez: "I think it's time for him to take that next step ... to the upper echelon of quarterbacks in this league. ... He's had his ups, he's had his downs, but he's stayed positive through it. He's one of the hardest-working -- not quarterbacks, but hardest-working people I've ever seen. It's time for him to take the next step and really take control of this team and not so much have to hold onto the steering wheel but actually guide the car."

» Frustration with the NFL lockout: "I think we're bordering now on the verge of insanity. ... Fans don't want to hear about the lockout, they don't want to hear about people arguing over $9 billion. They want the bottom line, because at the end of the day, these guys are saving up throughout the entire year to come out and spend their hard-earned money to see football, and we're telling them they can spend their hard-earned money, but we're not playing until we figure it out.

"I listen to (New England Patriots owner Robert) Kraft, and I don't agree with the Patriots on a lot of things, but I agree with him that we're really on the verge of really irritating our fan base and damaging the fabric of the game."

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Vikings DE Griffen wants to put offseason issues behind him

Everson Griffen won't deny that his offseason has been unacceptable. Now the Minnesota Vikings defensive end is trying to show his team that he's back on the right track.

Griffen was arrested twice in the Los Angeles area in January, but he relocated to Minnesota last month to focus on training for a new season, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Saturday.

"I had a little rough stretch," said Griffen, who works out daily with linebacker E.J. Henderson, linebacker Jasper Brinkley and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. "Coaches want me back, and that's the place for me to be. ... I'm just trying to make changes. I've got big years coming up. I'm just trying to show the Minnesota Vikings I'm here for good."

Griffen was arrested for allegedly being drunk in public and resisting arrest over the course of one week (the charges were later dropped, he said). When the 23-year-old later announced that he was hosting a Facebook-advertised party in Las Vegas, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier intervened. The party was called off after Frazier delivered a clear message on what's expected from Griffen both on and off the field.

"He said, 'Know what you're here for,' " Griffen said. "I'm here to play football. I'm here to represent the Minnesota Vikings, and I want to represent them in a good way, not a bad way."

Griffen was a fourth-round draft pick by the Vikings last year after skipping his senior season at USC, and the team acknowledged his penchant for inconsistent play. But Griffen saw more playing time toward the end of his rookie season and finished with 11 tackles, also playing on special teams. The 6-foot-3, 275-pounder in line to compete for a more significant role in 2011 with starter Ray Edwards on the verge of free agency.

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Lions fans question 'Calvin Johnson rule' in chat with Goodell

Forget about the lockout. When Detroit Lions fans chatted with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday, they seemed more interested in discussing the rule that overturned Calvin Johnson's apparent game-winning touchdown catch in their team's season-opening loss to the Chicago Bears last year.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press, Goodell touched on a number of subjects during a 30-minute conference call with Lions season-ticket holders, but he disagreed with the fans' contention that the Johnson rule, in which officials determined the receiver didn't have possession of the ball before losing it as he went to celebrate, is unfair.

Brooks: Lions will roar on defense

"What people want is consistency in the rules," Goodell said. "Any time there's judgment, that's when you sometimes get the inconsistency. If you're a fan from one team, you're looking at it from one perspective. If you're a fan from another team, you're looking at it from another perspective. You want to try to make it as black-and-white as possible, and you want to make sure it's as consistent as possible from game to game."

Still, the questioning continued, and Goodell further explained the rule.

"There are really three elements to any catch," he said. "No. 1, you've got to secure and control the ball in your hands. And No. 2, you've got to maintain control when you've got two feet down, or any other part of the body other than your hands. And No. 3 is you have to make sure that -- and this clarification we'll add to the (rule) book -- you must control the ball long enough after A and B have occurred that you've caught the ball cleanly and you've got two feet down or another body part, you've got to control that long enough. And that's something we have oftentimes looked at in our rules.”

Other topics discussed were similar to those raised on other conference calls -- Goodell has spoken to fans of roughly half of the 32 teams this offseason. Goodell reiterated his stance that the labor dispute between owners and players needs to be resolved through collective bargaining, and he said there isn't a drop-dead date at which time the 2011 season would be in jeopardy and there hasn't been talk of replacement players. He also said the league will look to have "reasonable" free-agency rules in place for 2011.

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