'85 Chronology-Limbo

Event Date: August 1st, 1985

Event Description: Breakers Need Capital

Source: United Press International

The Portland Breakers, facing the possibility of their players being declared free agents, will know Wednesday whether the club will be given two months to come up with about $500,000 in overdue paychecks.

The U.S. Football League Players Association at 1 p.m. PDT Tuesday gave the Breakers an extension of 17 hours to reach a settlement. The club said it could not meet the payroll until Oct. 1.

“I think we now have an accomodation the players can live with,” said Jack Galmiche, a Breakers vice president. “One of the things we have to resolve is that when San Antonio didn't meet its deadline, its players became free agents. The league would be doing something different in our case.”

Louis Bullard, the Breakers' alternate player representative, said: “Our union and the Breakers have been working extremely hard to come up with a workable sollution. I'm now optimistic.”

Club president John Ralston said he was working to get an “infusion of capital. We need about 60 days for this to take place,” he said.

Ralston said team owner Joe Canizaro was told by his bankers they would not allow him to “divert any more money to the team.”

Galmiche said it would be difficult for the Breakers to find the money to cover the players' payroll in less than 60 days.

“The plan is to spend 30 days working on getting our cash position to a point where we can post our letter of credit, be it for $1.5 million or whatever, that the league may require on Sept. 1,” he said. “Then during the following 30 days, armed with the information as to what teams have posted their letters of credit and are ready to go next season, we can go to potential investors knowing exactly what's going to happen in 1986.”

As part of a proposed agreement with the players, the Breakers are offering to allow any of them to try out with NFL clubs and if they fail to make the team to be ready to come back to Portland. He said he expected six or seven Breakers would go to NFL camps.

One player having financial problems because of the paycheck delay was linebacker Greg Storr, who once played for the Minnesota Vikings.

“I've been so disgusted,” he said. “I'm tired and worn out. I got married May 7 and don't have money for my honeymoon.”

“This isn't like the NFL, where most everybody's making $200,000 or $250,000. They owe me about $20,000 out of about $50,000 or $60,000, counting incentives. I came here with about $5,000 to my name and I'm down to about $500 now.”

The Breakers were reported to have spent more than three months talking to more than 100 businessmen in Oregon about putting a total of $5 million into the franchise.

more to come......