If you ever wondered who the NFL's most powerful owner is, ESPN.com's behind-the-scenes story about the league's relocation to Los Angeles is a good place to start. The answer, if you didn't know it already, is that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones likely finishes first in the owner power rankings. The ESPN report makes it clear that he was the most influential of the league's owners in making sure Rams owner Stan Kroenke's plan to move to Inglewood was the winner, even though that was up in the air until the last minute. The entire story, written by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta, is worth your time if you care about what happens among the power brokers in the NFL. It's a complex story of alliances, double-crosses, hurt feelings and suspicions of league favoritism. It paints Kroenke as the aggressor in the L.A. story, and San Diego Chargers CEO Dean Spanos as the league loyalist who got the short end of the stick. And Jones, it appears, had a huge say in steering the league toward the Inglewood plan that Kroenke had. The story places the "new money" owners, led by Jones, on the side of the Inglewood plan and Kroenke. The "old money" owners wanted Carson, and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson lobbied for that, going as far as flying to meet with some owners privately to garner support. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger was brought in to run the Carson project, after Richardson met and talked with him a few times. The owners thought Iger's involvement might offset Kroenke's money, the ESPN story said. Meanwhile, Jones was on the side of the Inglewood project and worked the phones with owners to pitch the idea of the Rams and Chargers sharing a stadium there. That would place the Chargers as the Rams' tenants, basically. Jones encouraged Kroenke to pledge to allow a partner in the new stadium, which he did, ESPN said.
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