VISION QUEST : Mark Ridley-Thomas Sees Full Stands at Coliseum for an NFL Game, but He Is Pressing His Point to a League That Sees Its Games Being Played Somewhere Else

He just sat there for months and months, all alone, keeping the faith in a Coliseum long ago razed in the thinking process of most every NFL decision-maker.

The Los Angeles city councilman with three names, who couldn’t tell you who plays quarterback for Green Bay, continued to launch political platitudes as though what he was saying might make a difference.

Hey, Mark Ridley-Thomas, get a clue: The NFL will not be returning to Los Angeles in a renovated, new or any other kind of Coliseum.

“I just don’t believe that’s true,” says Ridley-Thomas, and with a wink toward long-time critics of the Coliseum, he adds, “Quite frankly, I might have been oblivious to all that talk about the Coliseum around the NFL because I’m not really a sports buff. I’ve probably read the sports section in the last nine months more than I’ve read it in the previous 41 years of my life.”

Turning ignorance into an ally, the man who tried to play high school football only to last one day before quitting is at the forefront of Los Angeles’ bid to gain NFL favor.

Tonight, he will join Edward Roski Jr., one of the owners of the Kings, and visit with NFL owners in San Diego in Los Angeles’ most significant pitch to date. They will show the owners $480,000 in signed checks and commitments for luxury suites in a new football stadium within the walls of the Coliseum.

They will ask for the return of pro football to Los Angeles by 2000, with Roski and King partner Philip Anschutz putting up more than $500 million for a team and construction of a new stadium.

“Every step is an important step to help the non-believers get some religion,” Ridley-Thomas says. “All the NFL wants is something that works, something that makes sense.”

The NFL wants one more thing: It wants the Coliseum to go away. But in a little more than 15 months, Ridley-Thomas has:

--Submitted a proposal to the City Council on Feb. 7, 1996, that was passed a few days later, calling for a John Ferraro-chaired committee to aggressively seek the NFL’s return to the Coliseum.

“We were hearing things about Seattle coming here and not considering the Coliseum,” Ridley-Thomas says. “We needed to protect our resources.”

--Lobbied Mayor Richard Riordan to endorse the Coliseum, thereby eliminating the competition, most notably Dodger owner Peter O’Malley.

“We were surprised to hear the mayor say that,” Ridley-Thomas says, “but that was a tremendous boost, and if he hadn’t saluted the proposition, we wouldn’t be at this point.”

--Received an exclusive window of opportunity to pursue pro football from NFL executives.

--Traded political support for a new downtown sports arena for political support for the Coliseum.

“That was a decisive turning point, a pivotal point in leveraging,” Ridley-Thomas says. “I was willing to give the arena support, but it was conditional: I just wanted to make something happen so the city could have two new sports venues.”

--Gained city- and county-wide assistance for the Coliseum, resulting in models of a new facility, finance plans and, according to officials, cooperation unmatched on most any local project in recent memory.

--Organized daily luncheons and tours of the Coliseum and the construction site for the new adjacent science center with country club representatives, corporations and anyone with influence and money who might buy a luxury suite in a new football stadium.

“This is huge,” Ridley-Thomas says. “In addition to the economics, it means so much more because of the chance to revitalize this part of the city.”

--Survived two disastrous meetings with NFL owners, in October and then in March.

“It was obvious that if this was going to come together, we had to have an owner,” Ridley-Thomas says. “The NFL was telling us not to do that, but we felt it had to happen.”

--Recruited Roski and Anschutz to impress NFL owners with their money and Coliseum resolve.

“Almost from the first time I showed Roski the model of the new Coliseum, I knew he was going to do it,” Ridley-Thomas says. “He said, ‘What’s next?’ Right then we had ignition.”

Hey, Mark Ridley-Thomas, get a clue: The NFL will not be returning to Los Angeles in a renovated, in a new or in any other kind of Coliseum.

The NFL will welcome Roski and Anschutz’s participation in the process, but already has it figured privately that they will come to understand it cannot work at the Coliseum, and that they will be forced to look elsewhere. In doing so, Roski and Anschutz will finally bury the Coliseum, doing the dirty work for the NFL without the NFL being blamed.

There are 30 NFL owners and 23 of them need to vote for football to return to the Coliseum, and presently there isn’t one willing to provide even a hint of affirmation.

When Roski and Anschutz announced their intentions last week, Denver Bronco owner Pat Bowlen was contacted because of his familiarity with Anschutz, a Denver-based billionaire.

But Bowlen’s first remarks had to do with another billionaire, Rupert Murdoch, and his decision to buy the Dodgers. Bowlen said this presented “new hope” for the Chavez Ravine site as a potential landing place for the NFL.

It is still all about perception. The NFL owners do not want to publicly state their disregard for the Coliseum neighborhood and get into a fight with Ridley-Thomas, but privately they show no interest whatsoever in hearing anything more about the Coliseum.

“I don’t sense that it is a very substantial battle at all in talking with NFL owners,” says Ridley-Thomas, and he’s alone again in the Coliseum, keeping the faith. “If they feel that way, people are just going to have to be educated about the neighborhood. This is a revitalization project, and the revitalization is already under way. Property values are already up in the area. Developers are taking a look.”

In Los Angeles, those interested in the return of pro football had to be impressed with the King owners’ involvement, especially because of their apparent success in securing a new downtown sports arena. But throw in the fact they want to fight for the Coliseum, and just how much does that impact reaction?

“You get the feedback [from earlier economic surveys], and there’s strong affirmation in Los Angeles for the new Coliseum,” Ridley-Thomas says. “Dress it up, clean it up, do all the things you need to make it happen, including secured parking, and the people have indicated we’re there in big numbers.

“What about the suites? These suites are moving. We’re getting tremendous positive feedback.”

Hey, Mark Ridley-Thomas, not a chance.

“This isn’t about moving mountains and has very little to do with naivete,” Ridley-Thomas says. “I see the resources we have in this city to face such a challenge and believe we are on our way to getting it done.

“If we decisively get our act together, we can define the perimeters of the decision-making process. If Los Angeles becomes a viable option sooner than later, it can have an impact on everything else that is happening in the NFL. We just have to be ready to show them we’re a [first-class] operation.”

Spoken like a real football guy, who has gained significant yardage, but if he is insistent on the Coliseum, it still looks like a punting situation.

“I don’t buy that,” Ridley-Thomas says. “We’re stronger in our commitment than we ever have been, and that’s our message to the NFL.”