Milstein Sues Redskins Brass

Howard Milstein filed suit Monday against Washington Redskins president John Kent Cooke and general manager Charley Casserly, claiming they interfered with his failed attempt to buy the team for $800 million.

"This is not a lawsuit about money. It is a lawsuit about principle," Milstein's group, Washington Sports Ventures, said in a statement released through the law firm Boies & Schiller.

"Cooke and Casserly's regrettable conduct in blocking and interfering with our bid to acquire the Washington Redskins, and their refusal to even discuss an amicable resolution, leaves us with no other recourse."

The suit seeks unspecified damages. It does not ask for an injunction to stop the sale of the team to Daniel Snyder, Milstein's former partner.

Snyder formed his own group and submitted his own $800 million bid last month after Milstein, a New York real estate man, withdrew. Snyder's bid is expected to be approved by NFL owners next week.

Milstein withdrew his bid, which would have set a record price for a professional sports franchise, at a league meeting April 7 after it became apparent that he did not have the 24 votes needed for approval among the 31 NFL owners.

"It is clear that, with the support of Mr. Casserly, Mr. Cooke engaged in a systematic effort to undermine the bidding process in an attempt to acquire the team for himself," the statement said.

"He effectively used league officials and certain owners themselves to unfairly block our bid."

Cooke called the charges "petulant."

"Mr. Milstein withdrew his bid to buy the Redskins. I did, too," Cooke said.

"The difference between us is Mr. Milstein sues. I will go on to play in another arena. In the meantime, if I must, I will gladly defend myself against these petulant charges which have no merit whatsoever."

Casserly had no comment. The NFL also declined comment. A spokesman for Snyder said only that Snyder has nothing to do with the suit. Milstein declined to elaborate on the suit beyond his released statement.

As part of Milstein's withdrawal, he reached an oral agreement not to sue the league in return for his $30 million deposit. That agreement has never been signed, and Milstein's statement called it a "separate matter."

Cooke's father, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, died in April 1997 and ordered in his will that the team be sold and the process used to establish a charitable foundation for college scholarships.

Milstein won the resulting bidding war, but was opposed by many NFL owners for several reasons. Some felt he was using too much borrowed money, others were concerned about his ownership style, while several voiced a preference for Cooke.

Milstein said he invited Cooke to join his group, and that Cooke should have supported Milstein's bid once it was chosen by the trustees of the elder Cooke's estate. John Kent Cook was also a trustee, but did not take part in negotiations for a buyer because he was also bidding.

"In his role as an executor of his father's will and trustee of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Mr. Cooke had an obligation to support our purchase of the Redskins, which provided $75 million more for disadvantaged youth than Mr. Cooke's own best bid," Milstein's statement said.

Milstein said any damages awarded would be used to fund a Washington-based foundation "dedicated to helping young people."

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