Paper boy becomes money man in NFL

Youngstown native Dominic Corsell oversees the salary cap for the 49ers.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
Years ago when he delivered the Vindicator after school, Youngstown native Dominic Corsell never imagined he one day would become one of the most important components in a NFL franchise.
A 1979 graduate of Ursuline High School, Corsell joined the DeBartolo Corporation shortly after graduating from Youngstown State University in 1984.
An audit supervisor for the next six years, Corsell jumped at the chance to move to California to work with the 49ers, then a subsidiary of the Boardman-based corporation.
"Talk about being at the right place at the right time," said Corsell in a recent telephone interview from the 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.
"I was 30 and single; traveling all the time wasn't a problem," Corsell said.
Corsell's first job was to serve as a liaison between the football team's front office and the corporation's then chief financial officer, Eddie DeBartolo Jr.
Position created: In 1994, the NFL adopted free agency and a salary cap, thus creating the need for a salary cap coordinator to monitor team expenses and provide insight into the future.
"By 1996, my office had been moved into the football office," Corsell said, "because I was working with coaches and scouts as much as anyone."
Corsell's title is Football Operations/Salary Cap Coordinator. He serves as liaison between football operations and the 49ers' business office.
Essentially, Corsell is responsible for the management of player salaries as they relate to compliance with the NFL salary cap rules.
He also must research player movement and contract developments throughout the NFL in order to forecast league market values and trends.
Corsell works directly with Terry Donahue, the 49ers' general manager, and John McVay, the director of football operations, on contract negotiations.
Biggest challenge: One of Corsell's biggest challenges came after the 1998 season ended. After the 49ers had qualified for the playoffs for 15 of the previous 16 seasons, the team was about $30 million over the 1999 salary cap and the day of reckoning was at hand.
As John and Denise DeBartolo York of Canfield were assuming ownership of the team, the 49ers were forced to release many talented veterans to comply with the cap.
A 4-12 season followed. Still, the team had to slash another $19 million from the payroll to comply with the 2000 cap.
Following the 6-10 season in 2000, the over-the-cap number was a much more manageable $12 million.
This off-season, Corsell says the 49ers were only $3.5 million over the cap.
At last week's NFL owners meetings in Orlando, several coaches were grumbling that the cap is too low.
Corsell disagrees.
"You don't hear that from the owners," Corsell said with a laugh. "How many businesses out there devote 63 percent of revenue to salaries?
"True, without the players, there is no NFL," said Corsell, who added that without some kind of restraint "we can become our own worst enemies.
"The cap has become our policing agent to protect us from ourselves," Corsell said.
Overspent: The 49ers learned firsthand how hard and necessary such policing is. During the 1994 season, an already-strong San Francisco team signed several defensive free agents including Deion Sanders, Kenny Norton, Richard Dent and Charles Mann.
Those players helped the 49ers cruise to Super Bowl XXIX where they blew out San Diego Chargers.
But the piper came calling for payment.
"The procedure under the early years of the cap was essentially the same thing as credit-card financing," said Corsell of the balloon-payments that were spread out by huge signing bonuses.
"Without the cap, you'd see escalating salaries going out of control," Corsell said. "Like baseball."
Major League Baseball does not share local television revenue, which has created a disparity in payrolls and instability of several franchises.
The NFL has no franchises in danger of bankruptcy or elimination. The salary cap and those who manage it are major reasons why.