HONOLULU -- Former pro football star Russ Francis, who grew up in Hawaii, faces accusations of theft by owners of the Nebraska indoor football team that recently fired him as general manager.

Francis denied the allegations. He said he had permission to use a company debit card and he spent the money in legitimate business expenses.

Francis spoke with KITV on Friday. He said his former employers are trying to use him as a scapegoat for their own financial difficulties.

The Kailua High School graduate became famous as an NFL tight end, playing for the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers in the 1970s and 80s. He won a Super Bowl in 1984 with the 49ers. He returned to Hawaii to play in three Pro Bowl games.

He is now in Omaha, Neb., where he was general manager of the Omaha Beef, an indoor football team for 4.5 months, until he was fired last month.

Now, the team owner's son has filed a police complaint, claiming Francis used a company debit card to run up $29,000 in unauthorized transactions.

Francis said he never stole from the team, which he learned had financial problems when he first took the job.

"But about two days into my position as president of the team, that a trip to play a game in Colorado was in jeopardy because bills hadn't been paid to the bus company and I hadn't been informed about this," Francis said.

Francis said the team owed $120,000 to creditors, some of the bills going back two years. The fired manager said he had authorization to spend the money on business expenses like equipment and team travel.

"That's not Russ going out and having a good time. That's not Russ buying dinner for all his friends. That's team business," Francis said.

Francis has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

"So, this is a very questionable situation, and I'm finding out that it happened to the previous president who was blamed for inappropriately using funds," he said.

This is not the first time Francis has had a financial dispute.

In 2000, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Hawaii as a Republican against the late Patsy Mink. That same year, he was fined $1,000 because he failed to file campaign-spending reports for nearly two years.

In 1998, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Honolulu City Council, the IRS filed liens against him for $617,000 in unpaid federal taxes.