Paul Tagliabue, who helped usher in a lucrative era for NFL during his 17 years as commissioner, but was criticized for not taking stronger action on concussion, died aged 84.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tagliabue's family informed the league of his death in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Sunday.
Tagliabue, who developed Parkinson's disease, was commissioner from 1989, when he succeeded Pete Rozelle, until 2006. In 2020, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of a special centennial anniversary.
“Paul was the ultimate game manager – tall, humble in appearance and resolute in his dedication to the NFL. He viewed every challenge and opportunity through the lens of what was best for the greater good, a principle he inherited from Pete Rozelle and passed on to me,” current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. on Sunday.
Tagliabue oversaw scores of new stadiums and negotiated television contracts that added billions of dollars to the league's bank account. Under his leadership there were no work stoppages.
During his time, Los Angeles lost two teams. Cleveland also lost its team, which moved to Baltimore before the city brought it back as an expansion.
Tagliabue had an anti-substance abuse policy that was considered the toughest in any major sport. He also established the Rooney Rule, which requires all teams with coaching vacancies to interview minority candidates. It has since expanded to include front office and league leadership positions.
When he took office in 1989, the NFL had just added its first black head coach of the modern era. By the time Tagliabue retired in 2006, there were seven minority head coaches in the league.
In a pivotal moment, Tagliabue canceled NFL games the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was one of the few times the public compared him favorably to Rozelle, who continued playing on the Sunday after JFK was assassinated in 1963. A key presidential aide advised Rosella that the NFL should play, a decision that became one of the commissioner's biggest regrets.
Tagliabue, of course, had his detractors, especially due to his concussion. This problem has plagued the NFL for decades, although team owners have played a major role in the lack of progress in the fight against head injuries.
In 2017, Tagliabue apologized for remarks he made decades ago about concussions in football, admitting that he did not have adequate data at the time in 1994.
“Obviously,” he said on the Talk of Fame Network, “I really regret those remarks. Looking back, it was not a wise language to express my thoughts at the time. My language was intemperate and it led to serious misunderstandings.
“My intention at the time was to make a point that could be expressed quite simply: There is a need for better data. There was a need for more reliable information about concussions and consistency in terms of how they are defined in terms of severity.”
Although concussion recognition, research and treatment lagged for much of Tagliabue's tenure, his performance on the labor front has been exemplary.
As one of his first decisions, Tagliabue turned to the players union, then led by Hall of Fame player and former Raiders star Al Davis' Gene Upshaw. Tagliabue insisted that he be directly involved in all labor negotiations, essentially rendering useless the Board of Governors, made up of club executives, which had carried out such duties for nearly two decades. It was a wise decision.
“When Paul was named commissioner after a seven-month search in 1989, that's when the league got back on track,” said Joe Brown, who spent 50 years as an NFL executive and was a confidant of Rozelle and Tagliabue.
“During position negotiations, Paul insisted that final control over matters such as labor relations and all commercial business transactions should remain in the commissioner's office. The owners agreed, and it was a big step forward in the tremendous rebuilding of our league – the expansion league – in the '90s and beyond.”
Tagliabue was born on November 24, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the 6-foot-5 captain of the Georgetown basketball team and graduated in 1962 as one of the school's top rebounders at the time—his career average would later be found to be just below that of Patrick Ewing. He was president of his class and a Rhodes Scholar finalist. Three years later, he graduated from New York University Law School and subsequently worked as a lawyer for the Department of Defense before joining Covington & Burling. He eventually took over control of the NFL account, developing close relationships with Rosella and other NFL officials during a series of lawsuits in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tagliabue was by nature reserved, and this sometimes led to coldness from the media, which received Rosel, an affable former public relations specialist. Even after he left office, Tagliabue was no match for Goodell, who began his NFL career in public relations.
But in the wake of 9/11, Tagliabue showed a different side, especially toward league employees who lost loved ones in the attacks.
Art Shell, a Hall of Fame player, became the first modern black head coach of the Raiders in the NFL. He saw Tagliabue up close and decided that he was perfect for the job.
“After my coaching career ended, I had the honor of working directly with Paul in the league office,” Schell said. “His philosophy on almost every issue was, 'If it's broke, fix it. And if it’s not broken, fix it anyway.”
“He always challenged us to find better ways to do things. Paul never lost sight of his responsibility to do what's right for the game. He was the perfect choice as NFL commissioner.”
Tagliabue is survived by his wife Chandler, son Drew and daughter Emily.
