NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue met the media assembled for
Super Bowl XXX on Friday and issued his report on the state of
the NFL. Tagliabue praised the quality of the product on the
field. But he also admitted, "Off the field, we face many
challenges as a league, and we are at a crossroads with ourselves
and our fans." Excerpts:
FUTURE EXPANSION: "We will have expansion, but I don't, at
this moment, see it in this decade. ... I'm sure it's going to
include consideration of international expansion -- not just
Canada, but Mexico as well."
THE BROWNS: "We're looking at a number of alternatives and
our goal will be to have teams not just in Cleveland, but in
Baltimore as well to respect the history and tradition of the NFL
in both of those cities."
PAST EXPANSION: "Even if we put an expansion team in
Baltimore, we would still see the same issues, but the names
would be different."
BUCS TO CLEVELAND RUMORS: "I have never seen it as a
solution, and I have not discussed it with anyone as a solution.
We are trying to keep teams where they are."
LOS ANGELES: "What I see for Los Angeles is an intensive
effort by the league to build a state-of-the-art facility. ...
Once we see a clear path to [a privately financed] stadium ...
we'll have a team back there."
PSL'S: "We're avoiding the use of tax money and asking the
fan who is supporting the team to pay a user fee, and it is part
of a general shift toward user fees" (THE DAILY).
REVIEWS: Will McDonough: "The only enlightening bit of
information ... was that expansion would not be used to solve the
franchise relocation problems" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/27). Bill Lyon:
"Tagliabue stands placidly in a burning building and instead of
jumping, he observes how nice the fire looks against the night
sky" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 1/27). Jay Greenberg: "He made Bud Selig
look like Franklin Delano Roosevelt" (N.Y. POST, 1/27). Ken
Rosenthal: "[He] is starting to make Bud Selig look like Abraham
Lincoln" (Baltimore SUN, 1/27). Timothy Smith: "[He] painted a
picture of a sports league that was wildly successful on the
field, but appeared to be very unstable off it" (N.Y. TIMES,
1/27). Ray Ratto: "Tagliabue did not say anything particularly
noteworthy or of lasting significance ... in large part because
so much of what is happening in the NFL is out of his control"
(S.F. EXAMINER, 1/27). Rob Parker: "Not even the double-talking
Tagliabue could ignore the mounting off-the-field woes the NFL
faces" (NEWSDAY, 1/27). Bob Verdi: "Powerless Paul oversees a
league in name only" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/27). Mark Purdy: "His
spin on [teams moving to maximize revenue] was hilariously
transparent" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/27). Tom Silverstein:
"Given the line of questioning ... it's apparent that not
everything is hunky-dory in the NFL" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
1/27).
