"Even though pro football may be America's favorite
spectator sport, the NFL isn't what it could be, nor will it ever
realize its ultimate potential, unless its commissioner makes
significant changes in the way the league does business,"
according to Paul Attner of THE SPORTING NEWS. Attner examines
Tagliabue's reign in a highly critical piece in which he writes
Tagliabue "needs help because his weaknesses -- his reactive
nature, his management-by-crisis style, his faulty public-
relations skills, his inability to build a consistent consensus
among team owners -- must be strengths for the NFL to flourish."
Tagliabue is "so preoccupied with off-field issues" that his
office has no "high-profile football man" to oversee the game.
The "result is a league impeded by a glaring absence of vision
and charisma at the top." Attner believes two assistant
commissioners are needed to strengthen the NFL where Tagliabue
"is weak," as one should be a "football czar" to help make the
game "exciting and fan-friendly," while the other person should
be more PR-oriented to help on stadium problems. To build on its
position "atop the sports ladder and avoid self-destruction, the
NFL needs to become a lot more people friendly, a lot more
focused on on-field concerns of its member clubs and a lot less
in love with its statistical achievements." The prevailing
perception is "of a league without strong leadership and with
owners out of control, a league that is reactive instead of
proactive, a league so full of itself and its riches that it
doesn't even recognize the need for damage control."
PROBLEMS: Attner claims stadium development is one problem
facing Tagliabue's administration, as the league, "until
recently, had no defined strategy to resolve stadium issues." In
fact, Attner notes, "much of Tagliabue's future success might
depend on his ability to sell his concept of a multipurpose
stadium to cities," a plan "sure to be opposed by baseball." MD
Stadium Authority Chair John Moag, who negotiated the Browns move
to Baltimore, calls the NFL "one of the most dysfunctional
entities you can imagine." Tagliabue's PR skills are also
profiled, as in an interview, Attner writes the commissioner is
"combative, defensive and willing to quibble about the smallest
points." His meetings with the media "are usually strained [and]
... even within league circles, he has an annoying habit of
talking to listeners in a condescending tone, showing a quick
lack of patience with those who challenge his responses." But
Panthers GM Bill Polian says Tagliabue is "light years ahead of
his time in anticipating events and thinking of potential
solutions." Attner says some league "progress," including the
NFL's role in a new Bucs facility, and preventing Ken Behring
from moving the Seahawks, "is because" of league Senior VP/League
& Football Business Development Roger Goodell, who is "young and
driven" (TSN, 9/23 issue).
