NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue gave his State of the
League address on Friday in Atlanta and discussed a number
of issues facing the league. The following are excerpts.
For more on his remarks, see (#12), (#13) and (#18):
EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE: Tagliabue: "The Super Bowl
matchup underscores something very important about the
strength of the [NFL]. We have a system, and we will
continue to strive to have a system, that works for all
teams. No matter where they are located, no matter what the
size market they are in. Our system gives every team the
same chance and it gives the fans serious hope that their
team can make the playoffs and make a run at the Super Bowl.
To win a Super Bowl, it is not simply a matter of who had
the most money, or who is in the biggest city" (THE DAILY).
ON PLAYERS' OFF-THE-FIELD BEHAVIOR: Tagliabue: "This
has been a matter of concern. ... But we need to recognize
first of all, that our track record, the track record of our
players, is far better than society at large. We have fewer
incidents involving NFL players than society at large has.
... We have counseling on a league-wide basis. We have
treatment. We have prevention and we have discipline. ...
When you look at the totality of 2,500 players a year in the
league, the overwhelming number of them are solid citizens."
PLAYER CONDUCT: Tagliabue: "We are concerned in what
seems to be some deterioration of conduct. ... We have had
other [conduct] that can only be described [as] juvenile.
Provocative, but juvenile. ... I discussed it with Gene
Upshaw." Tagliabue will send several league officials to
the NFLPA's annual meeting in March "just to talk with the
players about respect for each other, player to player and
respect for a player to an official on the field."
TWO CHALLENGES: Tagliabue said he told team owners
recently that the league's two biggest challenges are
extending the CBA and utilizing the Internet. Tagliabue:
"The digital revolution is going to transform how we
distribute our games to our fans. ... We are going to have
to take advantage of that transformation."
ON A FLEXIBLE TV SCHEDULE NEXT SEASON: Tagliabue called
network reaction to a possible flexible TV schedule "mixed."
Tagliabue: "At this point, my judgment would be it is no
better than 50-50 that we would implement it this year."
While teams would know their December opponents, they would
not know the date or time of the game. So Tagliabue asked
team owners how that would impact season-ticket holders:
"There were quite a variety of views, and before we do
anything like this, we would go back to the owners and get a
vote even to experiment with it."
ON MINORITY HIRING: Tagliabue: "The reality is that
one-third of our coaches are African-Americans, the growing
number of coordinators are African-Americans" (THE DAILY).
