The Tagliabue Era: More Industry Execs Look Back

Execs Praise Tagliabue’s Handling Of Owners, Relationship With NFLPA

As part of our look back at the tenure of outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, we present industry opinions of him through quotes from executives representing various sectors of sports business.

“Paul realized how important the players were to the success of the league and forged a partnership with them. It’s a very labor-intensive industry, obviously, and Paul realized that. He cured the problem of the separation between the commissioner and labor relations that existed in the past. I think history shows now, since he has been commissioner, it is one of the best things he did and he is to be credited for having done that.” — NFLPA General Counsel Richard Berthelsen

“I think that the NFL has really been blessed by having a combination of Gene Upshaw and Paul Tagliabue. You have an extraordinary leader on the labor side, and you’ve had a very fine leader on the owners side, and the two of them forged a relationship where they were both able to represent their constituencies with great vigor, and frankly from an adversarial posture, but at the same time recognize that they could grow the game together and that they were in a partnership together on a long-run basis. That has been a very large factor in the NFL’s great success, and it’s a reason why both players and the owners have benefited.” — NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler

“He has presided over more serious and ground-breaking issues than any other sports commissioner at any time. One might argue that [Pete] Rozelle had a very important role as a commissioner in the growth of the league, but that the sheer volume and intensity of the issues that face Paul have not been faced by any other commissioner.” — Moag & Co. Founder John Moag

“He’s just flat-out brilliant, but brilliant in a practical way, not in a theoretical way. He was able to lead the owners, some of them very reluctantly. That old line that the person most capable of making peace is the general who has been in the war. He was there through all battles in the courtroom, so he was the right guy to make peace.” — SportsCorp President Marc Ganis

“It was like traveling with the president of the United States. We were together for a week. We would have breakfast in the morning, and the commissioner would hold court, telling stories about all the best guys who ever played the game.” — Eagles TE Chad Lewis, on traveling with Tagliabue as part of an NFL delegation in China last year.