Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue "can freely champion New Orleans without fear of political backlash," and Thursday night during the St. Jude's Hospital Legends for Charity event, he "essentially threw his hat in the ring" for the city's '20 Super Bowl bid, according to Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Tagliabue said, "It'll be the 100th anniversary of the league. The NFL has always been a community-minded league, and New Orleans (and its recovery from Hurricane Katrina) is probably the greatest community moment in the history of the NFL." He added, "I told (Saints Owner Tom Benson), that's got to be your pitch." Duncan noted the NFL "has invited New Orleans to bid" on the '19 and '20 Super Bowls. Meanwhile, in honoring SMG Exec VP/Stadiums & Arenas Doug Thornton as the event's guest speaker, Tagliabue called the "de facto commissioner for pro sports in Louisiana 'an extraordinary humanitarian' and said the stadium manager's performance during and after Katrina exceeded 'that of any outside partner that I've ever dealt with in my 40 years of association with the NFL.'" Tagliabue: "(Thornton) understood that the challenges faced by this community, by this state, by this region and our nation at that time really tested who we are. What kind of people are we? Are we worthy as our ancestors? Are we worthy as those that came before us, wherever we came from? He knew it was about more than sport." Duncan notes a "moving video montage of images from the storm and Superdome destruction gripped the room, the silence broken only briefly by a chorus of boos and cat calls when an image of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was shown on the screen" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 8/22).
