A New Era

Paul Tagliabue was a logical choice to succeed Pete Rozelle as Commissioner given his two decades as chief legal advisor to the league. It took fifty hours of debate by the search committee, four owners meetings, and eleven ballots to reach this logical decision. His first major achievement was coming to a labor settlement with Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA. Al Davis was instrumental in this process. This set the stage for the next round of television contracts netting $33M/team/year over the next four years and an expansion of network coverage and DirecTV. Then came expansion and relocation of franchises. Tagliabue moved to expand NFL involvement in public issues including moving the Super Bowl out of Arizona over the MLK Day controversy. Internal issues included the revenue sharing policies that were under threat by Jerry Jones and Dallas. The market was also expanded with the creation of NFL Properties led by Sara Levinson from MTV and a direct appeal to women fans. NFL Revenue increased significantly. Race continued to be a major issue. There was an increase in black quarterbacks, but no significant change in coaching and executive ranks. A Diversity Committee was created in 2002 and the Rooney Rule was adopted I 2004 with initial promising results but it was not sustained over the next 15 years. In March of 2004 Tagliabue announced his retirement amidst great praise for this time as Commissioner. The one issue that he failed to address was that of concussions and head injuries.