Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue dead at 84

Paul Tagliabue, who served as NFL commissioner from 1989 to 2006, has died following a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his family announced Sunday. He was 84 years old.

Tagliabue’s cause of death was heart failure complicated by the disease, according to ESPN.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement on Tagliabue’s death.

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Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue walks the red carpet before the NFL Honors at Radio City Music Hall on February 1, 2014. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)

“All of us in the NFL are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Tagliabue, whose principled leadership and vision set the NFL on a path to unprecedented success,” Goodell said via ESPN. “Throughout his decades of leadership on behalf of the NFL, first as outside counsel and then during a powerful 17-year tenure as commissioner, Paul served with integrity, passion and an unwavering belief in doing what was best for the league. Paul was the ultimate steward of the game – tall in stature, humble in his presence and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL. He saw every challenge and opportunity through the prism of what was best for the common good, a principle he inherited from Pete Rozelle and passed on to me.

“During his NFL Hall of Fame career, Paul fostered labor peace with our players, oversaw the league’s expansion to 32 teams, ushered in an era of state-of-the-art stadiums and laid the important foundation for establishing the league as a global brand. league through the challenges of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

“I am forever grateful and proud to have Paul as a friend and mentor. I cherished the countless hours we spent together where he helped shape me as an executive, but also as a man, husband and father. Jane and I extend our deepest condolences to the entire Tagliabue family, especially Chan, his wife of 60 years, and their children Drew and Emily.”

Paul Tagliabue, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Centennial Class, receives his Gold Jacket during the Gold Jacket Dinner in Canton, Ohio, August 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

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The New Jersey native has guided the NFL through exciting and difficult times. He saw the Browns leave and then return to Cleveland as well as the additions of the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans to the field.

He helped the league weather the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The NFL’s popularity also exploded during Tagliabue’s time as commissioner. The Buffalo Bills were one of seven teams that saw more than a million people attend games during the season. By the end of the 2005 season, 30 of the league’s 32 teams had more than 1 million spectators during the season. Only the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals had less than a million.

As the league grew nationally, he helped make the NFL a globally recognized game with the creation of the World League of American Football and NFL Europe. Although the leagues failed, they helped pave the way for regular season games being played overseas each year.

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue arrives on the red carpet during the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2022 induction at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 6, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)

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Tagliabue also clashed with the state of Arizona after officials initially refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. as a holiday. He moved Super Bowl XXVII out of state and to California. Arizona finally hosted Super Bowl XXX.

Tagliabue was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.