NFL commissioner Tagliabue to retire in July

Paul Tagliabue is retiring as NFL commissioner in July after more than 16 years on the job.

The 65-year-old commissioner has led the league since 1989, when he succeeded Pete Rozelle, and had recently signed a two-year contract extension to complete the television and labor deals.

He finally got that done 12 days ago, finishing the most arduous labor negotiations since the league and union agreed on a free agency-salary cap deal in 1992.

"I believe that now is a positive time to make the transition to a new commissioner," Tagliabue said in a statement.

"We have a collective bargaining extension in place, long-term television contracts, and have undertaken many other strong elements in league and club operations," Tagliabue said. "I am honored to have been commissioner since late 1989 and to have been heavily involved with the league, its owners, clubs, coaches, players, fans and media since 1969."

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on March 9 that Tagliabue was expected to exercise a clause in his contract with league owners in which he becomes a "senior executive" consultant with a significant compensation package. Tagliabue and the NFL did not comment at the time.

Tagliabue will be available to serve in a senior executive/advisory role through May 31, 2008 once a new commissioner is selected.

Roger Goodell, the NFL's chief operating officer, and Atlanta general manager Rich McKay are the two leading candidates to succeed Tagliabue. Baltimore Ravens president Dick Cass is considered a dark horse.

Goodell has worked side by side with Tagliabue on numerous issues, ranging from franchise stability, new stadium construction, TV contract negotiations and the most recent collective bargaining agreement, in which he was an active participant.

Tagliabue has said he wants to avoid the kind of seven-month deadlock that occurred between him and the late Jim Finks after Rozelle stepped down in March 1989.

Tagliabue called Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, the NFL's senior owner, early Monday to tell him of the decision.

"We've got the best labor deal in sports. We've got the best league. He's been our leader. The whole way he's done this has been wonderful," Rooney told The Associated Press.

The announcement was made officially in an e-mail to the other owners at noon ET.

Tagliabue will stay on with the NFL as a senior executive and a consultant through 2008, part of the contract extension he signed last July.

Tagliabue's term will be remembered most for labor peace following strikes in 1982 and 1987. His close relationship with Gene Upshaw, the union's executive director, finally led to a long-term agreement after five years without a contract.

But the bargaining was hard this time, with three straight deadline extensions needed. The agreement avoided the prospect of entering free agency this year with the possibility of an uncapped year in 2007.

It came at the expense of revenue sharing among the owners, an issue that had divided high-revenue and small-revenue teams and contributed to the deadlock. He did it with what has been considered his greatest skill as commissioner, patching together a coalition of nine teams with differing viewpoints to reach a compromise considered satisfactory by all but two teams.

He also oversaw a massive stadium building program. More than two-thirds of the NFL's 32 teams are either playing in or building stadiums that didn't exist when he took over as commissioner in 1989.

Before becoming commissioner, Tagliabue was a league lawyer who spent much of that time as the NFL's representative and unofficial lobbyist in Washington.

"He has been a tremendous asset to our league and the direction we have taken," said New Orleans owner Tom Benson.

"We have experienced very positive growth in the area of revenue sharing and broadcast contracts, we have secured long-term labor peace and have also even encountered some of the worst of times following 9/11, but through it all Paul has been a leader, a friend and a voice that many others within our league and other leagues have followed."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2376850

He'll be missed. Of the commissioners in the four major sports, only Stern beats up the players union more regularly than he does.

A ton of candidates are lining up for this gig.

Rich McKay is thought to be one of the frontrunners, but people like Condoleeza Rice and even Bill Clinton have apparently shown interest.

In this day and age, it will most likely be someone with a law background.

Taymelo for Commish!!!!!

Tagliabue's July retirement may be pushed back

Near the top of the post-retirement "things to do" list compiled by outgoing NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue is his quiet plan to move to Shanghai for a year.

His wife, Chan Tagliabue, has been bargaining ardently to reduce the overseas adventure to six months. Chances are, based on what transpired here this week, Mrs. Tagliabue will have plenty of time to pursue the negotiations, and that the couple won't soon need their passports or a Chinese-English dictionary.

During what likely was the final press conference of the last annual league meeting over which Tagliabue will preside, the commissioner said Wednesday afternoon he will almost certainly move aside by the July retirement date he set last week. There is, Tagliabue insisted, little chance that he will still be commissioner when the NFL kicks off the 2006 season.

But Tagliabue has promised to remain in office until a successor is elected and, his Wednesday protests aside, it might be a while yet before he gets around to the chore atop his wife's "to-do" list, unpacking the boxes in their new home in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.

Fact is, moving cardboard cartons around might be as close as the Taglibues get to true feng shui for a while.

"I don't see someone new being in place real quickly," said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. "The job is to choose the absolutely right person, no matter how long that takes. And a lot of [owners] definitely have a lot of ideas on the profile of that person, or who it should be. If I was Paul, I wouldn't be planning much travel for the next few months. I don't think he's going anywhere yet."

Officially, the annual league meetings adjourned here without Tagliabue having settled on the committee that will lead the search for his replacement. Tagliabue said Wednesday the committee and its composition might not be announced until next week. But there were rumblings from some key owners Wednesday that the committee has, indeed, been formed, and could be announced by Friday afternoon.

The makeup of the committee, not surprisingly, has been much debated. And, coming on the heels of the recently concluded labor negotiations, there is some bilious carryover from that process. Some of the same elements that slowed the extension to the collective bargaining agreement, especially the intramural battle between the NFL's high- and low-revenue franchises, are yet festering. There are a lot of disparate groups seeking representation on the committee, because they want their causes championed in the process that will ultimately conclude with a new commissioner.

Tagliabue denied on Wednesday that the residual undercurrent of unrest will enter into the process, but some of the owners weren't so sure.

"There's still some infighting," said one high-ranking official from a low-revenue franchise. "Everyone sees the [search] committee as their chance to have a voice in the future. It's a chance to have their interests advanced, to have a sense of advocacy, so the makeup of that committee is going to be key."

Certainly, Tagliabue comprehends the sensitive nature of the committee's composition, a group that he said Wednesday will be made up of 6-8 owners. But no matter how diligent Tagliabue is in formulating a search committee that he feels addresses everyone's agendas, there is no guarantee of success. And no guarantee his exit strategy will follow his blueprint.

Among the items addressed by the commissioner in closing the meetings on Wednesday afternoon was the likelihood that the NFL will play a game in China, probably in Beijing, in 2007, as part of the run-up to the 2008 Olympics in the country. Scheduling such a game might be the closest Tagliabue gets to Shanghai if the search for his successor takes as long as some owners think it will.

Said Irsay: "I know it's not Paul's preference, but it could be a long good-bye."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2389407

CHad Johnson wants Bill Clinton to be the next commish.

CHad Johnson wants Bill Clinton to be the next commish.

Yeah, he said the world would be a better place with him as commish and the eight years with him as President is proof.

plus I hear the cowboys cheerleaders give better head than the white house secretaries.

getting head behind your wife's back is by far a better presidental mistake than being stupid.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/uploads/102004dunce.jpg

But im sure chad johnsons endorsement keeps Bill out of the running.

Tagliabue appoints commissioner search committee

Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, two men who were instrumental in reviving the flagging labor negotiations last month, on Wednesday were named by commissioner Paul Tagliabue as co-chairmen of the committee that will spearhead efforts to choose his successor.

Tagliabue announced March 20 that he will retire at the end of July but reiterated at the annual NFL meetings last week in Orlando that he will remain onboard if a new commissioner is not chosen by then.

The rest of the eight-member committee is comprised of owners Al Davis (Oakland), Lamar Hunt (Kansas City), Woody Johnson (New York Jets), Jerry Jones (Dallas), Robert Kraft (New England) and Michael McCaskey (Chicago).

It is not yet known when, or where, the committee will convene for the first time. The next scheduled meeting of the full league membership is set for May 23-24 in Denver.

The makeup of the committee appears to be fairly balanced among various ownership factions. Notable, however, is the exclusion of some of the more vocal owners from low-revenue franchises, including Mike Brown of Cincinnati and Buffalo's Ralph Wilson, the lone dissenters in the recent extension to the league's collective bargaining agreement with players.

The role of Rooney, the NFL's most senior member and a close Tagliabue confidant, is not surprising. Rooney was the first owner Tagliabue informed of his decision to retire and the Steelers president then disseminated the information to his peers. It had been assumed that Rooney would play a prominent role on the search committee.

It was originally believed that Tagliabue would announce the composition of the committee last Monday, at the outset of the NFL meetings. But that announcement was delayed and, in a wrap-up news conference last Wednesday afternoon, the commissioner suggested the committee would be named this week.

The league has also retained an independent search firm to help seek out candidates. That firm is to meet individually with owners to identify the qualities they view as most important for the commissioner.

Tagliabue expressed confidence last week that a new commissioner will be in place by July, but that is hardly the feeling around the league, with most owners believing the process will be a long one. It takes a two-thirds vote of the membership, or 22 of 32 votes, to elect a new commissioner.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2398240

NFL hires firm in Tagliabue replacement search

NFL owners hired a Los Angeles-based firm to assist with the search to replace retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

The eight-owner committee chose Korn/Ferry International to help find a new commissioner. Tagliabue hopes to retire in July.

The firm will begin the process by interviewing all 32 owners and then make regular reports, including one at the league meetings in Denver on May 23-24.

The NFL committee is co-chaired by Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh and Jerry Richardson of Carolina. It also includes Al Davis of Oakland, Lamar Hunt of Kansas City, Woody Johnson of the Jets, Jerry Jones of Dallas, Robert Kraft of New England and Mike McCaskey of Chicago.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2417102

NFL | Goodell appears to be the favorite to succeed Tagliabue
Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:16:11 -0700

Mark Maske, of the Washington Post, reports NFL chief operating officer Roger Goodell appears to be the favorite to succeed Paul Tagliabue as the NFL commissioner. There is strong sentiment within the league that the votes are in place for Goodell. Several people familiar with the deliberations of the league's team owners said they believe Goodell has the necessary support to be elected when the owners meet in Chicago starting Aug. 7. It will take at least 22 votes among the 32 teams for a new commissioner to be selected. One source said, "From all that I've heard, I still think it's Roger." Several sources said there has been little opposition raided to Goodell.


NFL | Upshaw will not follow Tagliabue into retirement
Sat, 29 Jul 2006 08:46:42 -0700

Bill Soliday, of Inside Bay Area, reports NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw revealed he will not follow NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue into retirement. Upshaw said, "I could not leave the same time Paul left. It wouldn't be fair to either side. I put it in place that you have to be out of there (the union) by the age of 65, and I am 60. So I will stay. And don't forget, they have an opening in this deal in 2008. They can decide if they want the (agreement) to end 11/2 or 2 years sooner." He also added that he would not make a bid for the NFL commissioner job.