Paul Tagliabue | |
|---|---|
 Tagliabue in 2002 | |
| 5thCommissioner of the NFL | |
| In office November 5, 1989 – September 1, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Pete Rozelle |
| Succeeded by | Roger Goodell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul John Tagliabue (1940-11-24)November 24, 1940 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 2025(2025-11-09) (aged 84) Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Georgetown University (BA) New York University (JD) |
| Football career | |
Paul John Tagliabue (/ˈtæɡliəbuː/TAG-lee-ə-boo; November 24, 1940 – November 9, 2025) was an American lawyer who was thecommissioner of theNational Football League (NFL). He took the position in1989 and served until September 1, 2006.[1] He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL.[2]
During his commissionership, the NFL added four new franchises, while keeping theSaints inNew Orleans followingHurricane Katrina; four franchises moved cities. Tagliabue postponed games following theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and took a hardline stance against the state ofArizona for failing to recognize a state holiday forMartin Luther King Jr. by movingSuper Bowl XXVII to California, and established theWorld League of American Football in 1989. He was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame as part of its Centennial Class of 2020, and formally enshrined on August 7, 2021.
In addition to his NFL career, Tagliabue also served as Chairman of theBoard of Directors of Georgetown University from 2009 to 2015.[3]
Tagliabue was born on November 24, 1940, inJersey City, New Jersey,[4][5] the third of four sons of Charles and May Tagliabue. He was of Italian descent.[6] Raised inThe Heights neighborhood of Jersey City, he attendedSt. Michael's High School inUnion City, New Jersey, where he starred in basketball.[7] Tagliabue received an athletic scholarship to play basketball atGeorgetown University and was captain of the1961–62 team. He graduated in 1962 as president of his senior class,[8] aRhodes Scholar finalist and a Dean's List graduate.[9] In a congressional hearing in 1992, Tagliabue later revealed he had inadvertently played in a game where an opposing team would fix the outcome of the game in favor of Georgetown, which would be one factor in mind for him taking a staunch stance against gambling later on in his life.[10] Tagliabue graduated fromNew York University School of Law with honors in 1965.[11]
From 1969 to 1989, Tagliabue practiced law with theWashington, D.C., firmCovington & Burling.[12]
After serving as a lawyer for the NFL, Tagliabue was selected by NFL owners to succeedPete Rozelle as Commissioner of the NFL in1989.[13]
During his tenure as commissioner, the NFL expanded from 28 teams to 32. New franchises were announced in 1993 to begin play in 1995 inCharlotte andJacksonville.[14] However, in 1996, then-Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell worked out a deal where he could use that team's current set of players to establish NFL's 31st franchise, theBaltimore Ravens.[15] As a result, the Browns franchise was forced to suspend operations for three seasons before their roster was restocked via an expansion draft in 1999. The 32nd franchise was theHouston Texans, added in 2002.[16]
The NFL continued to play pre-season games in Europe with theAmerican Bowl series. Paul Tagliabue started a spring developmental league, theWorld League of American Football (WLAF), with seven teams in North America, plus three in Europe.[17] The European teams dominated in 1991, the first season. After the second season, 1992, in which U.S.-based teams played in the World Bowl, the World League was shut down as it was unsuccessful in the United States.[17] In 1995, the spring league returned as theNFL Europe with six teams in Europe.[17] When Tagliabue retired, five teams were based in Germany. Tagliabue's successor Roger Goodell shut down the NFL Europe after the 2007 season.[18] but replaced it with theNFL International Series in October 2007 with regular season games inLondon.[19] On November 13, 2022, the NFL played its first-ever regular-season game in mainland Europe, in Munich, Germany.[20]
In 1995, Los Angeles lost both its franchises, as theLos Angeles Rams relocated toSt. Louis,[21] and theRaiders returned toOakland.[22] In 1996, the then-players on theCleveland Browns team were relocated over toBaltimore, officially a new franchise, as indicated above.[23] In 1997, theHouston Oilers relocated toTennessee, for one year inMemphis and another year usingVanderbilt Stadium as their home field. (The team changed its name from the Oilers to theTitans upon moving to their permanent stadium inNashville.)[24]
Two days after theterrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Tagliabue announced that the games scheduled for the upcoming weekend were cancelled, citing the magnitude of the events and security concerns.[25] It was the first time the league canceled an entire week's slate of games since the1987 NFL strike.[26]
A week later, it was announced that the postponed games would be added to the end of the regular season,[27] pushing theSuper Bowl to February for the first time.
Tagliabue was praised for these politically related actions taken as NFL commissioner:
However, Tagliabue was criticized for his role in fighting brain injury claims, preventing players from getting necessary treatment and their survivors from getting proper compensation. As a result, Tagliabue was rejected on four occasions by sports writers and broadcasters for thePro Football Hall of Fame.[30] Fourteen years after his retirement, a special committee voted him in as part of an NFL centennial class. Tim Dahlberg of theAssociated Press wrote at the time:
"The NFL of the 1990s was a different animal than it is today, which explains at least somewhat the creation under Paul Tagliabue's watch of something laughably called the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. What is harder to explain is why Tagliabue put a rheumatologist with no expertise in head injuries in charge of the panel. Or why, in 1994, the then-NFL commissioner claimed the number of concussions in the NFL was relatively small and that the problem of head injuries was 'one of those pack journalism issues'. Tagliabue was on the wrong side of what would become the biggest issue facing the league. He remained there most of his tenure as the NFL fought — at times bitterly — the idea that football was causing former players to suffer, and some to die."[31]
In 2017, Tagliabue apologized: "I do regret those remarks. Looking back, it was not sensible language to use to express my thoughts at the time."[32]
Following his tenure as the NFL commissioner Tagliabue returned toCovington & Burling where he served as senior counsel.[12] In 2008, Tagliabue was selected to serve a three-year term as chairman ofGeorgetown University's board of directors.[33]
In 2012, Tagliabue was appointed by current NFL commissionerRoger Goodell to hear the appeals of the players suspended in theNew Orleans Saints bounty scandal.[34] Tagliabue affirmed Goodell's findings of the investigation but overturned all players' suspensions.[35]
On September 4, 2014, Tagliabue was named to the executive board of DC2024, a group trying to bring the2024 Summer Olympics to Washington, D.C.[36]
Tagliabue was honored for his work with LGBT rights groupPFLAG.[37] He served on the advisory board of The Iris Network, a nonprofit blindness rehabilitation agency inPortland, Maine.[38] Tagliabue supported the Vet The Vote campaign to engage veterans and military families aspoll workers.[39]
On August 28, 1965, Tagliabue married Chandler Minter in Washington, D.C. Minter was originally fromMilledgeville, Georgia, and they were introduced at law school. She graduated from theGeorgia State College for Women before moving to New York City.[40] As of 2014, he and his wife resided inChevy Chase, Maryland.[41] They had two children:
Tagliabue was a member of theLeadership Now Project (LNP), which later warned about the "threats posed by a second term ofDonald Trump".[46] On July 5, 2024, Tagliabue and 167 other LNP members signed a letter urgingJoe Biden to end his2024 re-election bid.[46]
On November 9, 2025, Tagliabue died at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, of heart failure and complications fromParkinson's disease.[47][48][49]
Tagliabue won the 1992 Eagle Award from theUnited States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the academy's highest international honor and was awarded to Tagliabue for his significant contributions to international sport.[50] He received theTeddy Roosevelt Award from theNCAA in 2007.[11] On January 15, 2020, Tagliabue was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Centennial Class of 2021.[51] He received honorary degrees fromSt. Peter's College,[52]Colgate University, andNortheastern University.[53]
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