NFL

Tagliabue, Paul ‘Tags’ (1940-2025)

Cards: ProSet 1990 Special Insert, ProSet 1990 Berlin Wall
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 12/18/17 Received: 1/12/18 (25 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Taking the reins of NFL Commissioner in 1989, Paul Tagliabue faced a very tall order: Following up the near canonization of previous commissioner Pete Rozelle.
  • Paul steadied the boat of the league on numerous occasions, handling Raiders owner Al Davis in his on off love affair with Oakland, the Rams move from LA to St. Louis, the Oilers from Houston to Tennessee, and the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore.
  • After the league got slammed publicly from the middle of the night departure of the Browns, the NFL gave the city back the franchise, name, and records- primarily due to Paul’s urging, remembering how the Dodgers left Brooklyn behind and how mad it still made him.
  • During each occasion he addressed each relocation publicly to keep the league from getting a public black eye from ‘stadium blackmail’.
  • Tags also presided over unprecedented expansion.
  • He also saw the league expand to Charlotte, Jacksonville, and awkwardly back into Houston.
  • Paul also oversaw the league’s bold plans to export international play of the sport into Europe and elsewhere in the world, culminating in the WLAF/NFLE/ NFL Europe- that he briefly served as commissioner of in addition to his NFL duties.
  • Tags and his team navigated the deep waters of the 1993 bargaining agreement without a strike occurring.
  • This brought about a salary cap, the end of Plan B free agency, an increase to the overall wages of all players in the league, and unfettered growth of the league.
  • In the meantime under his stead, the league created a feeding frenzy from the networks for their programming, allowing the league to return record profits.
  • Paul also took the high road on the state of Arizona, as when the state refused to honor MLK Day, the league pulled up its tentpoles for the Super Bowl and went to Pasadena.
  • After 9/11, in a show of respect, he decided the NFL wouldn’t play that weekend- a decision that NCAA CFB observed and then quickly followed suit.
  • Tags also made every attempt to help keep the Saints in New Orleans after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
  • He served 17 prolific years for the league, creating a hand in hand workmanlike relationship between players and the league.
  • Tagliabue served as an arbitrator in a few NFL cases afterwards, most notably for the Saints’ Bounty Gate.
  • In the meantime he kept himself busy in law, until his recent retirement.

ACCOLADES:

  • NCAA Teddy Roosevelt Award 2007
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame 2021

NOTES:

Despite all this, many players, media, and fans, remember him for his handling of the severity of concussions which really hindered his legacy. He made some extremely callous and brash comments about concussions back in the 90s, and this stuck like a stigma, against addressing the issue, deflecting the blame.

It wasn’t until years later after doctors and trauma professionals were able to be heard with their evidence that the league started addressing it. That being said there is still a lot to be done about concussions and also the league helping players who have been affected by them over their playing careers- instead of stonewalling and hindering them.

Tagliabue has since apologized for his statements in a lawyerly sort of way, saying that he, “Obviously regretted those remarks.”

When I used to go to Cowboys training camp back in the early 90s I got wind that Paul would be there, and even went so far as to pack the commissioner card, but Tags was in and out and on the news that evening before I knew it.

EPITAPH:

11/9/25- I had taken note that autograph requests over the past few months had been rejected by Tagliabue’s family, as he was too sick to sign. On Sunday, November 9th, 2025, he died at his home in Chevy Chase, MD, due to complications of Parkinson’s and heart failure at the age of 84.