Paul Tagliabue, who served as NFL commissioner for 17 seasons as the league experienced tremendous prosperity and growth, died Sunday morning at the age of 84, his family announced.
The apparent cause of death was heart failure complicated by Parkinson’s disease.
Tagliabue became commissioner in 1989, taking over for Pete Rozelle. He was succeeded by current commissioner Roger Goodell in 2006.
The value of many of the league’s franchises increased tenfold during Tagliabue’s time in the commissioner’s chair. When he left, more than two-thirds of the NFL’s 32 teams were either playing in or building stadiums that didn’t exist when he took over as commissioner in 1989. The league also added four teams — the Charlotte Panthers (1995), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995), present-day Cleveland Browns (1999) and Houston Texans (2002) — during his tenure, going from 28 teams to 32.
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney to never give «too much weight to any one owner,» Tagliabue helped restore peace in owner-player relations after labor strikes in 1982 and 1987. There were no labor stoppages during his 17-year tenure. The league also enjoyed historic television contracts, and under Tagliabue, free agency and a salary cap were introduced.
«The system put every team on a roughly equal footing in the football competition, and it took a great player and a great owner,» Tagliabue said of labor peace. «It took a Gene Upshaw and a Dan Rooney to reach that kind of a compromise and that kind of a solution to a complicated problem.»
Tagliabue said his biggest regret as commissioner was allowing both the Rams and Raiders to leave Los Angeles after the 1994 season — the Rams for St. Louis and the Raiders for Oakland before moving to Las Vegas in 2020. The Rams returned to L.A. from St. Louis for the 2016 season, with the Chargers joining them in 2017 after a move from San Diego.
Post-retirement, Tagliabue was appointed by Goodell in 2012 to hear an appeal by four players who had been suspended in the Saints’ «Bountygate» case. Tagliabue overturned the suspensions, saying that while three of the four players engaged in conduct detrimental to the league, the case had been «contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints organization.»
Tagliabue also served as chairman of the board of directors at Georgetown University from 2009 to 2015.
Prior to his legal career, Tagliabue was a standout college basketball player at Georgetown. Before taking on the job of commissioner, Tagliabue was a league lawyer who spent much of that time as the NFL’s representative and unofficial lobbyist in Washington.
He is survived by his wife Chandler, son Drew and daughter Emily.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
