Paul Tagliabue
Paul Tagliabue
Paul John Tagliabueis the former Commissioner of the National Football League. He took the position in 1989 and was succeeded by Roger Goodell, who was elected to the position on August 8, 2006. Tagliabue's retirement took effect on September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL. Tagliabue served as Chairman of Board of Directors of Georgetown University from 2008 to 2015...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSports Executive
Date of Birth24 November 1940
CountryUnited States of America
Our focus continues to be on having the Saints in Louisiana... We're trying to develop what we would regard as a new model for the Saints to operate in a rebuilt Louisiana.
The assumption is that we can work through this in the next four months. If not, I'll stay on.
has to continue to be recovery and rebuilding from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Having him involved in the process and having someone here on the ground day to day will be helpful.
To make it 1,000 percent clear, the New Orleans Saints are committed to New Orleans, La., and their fans.
I don't think we'll be in litigation or that the union will decertify. But we are not making progress.
I don't know whether his mind has changed or not. I know he's here. I know he's very strong and committed. ... I think that a lot of uncertainty about the future has been cleared up.
I don't know where I'm going to do it. I'm just thinking about it. Just for that reason, that by then, people will have a whole new set of needs. The outpouring from the public is just fantastic. We just have to keep it going.
I came to the conclusion in the last 10 days that this was the optimum time to undertake those twin responsibilities: Moving forward on everything that we are doing and being involved with the search process.
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.
I believe that now is a positive time to make the transition to a new commissioner.
Certainly it would. I'm certain it would be a very positive thing. He's not only got tremendous regard among the owners, obviously he's the founder of the American Football League. For 45 years, he has been giving great credit not only to this sport, but other sports. I'm sure that would be a very positive factor for many of the owners.
Based on what I've heard to this point, it would be virtually impossible to have found that any player violated the program the way the program exists.
If we don't have a CBA in place, it's going to be a considerable complication.