All significant men and women worry about their legacies, and by significant, we mean people who have the time and inclination to worry about their legacies. Most folks long ago figured that their legacies are directly tied to their families, friends and people they helped -- or in some cases, harmed -- along the way. But the big hitters worry about their legacies because they know someone they might not be able to control is going to give them one.
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| Tagliabue's legacy is that of a man who served a few masters very well. (Getty Images) |
A: The owners of 29 of the NFL's 32 franchises.
B: The NFL office and those within it dependent upon his patronage, all the way down to the ubiquitous Rich Eisen, who is apparently pulling down 21-hour days over at the NFL Network.
C: The construction industry in 19 cities.
Everywhere else ... well, put it this way. He sure took care of categories A, B and C.
Tagliabue was not a failure by any means, but he did redefine success by funneling the field into one small opening.
He oversaw the increase in franchise values by a factor of 10, so good for the owners. He oversaw or helped extort new stadiums in 19 cities, so good for the owners and the re-bar industry. He tackled new dissemination technologies to make the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions even harder to escape, and forced more people to come get the Jags and Lions on NFL-controlled access vehicles, like the NFL Network.
But he didn't do much for the customers, because the other thing he did was redefine the commissioner's job so that its service aspects began and ended at ownership level.
Prices went up relentlessly and sometimes meteorically, which accounts for the increase in franchise values. Taxes rose in those cities where stadiums were built or renovated. It costs more just to see a game on television, because of cable. In other words, he had his hands in your pockets down to the stitching, so he really didn't do that much for you.
And he did nothing whatsoever for California.
Oh, he pretended to be saddened by the loss of the Los Angeles market, when in fact there was little he could have done except try to apply pressure in Anaheim to get the Rams a new park in the early '90s. And he was not going to help Al Davis and the Raiders unless it involved lighter fluid and matches, given that Davis crushed him in the courtroom in the early '80s. San Diego, he barely noticed, except when he had to show up there for Super Bowls the city can no longer host, and San Francisco is now one of the worst franchises in the league and deteriorating audibly even as we speak.
In other words, he chose not to exert his vaunted powers of persuasion and punishment in California, because his circle of interests ran the gamut from New York to Washington. That's where he did his work, in Congress and with the major media outlets.
