Patron Saint: Tagliabue kept NFL alive in New Orleans
There have been times when Paul Tagliabue, the former NFL commissioner, has been accused of having the warmth of chilled salmon, the passion of a ballpoint pen.
Tagliabue has been called -- mostly by old fogey members of the media who used to practice written fellatio on Pete Rozelle -- a hoity toity, smarty pants, humorless jerk-face. More ipso facto legal elitist than grounded football man.
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| Paul Tagliabue used his influence to compel Saints owner Tom Benson to keep the team in New Orleans. (Getty Images) |
Several league sources explained this week the chances of the team departing were greater than most people knew. There was a small but powerful cadre of owners who felt it was in the league's best interest to leave New Orleans after it was almost destroyed by Katrina. It was not just New Orleans owner Tom Benson who wanted the team to depart. He apparently had at least a few allies.
The city of San Antonio, a snake in the grass, tried to take advantage of the tragedy and steal the team. The San Antonio Saints. Just doesn't sound right.
Tagliabue was able to lobby many in football and convince them that the Saints should stay. One of his arguments was that the NFL had a moral obligation to stay. It was simply the right thing to do.
Soon, there were few dissenters. The league eventually contributed $15 million to rebuilding the Superdome. A drop in the bucket, to be sure, since the NFL earns billions, but it served as the symbol of the league's commitment to stay.
"I've got to say that as far as I'm concerned Paul Tagliabue is a great man," said Doug Thornton, who headed the project to rebuild the Superdome. "From the very beginning he was always committed to keeping the Saints here. I think there were people in the NFL who didn't care or didn't want a team here because they thought it was bad for their image or too dangerous or whatever. Paul never felt that way. I think New Orleans owes him a great deal of gratitude.
"In every conversation I had with Paul," Thornton recalled, "he was like, 'It would just be wrong to leave. The Saints are a part of the community. They have to stay.' He was one of the few people in power that I heard who was consistently saying that."
I've always said that Tagliabue was the best commissioner in NFL history. The old-guard writers, upon hearing that, often chuckle so hard their porcelain uppers depart their yaps at the speed of sound.
Laugh away. No commissioner has had to deal with the stern issues that Tagliabue has -- everything from free-agency to the complexity and challenges of performance-enhancing drug use to the increased focus on the lack of black head coaches.
Not to mention the worst terrorist attacks in the country's history came while Tagliabue was commissioner.
Followed by the most horrific natural disaster on American soil.
