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-- NFL INSIDER --
INTERVIEW
WITH COMMISSIONER PAUL TAGLIABUE SC: We’re very pleased to bring on the Commissioner of the National Football League, Paul Tagliabue. We talked about last week being “Upset Sunday” and we’ve come to expect the unexpected every week in the NFL. Why is that so and is it good for the league? PT: It’s good for everybody, especially the fans. We call it competitive excellence. It means tough football competition that is exciting and unpredictable. It’s the best of sports. Blowouts aren’t interesting. One-sided games aren’t interesting. What we’ve got now is tremendous talent spread around the league so fans in every city have players that they can cheer for with the chance of winning. GB: You hear criticism a lot about the quality of play being down in the NFL in this era of free agency. Do you think there’s any truth in that? PT: I don’t. And my best measuring rod is that the former players I talk to when I travel all over the country, Hall of Famers and others, all say that the players today are better. The training is better, that’s obvious. The coaching is better. It’s a year-round business. You see those acrobatic plays and the quality of the athlete out there. The quality of play is up around the board and the competition is stiffer than ever. Even coaches tell me the same thing. Coaches like Dan Reeves, who I spoke to earlier this week, and Bill Cowher, who played in the league and have coached in this league for a long time. So I have no doubt that it’s better than ever. SC: When you see a 40-year old player like Doug Flutie light it up on TV last week against the Minnesota Vikings, what do you feel about the success of these 40-year old players like Flutie and Jerry Rice? PT: It’s part of what we were just talking about in terms of the quality of play. The training is so great. The medical care is so great. You’ve got the players like Jerry Rice and Doug Flutie still playing after all these years in the league. That’s great for the fans. Thirty years ago, they’d be retired by now. Now they’re not, they’re out there. Doug Flutie is going to be “Mr. Fantasy,” maybe the most amazing story of them all, unless you consider Marv Levy coaching as many years as he coached. I couldn’t believe what I saw out of Doug last week. I met him when he was up playing in the CFL and he seems to get better with age like a great wine. GB: Why were you so instrumental in launching the NFL Network? PT: We feel there are many passionate fans across the country and they usually have to wait from Sunday to Sunday to see their NFL team. And NFL Films has such a great track record of producing television. So there was an opportunity to take it to our public on our own network and take them inside how teams get ready to play and show them what players do off the field during the week. It was a unique opportunity and the technology is there now with the digital revolution. It’s off to a great start with many positive reviews. SC: There’s been some discussion and debate again this year on instant replay. I know this is the last year in the current agreement. I think it’s a must and has to stay in the game because the bottom line is that you have to get the calls right, whether it’s on the field with the officials or upstairs in the booth. You’ve got to use modern technology to make sure that these calls are being brought to the fans in the correct manner. Do you anticipate it sticking around? PT: I think it will stick around. During the season, you get a lot of emotion because our game is an emotional one. It pushes people to the limit. But when people calm down and look at what we have with instant replay as an officiating tool, they’ll see the merit of it. The fans want it and the officials have grown more and more comfortable with it. A lot of people have a lot of different ideas, but my guess is that the consensus will develop around this system and we’ll go forward and have it as a tool. GB: The Super Bowl has been awarded through 2008. How likely is it that we’ll see a Super Bowl in the Northeast in an outdoor stadium? PT: Eventually, I believe it’ll happen. We granted the last game at our recent meeting in Chicago to Arizona, which has been working for many years on the stadium out there. But Washington, DC gave a tremendous presentation about the energy and excitement that there could be around a game there. New York did the same last year, along with the people from New Jersey. The Giants are working with the people in New Jersey on a major renovation of that stadium. One way or another, I think we’ll have a game in either New York or in Washington. SC: What’s the status of the Maurice Clarett lawsuit and why is your three-year rule a good rule in your opinion? PT: It’s a good rule because it strikes a balance. A balance between players having an opportunity and players getting the experience they need to compete successfully in the NFL. We’ve had a lot of discussions about it with the NFLPA and they’ve done some studies about the importance of maturity and succeeding in the NFL. Ultimately, it is good for the vast number of players. It’s in court now and hopefully the courts will uphold it. GB: Can we expect a franchise in Los Angeles in the near future? PT: It depends on what you mean by the near future. We’re certainly working in a really focused way on Los Angeles. We’re in discussions with three different possible stadiums out there – one in Pasadena, one in Carson and the LA Coliseum. The NFL has had such a great tradition and history in that area. That goes for football at all levels, such as UCLA and USC along with high school football. They’re all so strong in that area. We will leave no stone unturned to get back to Los Angeles with a team. SC: Thank you so much for taking time out to be with us today. Good luck as we head towards the Super Bowl in Houston. PT: We’re now in the second half of the season, so it gets even more intense. We’ll have some great games ahead. ### |