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Commissioner Tagliabue with NFL Network’s Derrin Horton Derrin Horton: We are glad to welcome the Commissioner of the National Football League, Paul Tagliabue. Thank you very much for your time. PT: Glad to be with you. DH: Let’s start with the attendance. The many fans that came out to watch NFL Europe, what do you think it says that you have record attendance? PT: I think it’s a statement of the high quality of play, but I also think it’s a statement about the rivalry between these teams in Germany, and of course, Amsterdam fits right in with that in terms of proximity. They had a terrific team as they demonstrated yesterday. I think it’s those two factors, plus support from some of the German businesses over there. DH: What a terrific World Bowl it was, coming down to the final seconds. Could it have been a better finish for this season? PT: I don’t see how. I was over there in Week Two in that same stadium in Duesseldorf and it was a little ragged, but yesterday was championship game quality no matter what level of football you were playing. It was terrific performances by the quarterback position, wide receivers, running backs, the lines were blocking well. It was exactly what we had hoped to get at the end of the season in NFL Europe. DH: Every year in NFL Europe there are so many wonderful story lines that develop with players. This year it was Jarrett Payton, son of Walter Payton, who was a member of that World Bowl championship team. Do you think it’s important that this forum continues to get these young players repetition? PT: Absolutely, the football people have emphasized that to us from day one with this league. Jarrett Payton is just the latest example of a young talent getting the opportunity to go over there and play, to mature and develop. It’s just as important for people to see what he can do under game conditions. There were many other players on offense and defense in the game yesterday that will follow in the footsteps of La’Roi Glover and others who’ve gone to Europe and been identified as talent and come back to the NFL and on to the Pro Bowl. DH: There are eight national players who’ve been assigned to NFL practice squads back in the United States. How close do you think we are to seeing a national player break through and contribute to an NFL team? PT: I think we could be within two or three years. We have one player already with the Buffalo Bills who grew up in Germany and played at the University of Tennessee. We’ve had others on rosters with the Eagles and the Jaguars who’ve almost been there as full-time starters or players. I think we’re getting there very quickly when I saw a Japanese player yesterday running back the kickoff. Knowing how strong Japanese intercollegiate football is, I felt very good. DH: There are a number of other opportunities which exist, not only for football players, but for game officials and coaches. I know there is an internship program for former players who want to get into coaching. Is this an opportunity that you want to continue? PT: The critical thing is the players -- giving them the opportunity to play football. The others are ancillary, but the biggest thing that’s also developed this year off the field is we’ve been getting very strong support from the German business community. We’re looking ahead to the next five years when we might have German businesses partnering with us in managing and presenting the teams in their local areas. So our business model will change, but the football model, I think, will stay the same because that has proven to be very successful as a developmental tool. DH: What is your vision for NFL Europe in the next 10 or 15 years? Where do you see it ending? PT: If you look at other sports and the way they’ve developed globally, you see regional leagues. You could see NFL Europe become a regional league within Europe. You could see regional leagues in Latin America, starting with Mexico and running south into Central and South America. Of course, we already have the Canadian Football League. I don’t think you have to speculate to see that this will grow incrementally, slowly in some cases and more rapidly in others, but it is something that should be pursued. DH: The league meetings are coming up later in the week, could you share with us the priorities of what the owners will discuss? PT: The key thing will be to update the owners tomorrow on where we are in our discussions with the Players Association. We are continuing to have meetings with them. We’ve had a couple involving Gene Upshaw and myself in the past couple of weeks and the Players Association has made some proposals for significant change in our system. We’re considering those. We’ve got some tough discussions ahead, but I think if we stay at it we can make progress. DH: Thank you for your time, and from a personal note, I had an opportunity to go over to NFL Europe this year and call some games, so I appreciate the opportunity. I had a great time. PT: I always enjoy it there. We had a bunch of our senior people there this weekend. I was sorry that I had to watch it on TV and couldn’t be there at the end, like I was earlier in the season. |