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Commissioner Tagliabue at
World Bowl XI Brian Baldinger: Commissioner, back in March, when the players were in training camp in Tampa, there was all kinds of speculation about security issues. The Iraqi War had just begun, but you made the decision to go forward. We are an American business doing business in Europe. How have things worked so far? Commissioner: I think what the owners decided then was exactly right. It seemed right then and now it seems even more so because we’ve had tremendous support here in Europe. We’ve shared values in sport between the U.S. and Europe. And all of our teams -- Scotland, Amsterdam, Barcelona and in Germany -- have been great. The fans have been great, and we’re here for an outstanding matchup as you can see. Baldinger: You mentioned some of the countries right there Commissioner. What about the future of the National Football League in the UK specifically? Commissioner: We’re very pleased with where we are in the UK. We drifted a little bit in the years back. We started there with great excitement about the Cowboys and the Bears in the mid-80s. But now we have more live coverage there of our NFL games then ever. The team here, the Claymores, almost made it to the World Bowl. We have great support here for today’s game. So we’re positive about the progress we’re making. Baldinger: Commissioner, you’re a sports fan, so certainly [you’ve noticed] the success of Yao Ming in basketball and Ichiro Suzuki in baseball. You watch the national players right now and I know it gets you excited. You’re seeing development in all these different countries. Do you see a day when real players from Europe, from Japan, from Germany, from France become stars of the National Football League? Commissioner: I definitely see that. The most striking thing at practice for Gene Upshaw and me here this week has been the progress of the national players, Patrick Ventke and Daniel Benetka just to name two out here today. Other players from France in this game today, from Mexico and elsewhere. We saw last year in the American Bowl in Japan, Japanese players were making real progress. And that’s maybe the most exciting thing that I see as we enter the second decade of this international league. Baldinger: With the success of the league this year, have you enjoyed watching it and finding out the success of these players and then hearing about them come Sunday in the fall during the NFL season? Commissioner: It’s been fun, and I know in our league cities there’s been a lot of excitement, in Green Bay and elsewhere, where the quarterbacks over here have excelled. But when you see players like we have in this game and the prospects that we’ll be seeing in the fall as NFL players, players from Europe in addition to the Bakers and others who are here from the Dolphins and other NFL teams, it gets to be real exciting and it lets us know that we’re about to kick off NFL football back home. |