COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Good morning, and welcome to Super Bowl XXXV.

Every season we recognize an NFL player, for both the quality of his work; that is to say, his play on the field and the quality of his life. Last year, we renamed the NFL Man of the Year Award in honor of one of the greatest football players of all time, and one of the greatest citizens of all time, Walter Payton.

In this year of contested presidential elections, it might not surprise you to learn that our voting for the NFL Man of the Year Award ended in a tie. No hanging chads, but a tie; and it might not surprise you that we here in Florida are trying to settle it. Rather than order a recount, we resolved it by naming co-winners. We're very pleased to announce today that this year's Walter Payton Award goes for the first time to two NFL players, Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jim Flanigan of the Chicago Bears.

Derrick and Jim, right over here (applause.)

Derrick spends a great deal of time mentoring inner-city children through his Brooks Bunch Foundation. You might have heard that he took a large group of children to Washington, D.C. a couple of years ago, and last year on an extraordinary trip to Africa.

Jim Flanigan has devoted his energy to child literacy, and he's done so in a very extensive way. Jim's foundation has delivered 700,000 books to the hands of nearly 400,000 children in need.

These are examples of what these players do. We admire you very, very much and congratulate you, and want to emphasize though you're sharing the award, each of you are great men in your own right. Keep up the good work.

Once again, this past season featured extremely competitive football all season long, and throughout the entire league. Hundreds of proven players, proven talents demonstrated again that the playing field competition in the National Football League is the toughest in sports. Brett Favre, Rich Gannon, Eddie George, Marshall Faulk, Michael Strahan, Ray Lewis, La’Roi Glover, John Lynch, Jason Taylor, Emmitt Smith, Ed McCaffrey, and so many others brought tough competition and lots of excitement to NFL stadiums every week.

Off the field, we also had a year of accomplishment. We extended our Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association. It includes free agency and a salary cap through 2004. We are now already in discussions with the Players Association as Gene Upshaw mentioned yesterday to extend our system even further.

The League and all 32 teams launched the NFL Internet network with strong partners, including the Players Association, as well as Yahoo! and EBay, just to mention two partners, and fans have found our League and team Web sites to be among the very best sites in sports and on-line generally.

A number of NFL teams continue to make progress on new stadiums, including construction in Denver, Pittsburgh, Seattle and New England and agreements on new stadiums in Arizona, Chicago, Green Bay and Philadelphia.

We also made a lot of progress on realignment. We'll be taking it up again at our upcoming League meeting. This has included agreement on a new regular-season schedule, which is more fan friendly than ever, and brings all teams to all NFL cities on a rotating basis.

Also, with increased revenue sharing among all the teams in the League, we advanced our initiatives in the area of youth football and in the international arena we continue to make progress with our spring league in Europe, the NFL Europe League.

Also, on off-the-field matters, I know you'll have questions about player conduct. Let me comment briefly on that subject. We are deeply distressed and, it goes without saying, when the misconduct of a player victimizes other individuals. Our policies reflect this. But the overwhelming number of NFL players are good people and good citizens. We are extremely proud of NFL players as a group.

As a League, we need to have, and we do have, a wide array of strong programs and policies, not just to support our players, but also to hold them accountable to high standards. We will continue to work as we have done this past year on these policies and programs with our teams, with our players, with everybody in the League. We recognize our responsibilities in this area, and will continue to meet them.

Turning to the Super Bowl. We very much appreciate the warm hospitality here this week from the entire Tampa area community. Our hosts here led by Mayor Dick Greco, the Glazer family, the Buccaneers entire organization, the Tampa area, the Super Bowl Task Force have been fantastic. We anticipate an intense, tough, close game on Sunday. It's the most evenly-rated, evenly-matched Super Bowl ever.

As with St. Louis and Tennessee last year, many consider the Ravens and the Giants to be surprise teams in this Super Bowl, but it shouldn't be a surprise when you consider their records. These two teams, just to take one point, these two teams have won a combined 17 straight games; that's the longest season-ending winning streak of two teams coming into the Super Bowl ever in Super Bowl history, with one exception: 1972, when the Dolphins were undefeated and they played the Redskins. Those two teams had a combined winning streak of 18 games; 16 of them on the Miami side of the ball.

It shouldn't be a surprise that these two teams are here, either, when you consider how they dominated their opponents in postseason play. Both the Giants and the Ravens have great players, big-play skills on offense, and two of the toughest defenses we've seen in a long time, including one defense that some regard as the best ever. I'm sure that Derrick Brooks and Jim Flanagan will dispute it, and others, but we'll know more after we finish the game.

It's also a treat to have two cities in this game with legendary places in NFL history. The New York-Baltimore rivalry has been chronicled by you this week, and it's fun to relive those games.

The New York Giants have been a focal point of the NFL since 1925 and these Giants are reminiscent of other championship teams in franchise history.

Baltimore's NFL history has been different. It began after World War II. As you know, Baltimore went through a painful period of years without an NFL team until the Ravens arrived in 1996. But the Ravens have now recaptured Baltimore's NFL passion and the legendary tradition of Baltimore's NFL franchises.

On Sunday, I'm looking forward to sitting with two heroes of what many call the greatest game ever played, Frank Gifford of the Giants and Art Donovan of the Colts, who, needless to say, played against each other in the 1958 Sudden Death NFL Championship.

We can't promise that Sunday's game will end as dramatically as the 1958 game. We can't even promise that Sunday's game will end as dramatically as last year's Super Bowl. What we do know is that this Super Bowl certainly has all the ingredients for a very interesting, very tough and exciting match-up.

Another special aspect of Sunday's game for me will be watching the game knowing that Wellington Mara, who is entering his ninth decade as an NFL owner, and Art Modell, who is entering his fifth decade; that those two friends will be watching their teams compete for the Super Bowl championship. All of us in the League, including me personally, have tremendous affection and respect for these two owners; and in my own case, I owe both of them a personal debt of gratitude and thanks for all they have taught me over three decades about leadership and about growing as a representative of the National Football League.

This is a special game in many, many ways. It's a delight to be back here in Tampa. It's the 10th anniversary of the game that will be remembered as the Gulf War Game. We're thrilled that General Schwarzkopf will be here with us at the game; that he'll be part of the pre-game show. So we're looking forward to the next 36 hours with a lot of anticipation, and a lot of excitement, and we hope everyone has a great time.

Dave Goldberg from the Associated Press traditionally gets the first question, and I know he's out here somewhere. And I can see the audience this year, because some good lighting engineer has the lights focused out there and not up here.

Q. Herman Edwards was hired by the Jets last week or the week before, Marvin Lewis is about to get a job. But those two, the first minority coaches in 42 hires, is that going to continue? What's your view of the situation as it stands now?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: I don't think it will be 42 hires more, but one never knows.

I think what's happening is that the increased efforts that everyone in the League has made with respect to opportunity for coaches, particularly minority coaches, are beginning to yield some benefits.

What do I mean by that? I basically mean that in the last four years, we've tried to grow the network of coaches and managers and owners in the League who know each other. We had meetings in 1997, again in 1998. We had just by coincidence, Herman Edwards and Marvin Lewis, along with Gil Haskell as coordinators appeared at our League meeting last March and talked with the owners about the responsibilities of the coaches for their players.

So I think all of these networking activities plus video interviews that we've prepared and helped the coaches with and sent out to all the teams are beginning to have some effect, some positive effect. Herman is here, but it all boils down to talent. Herman Edwards is the head coach now because of talent. The 42 other coaches you mentioned were hired because of their talent.

I've said many times that what we need to do is what General Powell tried to do when he was in charge of the Army; just make sure there are no institutional ways in which the scale is tipped against minorities; that there's no institutional way in which we have unintentional practices that might be viewed as a deterrent to mobility, and I think we're getting there on all fronts.

Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we'll see maybe another minority coach will get a job, but Marvin Lewis and others are competing with talents like John Fox. So, talent in the end will prevail.

Q. I have a question for you from among the many submitted this week to SuperBowl.com. It's from Michael of Bethesda, Maryland: Off-field player conduct has been a major topic in the news this week, with all the coverage surrounding Ray Lewis and other NFL players. Beyond the policies currently in place, what further steps can the League take to address these kind of problems?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Well, I basically feel that we've looked at everything we can do, and now we just have to keep doing it intensively and professionally.

Basically, in the last year, we've made certain that everyone in the League, from the Commissioner to the Players Association to the players, to owners, to general managers, right through the organization, to assistant coaches, security people; that everyone understands what our expectations are, what our standards are, and just as important, what has to be done to support our players, to help them deal with the challenges they have in their lives and to enable them to stay out of trouble off the field.

I think that's all you can do. I think we've got the policies in place. They include intervention and counseling. They include treatment for substance abuse. They include all of those risk factors that can lead to someone having a problem in his or her life. And what we need to do is make sure all the things we've set out for ourselves to do are accomplished in a first-class way and without any exception. And I think that the fruits are beginning to show there, because this past season, knock on wood, we have had a very minimal number of incidents involving our players.

Q. Paul, you fined Ray Lewis $250,000 this year. Some people applauded it; some people thought it was a slap in the wrist. Can you please give us your thought process in that fine? And No. 2, Lewis, who is the Defensive MVP of the League this year, was not included on a ballot for the Player of the Year that was sponsored by one of the companies that sponsors the NFL. Did the Commissioner's office or League office have anything to do with that excluding?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: The second point, I think that's the easy part. Not that I'm aware of and I would really doubt that we had any strong input. I think there's an independent panel that selects the nominees during the course of the season for the players who are up there to be the Most Valuable Player in the League.

On the first point, on the reasoning on the Ray Lewis discipline, I took account, number one, of what he did, what he admittedly did and what was proven, as opposed to what the speculation and conjecture was.

The second thing is, I took account of how that negatively impacted the League. In particular, how it negatively impacted the other players in the League, and the stereotyping of NFL players. I felt that was a very negative offshoot of the charge that Ray had admitted to, which was the obstruction charge.

Thirdly, I considered what kind of discipline would drive home the seriousness of what he had done, the seriousness to the League, and taking into account in that context of what he had already been through.

So, we met, and I weighed all those factors, these three factors in particular, and concluded that $250,000 fine was appropriate. It also included a provision that if he had any additional misconduct in violation of his court probation or anything else, it would be another 250,000 on top of that, for half a million dollars total.

As Gene Upshaw said yesterday, Ray has handled himself very well this year under a tremendous amount of pressure. He's tried to focus himself on the field. I think it's clear to me from my meetings with him, as Gene said yesterday, that he understands the seriousness of what he allowed himself to be a part of, and he understands his responsibilities and he does have a great deal of remorse, compassion, whatever you want to call it, for the victims in that incident.

He's here to play a game. To me, to some of you, he probably was not as articulate as he might have been, in answering some of the questions. But I have no doubt, again, as Gene Upshaw said yesterday that Ray Lewis understands his responsibilities, both for past conduct and for going forward in the future.

Q. For Super Bowl XXXX we'll have the privilege in Detroit to be the Super Bowl host, and I was wondering your take on the casino issue; there's in the neighborhood of three casinos now, and the stance that NFL has taken in the past?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: No. 1, we've addressed this in other cities where there is legalized gambling, casino gambling, including New Orleans, and we don't see an issue so long as we take pains to draw a clear wall between the Super Bowl and Super Bowl activities on the one hand and the gambling on the other hand. We've done that successfully with past Super Bowls and I'm sure we'll be able to do that again in New Orleans and when we are in Detroit.

The second thing that's important to recognize is that the casino gambling is not sports gambling; that it's regulated to on-site and limited in the State of Nevada. So our principle focus, our core interest, is in avoiding anything that casts aspersions on the integrity of our game. And so casino gambling, whether you like it or don't like it, isn't really threatening the core interest, which has been the focus of our policies over the years.

Q. There's a great deal of passion involved in your game. Are you concerned as a Commissioner or a fan that in your zealousness to protect football players that you're taking some of the passion and some of the zest out of this game today that really made this game during the 1950s and early 1960s?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: I'm not concerned and I don't think our coaches are concerned. I don't think our Competition Committee is concerned, and I don't think there's any significant concern in the League on that point. We're concerned about player safety.

On the particular issue that you're talking about, in terms of the Ray Lewis hit on Steve McNair, and the Siragusa hit; those were two examples of plays where we felt that defensive players were going beyond the rules. They were driving the quarterback into the ground in a way that's unnecessary.

We reviewed this whole issue very much in depth about four or five years ago, and we had the Players Association involved and we looked at some of the greatest defensive players in the League, not only at that time, but in the history of the League.

Two examples come to my mind. We looked at film of Reggie White playing. We looked at film of Charles Haley playing, and to be great, to play with passion and greatness, you don't have to drive the quarterback into the ground. You don't have to fall on the quarterback with the entire weight of your body.

However, when the game was played 50 years ago, you didn't have 340-pound linemen. We didn't have athletes who were training on a year-round basis. We didn't have players who were conditioned like Jim Flanigan and Derrick Brooks, just to take two. These players are great players, they know how to play within the rules. We have to strike a balance between tough defense, passionate football on the one hand and going over the line on the other hand.

I would say one further thing about both Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa in this context: They have not been problems. I know, for example, in Tony's case, this was the first time he's ever had a rules violation involving Tony Siragusa, in all the time he's been in the League. So it was an aberration, so far as his own style of play goes. And he's not only one of the most passionate, toughest players in the League, I guess he's got the best sense of humor, at least some people think, since Art Donovan.

But we're not concerned that we're taking anything out of our game. We're trying to get into the game some player safety, which is important for us, but it's also important for us to send the message to young people about how to play the game safely. We get hundreds of letters every year, thousands every year from coaches and parents about safety. What we do speaks not only to how the game is played in the NFL, but how it's played by kids, and that's another very important consideration here.

Q. Edward DeBartolo's name has come up repeatedly this year, in an effort to buy the Buccaneers. That rumor was squashed, but I would like to know his status with the League, and would he be welcomed back as in an ownership role if the opportunity came up?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: The rumors of Edward DeBartolo possibly acquiring the Bucs, I know for a fact that the Bucs are not for sale. Those rumors are completely unfounded. The Glazer family, they're going to be the owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On the second point about Edward DeBartolo and whether he could own some other team, he's certainly not banned from the NFL. He was suspended. I lifted that suspension early last year. If Eddie were to have an interest in owning a team or being part of an ownership group, we would review at the time of any such application his status, just as we do in terms of due diligence for any other applicant. But again, I want to emphasize, because I know it's important here in Tampa Bay, that the Buccaneers are not for sale; the Glazer family is going to be owning it. As I said at yesterday’s luncheon, their goal is not to just host the Super Bowl; it's to play in one and win one, as owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Q. I want to revisit the issue about the quarterback hits from a different angle. Billy Jenkins got a fine for hitting Trent Dilfer. The Jenkins, Lewis, Siragusa plays, one thing, there were no flags on any of them. And, of course, the players, "Hey, I wonder if there is any talk in getting the officials on the same page with the League on these driving hits"?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: The officials are on the same page. But the officials have one opportunity to look at the entire field.

When a defensive player is rushing the quarterback and the quarterback gets the ball off, now the officials have to watch what happens with the defensive pass rusher and quarterback. They have to see what's happened with the ball, where the receivers are, what's happening to them, and so forth. So they have a lot to do that goes way beyond that hit by the defensive player on the quarterback.

They know going into the season, it's been a League policy for decades, that you can be fined or disciplined based upon film review, and not just on the basis of what's called on the field. We have the opportunity to enforce the standards and to discuss it with our officials and with the players and the coaches, through film, the way that the officials as humans cannot possibly be expected to do on every play in the game.

Happily, they get these calls most of the time. When they don't, we reserve the opportunity to take it up, as we've done in these two cases, and impose discipline. But the key thing is not so much to impose discipline; it's to communicate with the coaching staff and the players, to let them know where we're going, so we don't have any recurring problems.

Q. In Cleveland, as I recall in your first press conference, you said that you liked this job to include some fun. How have you dealt with the stress, has it been fun, and when do you see yourself retiring? (Laughter.)

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Well, on the first part of it, how have I dealt with the stress, I guess some people would say pretty well, and other people have seen me get angry and lose my temper would say not so well. But I think that the key to managing stress is to have other things in your life other than your work. And happily, I've got a great family, and now a grandchild. I can still read books that don't have to do with sports and still take trips to places other than Super Bowl and Pro Bowl venues.

So I do all those things, and I think that's a way of managing stress. And I even try to work out a little bit, as you know, Gordon (Forbes). You're the runner and I'm the NordicTrack guy.

On the part about retiring, some people think that should be sooner than later. Knowing my contract runs out through the middle of this next decade, the best way I can say is my goal is to stay involved in this about 10 years longer than you do.

Q. Is there concern that the Jaguars are going to meet their salary cap number, and what would happen if they didn't?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Cap numbers are artifacts of the cap. They have some meaning, and sometimes they don't have meaning. I think the Jaguars have done a great job of managing the cap, managing their squad, having an outstanding football team.

And we talked about this early in the week, not just with respect to the Jaguars, but with respect to all the teams that are coming up on the free agency calendar and they have to get under the cap. We don't have any major concerns right now that any team will have an unusual challenge of getting under the cap, and that includes the Jaguars. They'll have to make choices, as everyone does under this system. The system is designed that way for competitive reasons, but we're not concerned, as they say, about the Jaguars ability to get under the cap and still have an outstanding football team, or any other football team in that respect.

Q. I wanted to ask you, after hearing your opening statement about a comment you made regarding the City of Baltimore, right after they failed to land an expansion franchise about seven years ago. You suggested at that time that perhaps the money that was being allocated to build a new stadium could be used to something like a museum. It's a comment that sticks with the football fans of Baltimore. Did you make that comment because you never believed Baltimore had a chance to land a contract at that time?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: It's unfortunate that the comment was taken the way it was taken. I lived in Maryland for many years and went to many Colts games, including in those years in the mid-70's when they were 11-5 and so forth, and they were beaten at home in two playoff games by the Raiders and the Steelers.

I have tremendous respect for the football fans in Baltimore, not just from a distance, but from firsthand experience. As I said in my opening remarks, as you said, too; they are legendary fans and have a legendary team.

The unfortunate thing was -- really, two unfortunate things. Number one, in the 1980's, the League was under court rulings from California that were negative to the League and created what Pete Rozelle called a form of franchise free agency. And during that period, the Colts moved to Indianapolis, that was a tremendous loss to the community and very, very painful, not just for the community, but I know for Commissioner Rozelle and many people in the League.

Then in the expansion process, we had five teams competing, five cities competing to get two franchises. We managed the process and did so I think very fairly. But again there was severe disappointment when Baltimore was not selected, and that has left -- it compounded the injury, if you will; poured salt on the wound.

Jacksonville and Carolina were selected because of their advantages. I think the record of those two cities and those two teams shows that the owners made two good choices. So that pain was there.

My own comment, like I say, was taken out of context, or if it was in context, the context was this; that life has got many elements, Baltimore has many assets. Its people have many interests, one of the great examples of a city restoring itself and it's a great entertainment complex with the Orioles and Camden Yards and so on.

The thing that I think is important is No. 1, I and we have respected that great NFL tradition in Baltimore; that the Ravens have recaptured that tradition and done so very, very quickly and in a very dramatic way. Hopefully that goes some distance towards ameliorating some of the pain in the past. And if they manage to beat the Giants on Sunday, that will help, too. But that's going to be a tough football game.

Q. Regarding San Francisco -- to go back to the stadium that had been promised and the people who live up in Hunters Point, about the 10,000 jobs, you said Willie Brown would take care of that. Obviously, Willie Brown hasn't taken care of it and we still have people living at poverty levels. The other question I wanted to ask you was can you tell me the difference between celebrating and taunting, because a man makes a tackle and he jumps up and starts waving, and what's he doing, this is what he gets paid for. To me, that's taunting, it's been called, and everybody on kickoff makes a tackle; they wave their arms and jump up and down. What's the difference between celebrating and taunting? A man goes in the end zone, falls down on his knees, I don't know who he's talking to, they wave up in the air, I don't know who they're pointing to. To me, I think this is overzealousness, and I think that the officials should do something about it. I really do.

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Many people on the other side, they think we call taunting too much. But basically what we're trying to do is to avoid one-upsmanship in football and to avoid taunting and ridicule of an opposing player, whether it's intentional or not.

Ultimately, we're trying to avoid fights in the football game. We're trying to draw a line between what we think is spontaneous and what appears to be premeditated and completely unnecessary. We have had no dissent in the League. Players don't want to be ridiculed, players don't want to have one-upsmanship as part of the game. Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith and others, they scored a touchdown, and they expect to be in there the next time, is what they expect.

But the teams, the Competition Committee, we're all unanimous about premeditated, prolonged demonstrations; those should not be part of the game.

We had an incident with the 49ers player in a Cowboys game, which I think showed the wisdom of the rules we have, because it led to an altercation. So we're trying to draw a line that sometimes is tough to do, but it's the difference between what's spontaneous and what's premeditated and ridicule.

On the first part about the stadium in San Francisco, Willie Brown has done a lot in his time as the mayor. He's done a lot in his second term. We're continuing to work with him. We've been meeting with the mayor. They had the PacBell Park get built, which they did. They have other priorities which have to be recognized. We're still working with the 49ers and the mayor to see if we can get the construction on the stadium that was contemplated when the public passed the referendum several years ago. It's one of many priorities for the mayor, and now that we've got the ownership of the 49ers settled, we hope that we can get back in a more intensified way to that goal.

Q. As a follow-up to the earlier Baltimore question, some of the fans have expected an apology over the years due to a comment, some of them as a way to get back in good graces, ask that maybe the rules be changed. What consideration are you giving to changing the rules about northern cities hosting a future Super Bowl?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: We've talked about that with a lot of people in the League. To this point, we feel that the only northern cities that could host the Super Bowl and meet our goals and meet the goals of the teams and the fans are domed stadiums in the north, such as the Metro Dome, the Silver Dome, and now Ford Field, which is the dome to be built in Detroit.

We've discussed northern Super Bowls with Seattle, Denver, Carolina, Baltimore, New York, and probably some other cities, but to this point, we're not comfortable that we could deal effectively with what the game entails. For a while, people thought we were going to have global warming; but then in some of those cities, we've had a lot of snow, just in the last month, which is a reminder that it still is winter in the northern parts of the United States. That would be a real difficult problem with us, with the Super Bowl and everything that's involved with the Super Bowl.

Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on a couple of Hall of Fame inductions or selections tomorrow morning. Thoughts on those, Ralph Wilson and former Coach Marv Levy?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: I've said many times that starting with the coach, to me, he's one of the great assets we've had in the National Football League in many, many years. He's demonstrated that with four Super Bowl teams in a row. He demonstrated that in so many other ways -- setting standards for players both on the field and off the field."

So, to me, Marv Levy is a Hall of Famer, and the same is true of Ralph Wilson. I think his leadership over 40 years, and the fieldhouse and the stadium have been named for Ralph Wilson. The fact that he's had such a tremendous franchise in an area that started off as a small area relative to many major league markets, and then buffeted by economic difficulties over the past several decades; the fact that Ralph has had that kind of a franchise and make such a strong contribution to the rest of the League says to me he's a Hall of Famer, too.

Q. It's been announced that the Raiders and the Cowboys will be playing preseason in Mexico, again. I remember about three or four years ago, I asked you on the possibility of a rotation, like an eight-or-10-year rotation; that each team give up one home game for the regular season. There's about 70 of us from the Mexican media at the Super Bowl, and I think the Mexican fans love the NFL, but they want regular season; preseason is not acceptable anymore?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: We've discussed that, and we've discussed rotation concepts. We've also discussed the concept that teams who might have stadium conflicts for one reason or another or difficulty in using their own stadium, whether it was for construction or conflict with baseball, whether they might on a voluntary basis give us the ability to play some games, some regular season games in Mexico or elsewhere, oversees.

But to this point, we don't have any consensus on that. I think that the bottom line is that when you only have 10 games for your fans, and eight of those games counting toward a Super Bowl competition, it's a very tough thing to take a game, a home game, away from fans and bring it to the non-team city unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

So we'll keep discussing that, but I think that the feeling is that those fans in our League cities to this point have the stronger interests in those home games.

Q. I have a couple of questions on the stadium issue. The Cardinals are getting a new stadium. Are there any plans to bring the Super Bowl back to Phoenix? With all the stadiums that are about to be built or being built, how much influence do you think that the Cleveland move to Baltimore will have on maybe spiking these cities to make sure that they kept their teams and built these stadiums?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: On the first point, on the Cardinals and the Super Bowl; yes, we've discussed it with Bill Bidwill and with his son, Mike, the steps that would have to be taken to have a Super Bowl in Arizona and in the new stadium, and that's something we will continue to work on and get done.

On the impact of the Cleveland move on new stadiums, I'm sure it's had some impact. But I think that the biggest impact has been the willingness of our owners to recognize that given the current economics of the League, we have to be willing to shoulder some portion of the construction of new stadiums, and our owners have adopted policies of the League to assist in that respect.

So I'm sure there's a concern that cities don't want to lose their teams, but I think just as big a factor is that we've been much more proactive and much more prepared to invest in solutions that work in a given community, as a way of getting new stadiums, and keeping teams where they've been for many years, and the spectrum of solutions covers the entire range. We have some, as you know, where stadiums are principally funded with public money, including a number of places where voter referendums have produced that result.

In other cases, we have 50/50 partnerships or partnerships close to that and in some cases we have stadiums built entirely with private money.

Q. New York City is lobbying for the Olympics in 2012. If the Giants are successful and win Super Bowl XXXV, will the League assist in helping New York City initiate a stadium, a domed stadium sometime in the mid 2000's, and possibly a Super Bowl bid by the end of the decade? And when the League goes to Hawaii next week, the XFL starts up -- because of the TV connection, maybe it's something to take seriously? What is the NFL's position on that?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: On a stadium in New York, I think whether the Giants win or lose, Woody Johnson will be seeking to work with the public officials in New York to see if there's a way of securing a stadium for the Jets. That's what's been discussed, as part of the Olympic complex, if the city goes forward with its Olympic bid as expected; and also, possibly as part of an expansion of the Javits Convention Center.

We made it clear to the Jets and to officials in New York that we would support that as a League, within the confines of our policies that I just mentioned a few minutes ago, we supported a new stadium in Chicago financially, and those major markets are important to everybody and our policies are based on that.

So I would expect that would go forward. The Giants will also be addressing their own stadium needs in New Jersey. I would expect both New York teams to be looking at that.

On the XFL, frankly it's been a minor aspect of what we worry about, or in many cases it's just a complete nonissue. So NBC is obviously an experienced network, but it's not something we've spent much time on.

Q. I was hoping you could define for me the Special Contributors Wing for the Hall of Fame. And when you define it, where does Art Modell fit in that definition? Do you fear that his move from Cleveland would be the only obstacle to keep him from being selected to the Hall of Fame?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: On the Special Contributors part of the Hall of Fame, you're going to have to speak to somebody else, because I'm not an expert on the Hall of Fame, unfortunately. I think the special contributors has been mostly focused on a non-owner, non-coach, non-player categories, but again, it's not an area that I'm totally conversant with.

Art Modell, I said it at the beginning, he's now beginning his fifth decade as an owner. He did a tremendous job with the Browns. Only because of some very extraordinary and dramatic plays was he denied the chance to participate in the Super Bowl as the owner of the Browns. He's done a tremendous amount for the League, on television, on the partnership structure of the League. He was instrumental in bringing about the merger of the AFL and NFL. He's got 40 years of service to the League. I would think that at some point, whether there's a little distance, his entire record will be recognized as entitling him to be in the Hall of Fame.

Q. I have a couple questions about drugs and dietary substance. Creatine -- the French government agency has been looking into it and said it might have some cancer risks involved. And I was wondering, Creatine, does the League look into a substance or study, even if it's not been banned? And then No. 2, recently I guess there's been the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and I didn't know if you ever foresaw the day where all the major world sports leagues adopt uniform drug policies. The way it is now, you have an athlete in one sport could be lauded as a hero for hitting 70 home runs, using a certain substance, while he might be banned from an Olympic sport for the same thing. Do you see adopting a consistent drug policy?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: On the second part, first, we've talked to the leadership of other sports organizations who have been instrumental in putting together the World Anti-Doping Agency, including General McCaffrey and his staff in Washington.

Our conclusion has been that -- our needs are specific to the National Football League. We've got some very tough anti-drug policies, including in the performance-enhancing area, and we felt that up to this point, at least our own programs are better suited to our needs than any more generalized or common set of programs. That could change in the future, but that's been our judgment up to this point.

On the first part about Creatine, the answer is: Yes, we do have a systematic review of all the substances that we're aware of that players are using or might use or other athletes are using, and we try to classify them as either prohibited or non-prohibited under our substance abuse policy.

I think most of you know we've been pretty inclusive in that. We've had Andro in there. We've had other drugs in there that we felt were -- should be off-limits. Creatine, I think, is not on that list currently, but I know that we've talked to trainers and team physicians about Creatine, and tried to educate them to the risks of substances that are not on the list, but which people have serious question marks about.

We've also prohibited players and teams and other team officials from associating themselves in any way with the supplements business, because we also feel that some areas of that compromise what we're trying to get done in our anti-substance abuse programs.

Q. Regarding your comments with Marv Levy and Ralph Wilson, is there anyone among the 15 Hall of Fame finalists whom you would not endorse, and do you think it's been an official process for you to offer your opinion on anyone?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: I think whether it's beneficial or it doesn't have any effect. I know who the selectors are. Up until now, I haven't been asked who I think should be in the Hall of Fame, with one exception. I did express the opinion about five years ago that the Hall of Fame, in my personal opinion, should be limited to players and coaches, because they play the game; and they win and lose, and we have measuring rods for playing and coaching that are different than the measuring rods we can use to apply to anybody else.

That is not going to make me very popular with non-players and non-coaches who think they should be in the Hall of Fame. I was asked about Lawrence Taylor; that was the only opinion I had about the Hall of Fame. The opinion is worth, what you can see, nothing, because people other than players and coaches are eligible.   The one other exception I had to that is I thought the founding fathers should be eligible, and that includes George Halas and many others.

On Marv Levy and Ralph Wilson, I know that the selectors will make their decision based upon what they think entitles someone to be in the Hall of Fame, and not what I think. But I also think it's appropriate for me, when you do have people like Ralph and Art Modell and Marv for me to have an opinion. Do I expect that opinion to be controlling? No. If people have good reasons for reaching different conclusions, I would certainly respect that.

Q. Commissioner, I have two quick questions regarding to Mexico. What is the NFL's philosophy about the American Bowls, because we will have the Dallas Cowboys, in five American Bowls that we have. Maybe it's a team promotion or League promotion. And does the NFL see Mexico different with a new government right now, maybe more in investments, in marketing and licensing?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: Our philosophy on American Bowl Games has been to have teams that we know the fans are interested in, but also have a diverse group of teams. So we've had the Cowboys down there a number of times. We know they're very popular. The Raiders are very popular. They haven't been there in a while; that's why the Raiders are going to be there.

Our philosophy is to have a mix responding to clear fan interests in certain teams, but also bringing other teams down there that we know -- that we think the fans would take a liking to, such as we did a few years ago with Denver and John Elway.

On the situation in Mexico generally, we are working more intensively all the time. We opened an office in Mexico City. We've got excellent relationships there with the television networks. We are looking for more opportunities to work with college football in Mexico, youth football, and I expect in the next 12 to 24 months, we'll be expanding a number of the programs that we have in Mexico relating to American football.

Q. Paul Harvey -- I think you regard as a very reliable newscaster -- said the other morning that a percentage of players in the NFL have a criminal record. Are you aware of that, and could you comment on that, negate or confirm it?

COMMISSIONER TAGLIABUE: I don't know what Paul Harvey said, but I do know that most statements that have been made about criminal records in the NFL have been nonsensical and stupid, including so-called statistical statements. And what I do know for a fact is that we track 2,500 players that go to training camp every year, plus every other player who has been with the league in the preceding 18 months. We track 3,000 to 4,000 players every year in terms of criminal misconduct. And this year, tracking almost 4,000 players, we have had 26 investigations, not offenses, investigations, and we've had 11 convictions out of 4,000 people that we're tracking. And most of those convictions, putting aside the Rae Carruth case, were minor offenses. If the rest of society can do as well as we do in the NFL, America's crime problem would be well addressed.

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