Paul Tagliabue Quotes (122 Quotes)

I don't personally feel there's much we can do. ... We've worked on this literally for decades. Each year there are one or two coaches who seem to get their opportunities deferred. ... We saw a similar thing with Marvin Lewis , but now he's a head coach. ... I personally don't think the rules could be changed very much.

The revenue-sharing issue has never been an impediment in the past to getting an agreement with the Players Association. The difference between now and the past is the fundamental change in ... the union's expectations as to the percentages that should go to the players. ...

The key is to let them know well in advance that they're going to be giving up a home game, ... The other key is to make (giving up a game) a universal obligation to be a member of the NFL.

I believe that now is a positive time to make the transition to a new commissioner. We have a collective bargaining extension in place, long-term television contracts, and have undertaken many other strong elements in league and club operations.

He was a warrior, a neighbor and a friend ... In the eyes of many he was the greatest football player of all time.

I've been there on many occasions with my wife and it's always one of the highlights of the football season to visit the tremendous fans in Kansas City - both before and after the game.

Mr. Benson already has committed beyond 2006. He's made it clear this is not just for one season. It's a multiyear effort. The commitment is unequivocal.

I think that reshaping the committee the way I did and getting Pat Bowlen and Jerry Richardson to become directly involved the way that Dan Rooney and Wellington Mara were in past negotiations is a real positive, ... It shows that we are serious and determined to reach out across the table, and hopefully that will be the beginning of a deal.

The Super Bowl now takes on a magnitude that almost defies the imagination.

My own belief is that the ground rules that come out (of the committee) will not be troublesome or problematic for the Buffalo Bills.

Teams are not franchised as free agents to run around the country and play wherever they want to play,

The spread of talent around the league, the ability of teams to become competitive relatively quickly, it's a great thing. This preserves all of that.

Under our league policies, owners are not supposed to be talking about re-locating their team during a season, ... We've got a specific set of guidelines on that. It's a policy that was negotiated with the U.S. conference of mayors, and my assumption is that every owner is complying with the policy.

We are pleased that this historic re-opening will occur on a Monday night.

The NFL declined to make Mr. Tagliabue or other executives available for interviews. Earlier this month, the commissioner said the revenue debate had existed since teams began sharing ticket money in 1935. The issue will be discussed in 2035 and 2135, ... We'll get it resolved, but it's a constant issue in a vibrant, growing sports league.

George Young (former Giants general manager) always that when he was a member of the competition committee that one thing replay does is multiply the chances to make errors.

We have to keep emphasizing the importance of the Saints representing the entire region and make everyone understand this city has been hit so hard it takes the entire region to make it work.

We have to have a sober assessment of what kind of rebuilding and defending new investment of the Superdome if any makes sense. These are all complicated decisions.

While we have worked with all three organizations on separate projects in the past, this new opportunity enables us to take advantage of the strengths of the combined partnership.

Can we sit here and say once we get a second season under our belt we're going to blow up some balloons and say we've got some big new conclusion I don't know. It may take two, three, four, five years, who knows Until you see something different, you don't know what you're looking at. ... There's no urgency in terms of any immediate need to try and fix something that's not broken, and is the best in sports.

Hopefully, people will recognize there is reason to be positive and recognize that out of tragedy can come great achievement and vision and hope for the future.

This is in many ways a real turning point in the recovery and the rebuilding effort and the Saints ' contribution to all that. We've been reading about other restaurants, other things opening up, energy coming back, and talking to other real estate people. ... It's very clear we're gaining momentum.

It's a time that we have to be reflective. (The NFL must) try to sort out what happened and try to carry on in a way that is sensible, but takes into account a tragedy, and working closely with the medical authorities and team physicians and others to see if the cause of this player's death can be ascertained.

They have to make a fundamental change in their proposal in how they are defining their expectations for the players.

I've spoken to many owners already, and I think there's a really strong consensus that what is needed is a pretty effective leader and someone who can be around for a good, long period of time. Whatever differences people have on specific issues will be pretty well submerged as they try to find the right type of talent to lead thee organization.

Russ is a well-respected member of our league, and this promotion is an acknowledgment of his years of exceptional work in marketing for the Bills' organization and the NFL.

We appreciate the leadership of ABC and ESPN in helping us turn this particular Monday night into far more than a prime-time football doubleheader, making it part of the overall Gulf Coast relief effort, ... The New Orleans Saints know the importance of rising to help meet the Gulf Coast's extraordinary challenges, and we salute them, too.

Every player who was part of the investigation who's still in the league is being tested up to 24 times a year, which is the most important element of putting an end to this, ... That's why we have not had repeat offenders. That's as important or more imp

They just weren't well thought through and well structured. So that has to be addressed. Governments don't buy tickets to football games, people do. The business community does.

Hopefully, I'll have the report by the beginning of the season, and then we can discuss it with the (NFL) Players' Association to see whether there are changes that we can make that would perhaps increase the penalties for players who might engage with others in a course of conduct that was designed to circumvent the (drugs-testing) program.

Pat Tillman personified all the best values of his country and the NFL, ... He was an achiever and leader on many levels who always put his team, his community, and his country ahead of his personal interests.

There are a heck of a lot of other businesses still in the process of trying to reach conclusions on many of the same subjects that (Benson) has reached conclusions on, including availability of housing for employees and availability of services for their families, so I don't accept the idea it was very long. To me it was a tight timeline.

When Well Mara stood to speak at a league meeting, the room would become silent with anticipation because all of us knew we were going to hear profound insights born of eight decades of league experience.

It was a really good and thorough discussion today. Everyone was very well prepared.

The Players Association has on the table a demand which doesn't recognize the reality of our league's economics today. It's a very excessive and unrealistic demand.

Like everybody else, Mr. Benson has been dealing with things that no one ever thought they would have to deal with. He's been looking at different alternatives, thinking of all the pros and cons, both short-term and long-term.

To make it 1,000 percent clear, the New Orleans Saints are committed to New Orleans, La., and their fans.

This was not an easy decision for the membership, but you won convincingly. Going in I think people felt we had three very strong cities, so the fact it was so decisive was a surprise.

The competition committee did a terrific job and that showed with the endorsements that they had on their recommendations.

When all was said and done, we reached a consensus. The consensus first was that the priority in this city, in this part of the state, in this part of the country, in this region, had to continue to be recovery and rebuilding from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I think the preponderant opinion clearly was that St. Louis could be a great football city if it had a team of its own that they could really root for.

This morning, the committee selected the Los Angeles Coliseum as the site that offers the best opportunity for the National Football League ... to create a state-of-the-art stadium that will benefit the fans, the league and the city for years to come.

This is not an easy decision for me because 37 of my 65 years, I've been involved with the National Football League, which is a great institution.

We need to understand these guys are bigger than most people in society. They are fitter than most people in society, and their jobs are more demanding. ... We need to understand in a serious way what the risks are, to the extent there are risk factors. We've got to address them.

We need to continue to be aggressive on this issue of minority hiring -- not just for head coaches, but for the front office -- in many, many different ways.

We're not looking at this as an eitheror, ... There's the potential we would have teams in both places.

Certainly it would. I'm certain it would be a very positive thing. He's not only got tremendous regard among the owners, obviously he's the founder of the American Football League. For 45 years, he has been giving great credit not only to this sport, but other sports. I'm sure that would be a very positive factor for many of the owners.

We're going to make every effort to keep the Saints as Louisiana's team.

The Gulf Coast and our entire nation face extraordinary challenges. We will continue to do our part to contribute to the recovery and rebuilding process. The weekend of what should have been the Saints' first home game in New Orleans this year is an appropriate time for a special leaguewide effort to focus on the restoration of the Gulf Coast.

We've talked about no fewer than six and no more than eight (members). But that's not set in concrete. We had some discussion with the owners about whether the committee should be one owner for each division, or whether there was any one factor that could determine how the committee would be composed.