Paul Tagliabue

[7DnBrnc53]

Jim Finks was also in contention for commissioner, but by then, the owners wanted more of a puppet (I think that Finks would have cared more about the sport, and not as much about business as they wanted), and that led to Tags and then Goodell.

[BD Sullivan]

Get chosen as Commissioner = Get into the HOF, at least that's how I see it. As I heard it Labor peace was largely the driver, whether you think that's sufficient enough is in the eye of the beholder, ironically we may be looking at the first truncated season since 1987 this year.

What is / was interesting / different about him was that he was the first non-Football guy. Yes Rozelle was a PR guy and not a Football guy in the way Bert Bell was but going back to USF he was always in Football.

I'd imagine - and I know it will distress many to hear it - that in 20 years we'll be hearing why Roger Goodell belongs in the Hall.

Rozelle was definitely a football guy, considering he was GM of the Rams at the time he was elected Commissioner. He had just tried to sign Billy Cannon, under the questionable ethics of using an undated contract. That ended up costing him when the case went to court and the Oilers won.

[Oszuscik]

I do agree with the Hall of Fame being watered down now. In my opinion the centennial class was a big disappointment. I feel the additional inductees should have been people who made their mark on the NFL BEFORE the Hall of Fame was established, as they had probably been overlooked due to the initial backlog of candidates. But Jim Covert? Harold Carmichael? Eh. Even Bill Cowher I have a hard time getting excited about, I never really thought of him as a Hall of Fame head coach. Damn good one, but not Hall of Fame. And yeah Paul Tagliabue I'm not sure I understood either, that's why I asked.

When you think about it, would you even be surprised if half the starting quarterbacks today are eventually voted into the Hall of Fame? It'd be ridiculous, but I can see it happening. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Mahomes, Wilson... maybe even Eli.

[BD Sullivan]

I do agree with the Hall of Fame being watered down now. In my opinion the centennial class was a big disappointment. I feel the additional inductees should have been people who made their mark on the NFL BEFORE the Hall of Fame was established, as they had probably been overlooked due to the initial backlog of candidates. But Jim Covert? Harold Carmichael? Eh. Even Bill Cowher I have a hard time getting excited about, I never really thought of him as a Hall of Fame head coach. Damn good one, but not Hall of Fame. And yeah Paul Tagliabue I'm not sure I understood either, that's why I asked.

When you think about it, would you even be surprised if half the starting quarterbacks today are eventually voted into the Hall of Fame? It'd be ridiculous, but I can see it happening. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Mahomes, Wilson... maybe even Eli.

The ego of the buffoon running the HOF is about as large a he is, considering that the sketchy choices of Cowher and Johnson just HAD to be turned into made-for-TV fake drama. Given some of the half-assed choices in recent years, I'm surprised they haven't found a way to sneak Modell in the back door.

[Andy Piascik]

I do agree with the Hall of Fame being watered down now. In my opinion the centennial class was a big disappointment. I feel the additional inductees should have been people who made their mark on the NFL BEFORE the Hall of Fame was established, as they had probably been overlooked due to the initial backlog of candidates. But Jim Covert? Harold Carmichael? Eh. Even Bill Cowher I have a hard time getting excited about, I never really thought of him as a Hall of Fame head coach. Damn good one, but not Hall of Fame. And yeah Paul Tagliabue I'm not sure I understood either, that's why I asked.

When you think about it, would you even be surprised if half the starting quarterbacks today are eventually voted into the Hall of Fame? It'd be ridiculous, but I can see it happening. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Mahomes, Wilson... maybe even Eli.

A lot of us share your opinion that the Centennial class was a disappointment and there was a lot of discussion along that line here at the time. We certainly had hopes for Wistert, Lewellen, Emerson and Dilweg who played, as you said, before the HOF was established. Not only did they not select any of those, one of the guys they did elect from that pre-HOF era was Sprinkle, who a lot of us think ranks with Covert and Carmichael as a terrible choice.

What makes it worse than electing Covert, Carmichael, Sprinkle and Hill and not electing Wistert, Dilweg and Lewellen, plus Gradishar, not to mention guys like Howley, Barwegan, Shofner and Jim Ray Smith who didn't even make it to the Final 20, is that now the Senior Committee has to go through that many more worthy candidates one at a time. So not only did Wistert, Dilweg and Gradishar get shafted by not getting elected, them getting elected would have cleared out some of the best Senior candidates and made it easier for guys like Howley to at least get in the room.

[Ronfitch]

I do agree with the Hall of Fame being watered down now. In my opinion the centennial class was a big disappointment. I feel the additional inductees should have been people who made their mark on the NFL BEFORE the Hall of Fame was established, as they had probably been overlooked due to the initial backlog of candidates. But Jim Covert? Harold Carmichael? Eh. Even Bill Cowher I have a hard time getting excited about, I never really thought of him as a Hall of Fame head coach. Damn good one, but not Hall of Fame. And yeah Paul Tagliabue I'm not sure I understood either, that's why I asked.

When you think about it, would you even be surprised if half the starting quarterbacks today are eventually voted into the Hall of Fame? It'd be ridiculous, but I can see it happening. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Mahomes, Wilson... maybe even Eli.

A lot of us share your opinion that the Centennial class was a disappointment and there was a lot of discussion along that line here at the time. We certainly had hopes for Wistert, Lewellen, Emerson and Dilweg who played, as you said, before the HOF was established. Not only did they not select any of those, one of the guys they did elect from that pre-HOF era was Sprinkle, who a lot of us think ranks with Covert and Carmichael as a terrible choice.

What makes it worse than electing Covert, Carmichael, Sprinkle and Hill and not electing Wistert, Dilweg and Lewellen, plus Gradishar, not to mention guys like Howley, Barwegan, Shofner and Jim Ray Smith who didn't even make it to the Final 20, is that now the Senior Committee has to go through that many more worthy candidates one at a time. So not only did Wistert, Dilweg and Gradishar get shafted by not getting elected, them getting elected would have cleared out some of the best Senior candidates and made it easier for guys like Howley to at least get in the room.

Again, this forum needs a "like" button. Well-stated, Andy.