Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who led the league from 1989 to 2006, has died at the age of 84. “Paul was the ultimate steward of the game — tall in stature, humble in presence, and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL,” current commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. Tagliabue died from heart failure in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He also had Parkinson’s disease. During his 17 years as commissioner, Tagliabue added billions of dollars to the league’s revenues, and by the time he left, more than two-thirds of the NFL’s 32 teams were playing in or building stadiums that hadn’t existed at the start of his tenure. He also implemented one of the strongest substance abuse policies in any major sport. In one of his most well-known moments, Tagliabue called off NFL games after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, writing in his memoir that he knew he could “not support playing any games on that weekend.” During a speech after he was elected as a contributor to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Tagliabue said, “In examining what makes the NFL so compelling, I always return to the players who make the game what it is.”
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