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CHICAGO - Longtime former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue died nine days ago of heart failure, at age 84. The league commissioner from 1989 to 2006 passed away on the same Sunday the Chicago Bears made a dazzling comeback to beat the New York Giants, 24-20, with quarterback Caleb Williams throwing a touchdown pass and running for a 17-yard TD in the final four minutes for the win.
Tags would have loved it.
And he would have loved the game the week before, when the Bears see-sawed with the Bengals, then finally, impossibly, won with 17 seconds left on a long TD pass from Williams to tight end Colston Loveland. That one was a full-scale, breathtaking classic. And as Tagliabue would have noted wryly, "I’m sure people watched to the end."
He would have totally flipped out over the Bears wild, nutso finish against the Vikings last Sunday, when they won a heart-stopper 19-17 on a last-second 48-yard field goal by Cairo Santos. The drama in that one was crazy because the Bears were ahead 16-3 at the start of the fourth quarter and let the Vikings take the lead, 17-16.
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That win makes five games already this season in which the Bears have come from behind in the fourth quarter to grab victory. Caleb Williams is now Mr. Clutch. Walk away from any Bears game—no matter the score—at your peril.
"This ain’t the same old Bears anymore," said safety Kevin Byard III post-game, correctly.
I bring up Tagliabue here, not just to honor a decent guy, a no-nonsense, 6-5 lawyer who played basketball at Georgetown, was a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship, was editor of the New York University law review and a key attorney in many NFL cases before — reluctantly--taking over for Pete Rozelle as commissioner. I mention Tagliabue because in his 17-year rule, he ensured these wild and wildly entertaining games would happen. It’s a script followed by current commissioner Roger Goodell.
Tagliabue is the man who ripped the dullness of soccer and baseball and then softened that criticism, telling a reporter, "I think the popularity of all sports in our society is a measure of how much disposable income there is and how much interest we have in the unnecessary."
NFL games may be unnecessary. But, man, do people love them, including gamblers. Tags would not be thrilled with all the NFL wagering going on right now.
Back in 1990, I spent a couple of days with him, and over a beer he told me about a college game he played in against New York University in 1961 and the odd way it made him feel, and how he discovered later that one, two, maybe more players on the other team were fixing the score. He did not make this breach of trust widely public until a congressional hearing two years after we talked. The high he felt from the win was demolished by the deceit.
That’s why he felt parity and a fair share of the massive NFL revenue stream going to the players would keep things honest and fun and rewarding.
Eyeballs glued to TV sets was key for him. He believed in the supercharged economics of ad rates and network contracts and team values based on the thrill of evenly matched competition. He knew the league needed balance, which meant it had to have parity. And he knew there had to be excitement, which would come because no team would be a mighty fortress.
The Bears might be his showpiece right now. Where did they come from with this improbable 7-3 record, having won five games by a total of 13 points? Imagine, the mighty Kansas City Chiefs are only 5-5.
I asked Tagliabue back in the day (his name means "ox-chopper" in Italian) what his worst nightmare was.
"That certain teams would no longer be of interest to the public," he replied quickly. "We need to maintain strength across the league. If we don’t have balance and stars spread throughout the country, we’ll have a problem. It’s important for teams from all over to win the Super Bowl."
That’s worked out fairly well, with twelve different teams winning the championship in the last 20 years. Sustained dominance—like for recent Chiefs and New England Patriots teams—seems to come mostly from having a mighty quarterback in the house. In their cases, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
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But could this kid, this young Williams (plus his wise, sidekick coach, Ben Johnson), be a Super Bowl contender some day? Who can say?
Kickers now get to keep their game day "K-balls" all week, and those footballs are softer and rounder than before and ready to make a 70-yard field goal soon. Maybe longer. So, trust me, crazy endings aren’t going anywhere.
Since the Bears are becoming masters of hold-your-breath finishes, their future is wide-open. Just as Tagliabue wanted.
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Want more? Read some of Rick Telander’s recent columns for Fox 32:
The Source: This article was written by Rick Telander, a contributing sports columnist for FOX 32 Chicago.
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