Roger Goodell - A Washington Post Profile

The Washington Post presented a four-webpage profile on new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, which we've linked to here and presented below in case the link's terminated.

Son of Former Congressman Worked His Way Up the Ladder
By Les Carpenter and Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 9, 2006

For two decades, the money machine has churned, spitting out billions for the men and women who own the NFL's 32 teams. Professional football didn't simply blossom in Paul Tagliabue's reign as commissioner, it became a multimedia behemoth, lavished with the richest television deals in sports, unblemished by labor strife and blessed with lucrative sponsorships.

And the man partly responsible for much of this wealth is Roger Goodell, the son of a former senator from New York, who has run the league by Tagliabue's side in relative anonymity.

"His fingerprints are all over every transaction the league has entered into the last 10 years," said Dean Bonham, the president of the Colorado-based Bonham Group, which has negotiated for and against the NFL in marketing deals.

Said Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, "On all the major decisions, whatever they were, Roger has been on the leading edge of those issues."

Apparently satisfied with the opulence of their league, the owners elected Goodell commissioner yesterday, making him only the third man to hold the job in the last 45 years.

Then again, it would have been hard for them to say no. Over the last two decades, the 47-year-old maneuvered his way through countless negotiations with television networks, foreign countries, gigantic corporations, hostile municipalities and union executives to push the NFL to its position as easily the most successful sports league in the country.

"We're continuing something that has gone very well," New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said after the announcement. "Roger said he got his MBA from Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue. That's pretty good."

Goodell's star rose in the mid-1990s. He was still in his early 30s when he was placed in charge of the league's marketing arms -- NFL Properties and NFL Trust. He was a key negotiator in generally peaceful bargaining sessions with the NFL Players Association, ran the expansion process in the 1990s that created millions of dollars for each existing team and secured the name "Browns" for the new team in Cleveland.

"The NFL is not as successful as it is now without Roger Goodell," said John Wildhack, ESPN's senior vice president for programming whose network will carry the league's showcase event, "Monday Night Football," starting this fall.

TV Deals Drew Notice

Success has eluded him only a few times. Goodell's most public role over the past decade has been as the league's point man in talks on returning the NFL to the Los Angeles area. But the nation's second-largest media market remains without a team despite talks with various Southern California cities. Goodell also has been largely responsible for establishing the NFL overseas, but the league has been unable to match the global penetration of some other sports, most notably the NBA in China.

Goodell's biggest triumph might be the work he did to nurture negotiations in 1998 that culminated in the league's astounding eight-year, $17.5 billion deal with ABC, ESPN, Fox and CBS. Two years ago, he was also heavily involved in the negotiations that added NBC and will eventually bring the league another $8 billion.

Many in the NFL believe Goodell proved himself so well in these talks that Tagliabue began grooming him several years ago as his replacement. Bowlen said he could tell in recent seasons that Goodell came to want to become commissioner.

"It's unbelievable to me," Goodell said yesterday. "It's a life dream. To be able to follow your passion and end up as commissioner of the NFL is unbelievable."

In many ways, he had been preparing for this role since he came to the league as a public relations intern in 1982, a year after his graduation, magna cum laude in economics, from Washington & Jefferson. Goodell has told co-workers he remembers sleeping with his football as a child and he was a good enough high school player to draw interest from some small colleges. But his playing days were ended by a knee injury at Washington & Jefferson and he decided instead to direct his passion toward the business side of the sport.

A year after he arrived as an NFL intern, he was sent to the New York Jets, who had two resignations in their public relations office just before the start of the season and needed help.

"Right away, you knew Roger was one of the people that the more you gave him to do, the more he got done," said Frank Ramos, the Jets' public relations director at the time. "There was never any job beneath him. Every day he got along very well with people. He came up with some ideas that would make things better for us with the media."

Lessons From His Father

Goodell was born and raised in Jamestown, N.Y., one of five sons of Charles E. Goodell, who was a Republican congressman for most of the 1960s, spending his teenage years in Washington and later Bronxville, N.Y. The elder Goodell was understated. His car was a beat-up, yellow Volkswagen bug. In Congress, he teamed with a young Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Griffin, Albert Quie and Robert Ellsworth to turn a Michigan representative named Gerald Ford into the party's congressional leader.

In 1968, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York appointed Goodell to the Senate after Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. The choice backfired on Rockefeller when Goodell went to Cornell University to meet with a group of African-American students who were holding a sit-in. The students blistered the senator with pointed questions about the Vietnam War in an exchange that shocked Goodell so much that upon returning to Washington, he introduced legislation that would stop funds for the war.

To Rockefeller and the White House of Richard M. Nixon, this move was seen as almost mutinous, so much so that Goodell had to work proactively to stave off a Rockefeller motion to have him removed from the Senate at the state's Republican convention. Ultimately, his war stand cost him and two years after being named to the seat, he was defeated in the 1970 election by James Buckley, who ran as a member of the Conservative Party.

He became known as one of the first voices of Republican dissent to the war. But Charles E. Goodell was also a gifted baseball player who had once been pursued by the Brooklyn Dodgers. During his Senate days, he was the Republicans' catcher in the annual congressional baseball games played at RFK Stadium.

"I just loved him," said George Mitrovich, who was on Goodell's staff and keeps a picture of Charles Goodell on the wall of his home in San Diego. "He was a kind, tolerant person."

When Ford became president in 1974, he named Goodell chairman of the clemency board to consider the cases of those charged with evading service in the Vietnam war.

Asked what Roger Goodell might have taken from his father, Mitrovich, who still speaks to all of Charles Goodell's sons, said the senator was a funny man whose meetings often broke up with an exchange of jokes that had him laughing so hard his whole body convulsed.

"I see [Roger] having the same sense of humor and a similar sense of the absurd," Mitrovich said. "In Roger, I see Charlie's intelligence. I see his feel, his kindness. No one who knew Charlie Goodell ever thought of him as anything other than an extremely kind person. There is a certain vibrancy to Roger's personality that his father had."

It wasn't surprising then that one of the first things Roger Goodell did as commissioner was joke about getting the news from Rooney.

"Dan Rooney came upstairs to my room to tell me," Goodell said. "I was not watching the NFL Network. I was doing some work, trying to be distracted. Fortunately I'd just put my pants on."

Mitrovich worked on the effort to bring two Super Bowls to San Diego and thus has seen Tagliabue operate. He found the outgoing commissioner to be lifeless and arrogant and was offended when Tagliabue drolly declared the city's Qualcomm Stadium unfit for any further Super Bowls.

As for the difference between Tagliabue and Roger Goodell?

"Roger actually has a personality!" he exclaimed.

This comes up a lot in conversations about the younger Goodell. He is widely seen as significantly more personable than the stiff and aloof Tagliabue, who allowed his droll sense of humor to show publicly only in the final months of his 17-year tenure.

"I think it might be that Paul came from a legal background" as the league's outside counsel before becoming commissioner, Ramos said. "There are a lot of people that when they talk to the media, lawyers advise them what to say. I think that affects the approach Paul takes. I suspect Roger has learned something from his father who was in politics."

A Confidant for Owners

Where Tagliabue often kept a distance from owners after hours at league meetings, Goodell worked the hotel bar, shaking hands and answering questions. When golf outings were arranged, Goodell often went, not Tagliabue. When owners had something they wanted to discuss with Tagliabue, they often called Goodell, though some, like Bowlen, considered this more of an accessibility issue than one of detachment. As commissioner, Tagliabue was pulled in too many directions, the Broncos owner figures, leaving less time for the owners. Nevertheless, many owners and executives say they may have talked to Goodell three times a week, while they spoke to Tagliabue maybe two times a month.

If nothing else, this closeness has given him a connection to the owners that probably no one else in the league has ever had. Bowlen said he always felt whatever his opinion was on an issue that Goodell would convey it to Tagliabue. During the last bargaining session with the Players Association, union head Gene Upshaw used Goodell to relay messages to the commissioner by e-mailing or text messaging Goodell on his BlackBerry.

Those who have done business with him say Goodell is pleasant and honest but also a firm negotiator. They notice, however, that he listens intently to proposals, rarely rejecting something out of hand. John Wildhack remembers suggesting the idea of a Thursday night season-opening game during a dinner in 2000. Rather than brush the idea off as Wildhack worried he might, Goodell pondered the concept -- which would have been a dramatic change for the NFL. Two years later, the season opened on a Thursday night and has done so ever since.

Then again, like so many others who have come to do business with the NFL over the years, Wildhack had a close bond with Goodell. For back in 1989, it was Goodell -- then a young marketing executive with the league -- who had to lead Wildhack and ESPN through the logistical disaster of televising the league's first exhibition game in Tokyo.

"He was tremendous to work with," Wildhack said.

At times, Goodell might have been too good at making the league money. In the book, "America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation" by Michel MacCambridge, an anonymous owner complained that Goodell was too obsessed with profits, grumbling that the new commissioner "uses words like 'monetize' and 'commoditize.' "

Issues Loom on the Horizon

But despite all the success Tagliabue and Goodell had together, there are more serious challenges looming. A common thought around the league is that Tagliabue got out at just the right time, with his legacy cemented and won't have to face the issues that will confront Goodell.

Global expansion would seem to be the most difficult one. At some point, analysts say, if the NFL is going to continue to make money at the rate it has done so far, it will have to make a breakthrough in other countries. As the NBA continues to increase its foothold in China's booming economy in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the NFL's boldest overseas move, NFL Europe, remains a six-team league, and only one franchise plays outside Germany after Barcelona and Glasgow were moved at least partly because of poor attendance.

But while top European soccer franchises such as Manchester United and Barcelona have found new, very lucrative revenue streams and created new fan bases by selling merchandise, television packages and other items outside their countries, NFL teams have not had comparable success, largely because the game isn't played in nearly as many countries.

The league must also figure out how much it wants to be in the television business. Goodell, along with other league executives, has decided that the NFL can make more money by producing its own broadcasts -- both at the league and team level. But the league's NFL Network is only a few years old and will make its first forays into carrying its own game telecasts this year, so there is no barometer to say how successful it can be with television.

Still, nothing is murkier than the NFL's labor future. Tagliabue's last significant act -- the labor agreement reached in the spring -- might have been his biggest. Unlike the previous labor negotiations, he had to stem an uprising from several owners of small-market teams who felt themselves being priced out by wealthier clubs such as the Washington Redskins. It might have been the NFL's most delicate negotiation in nearly two decades, but Tagliabue brought the owners together until all but two voted for the deal.

In six years, the contract will expire and pulling everyone together again might be almost impossible. And if football is suddenly faced with the labor problems that have plagued baseball, basketball and hockey, the money machine might grind to a halt.

"It's nothing short of extraordinary to get the owners to come together on a 30 to 2 vote," Bonham said. "It's very difficult to point to Roger Goodell and say, 'You didn't do it, Paul did it.' It's always the guy with the name on the door that has to negotiate. Will he be able to wield the same diplomacy and clout that Paul Tagliabue had? My guess is he will, but you never know."

The owners are betting their wealth that he will.

Staff writer Mark Maske reported from Northbrook, Ill.

Stephen Colbert On Joe Liberman - Video

Just before the Tuesday primary, Stephen Colbert invited Joe Liberman on his show -- and Liberman refused. This set the tone for this segment by Colbert. Some highlights:

1) After hosting Ned Lamont, Colbert refers to Liberman as "one of his favorite Republican Democrats."
2) Colbert's saving a place for Liberman "as much as Jewish families set a place for Elijah at the table, should he care to stop by."

Liberman Loses To Lamont - And Campaign Blames Liberal Bloggers For Crashing Website

Senator Joe Liberman lost to anti-war candidate Ned Lamont in the Democratic Party primary, as this CNN report explains:

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman conceded to anti-war cable executive Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary for the Connecticut Senate nomination Tuesday night but vowed to run as an "independent Democrat" this fall.

With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, Lamont led Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent, according to The Associated Press.

Lieberman, who was former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in 2000, is seeking a fourth Senate term. Lamont, a former Greenwich city councilman, is running his first statewide campaign.

Lamont rode to victory on a tide of opposition to the Iraq war -- and what his supporters blasted as Lieberman's unwavering support of it.

After telling his backers that he had called Lamont to congratulate him on his victory, Lieberman said, "We've just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead, but, in the second half, our team -- Team Connecticut -- is going to surge forward to victory in November"

Lamont, speaking to his supporters during a victory celebration after Lieberman conceded, urged Lieberman not to run.

"I want to thank Sen. Lieberman for his campaign," Lamont said. "I want to thank him for the dignity and decency in which he has represented our state and our country, for many, many years.

On top of this loss, Liberman can't seem to get it in his head tht his support for the war cost him the election. He so can't believe it that he's running again in the fall -- or at least is going to try to.

And on top of this act of hubris, Joe Liberman's campaign is blaming liberal bloggers for the collapse of their website. This video segment featuring Markos from http://www.dailykos.com explains the issue.

With Roger Goodell, NFL Returns To Its Sports Marketing Focus

When NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was selected 17-years ago it was the first time the league went for a legal-head rather than a media or PR expert. Commissioner Tagliabue was a lawyer for the league and in my view, his selection was right for its time: the NFL needed a sharp legal mind to cope with the complicated issues of franchise movement, Super Bowl event price gouging problems, and more and more complex television relationships.

Paul Tagliabue ushered in the era of the lawyer in sports. But as much as he did this, Roger Goodell represents a new time, when the NFL and other sports leagues have staffs advanced enough such that one can be employed from within and to the job of commissioner.

Roger -- as I've personally referred to him for several years, and now must call him Commissioner Goodell -- was groomed for the position of NFL Commissioner. None other than ex-Oakland Raiders Executive Assistant Al LoCasale told me this over lunch in 1997, when he was teaching me NFL politics and history. "He's going to be commissioner some day," LoCasale said with great certainty.

He was right -- but then he always was.

But lets think about what it means to be "groomed." It means that Roger had a mentor -- Paul Tagliabue. It means that Roger either sat in on, or eventually ran, meetings on very important matters, from the TV contract to realignment, to collective bargaining. It means that Roger's seen every aspect of not just the operation of the NFL, but the negotiations and planning that shape the World's most successful professional sports league.

It also means that in Roger, the league not only gets continuity, but a return to its sports marketing focus. I don't expect big immediate changes in how the league does what it does, but I do look for more innovation in its new media efforts, and more expansion -- into Europe and China, but not so much that the league over extends itself.

I also expect the set of power relationships between owner and commissioner to change. The one thing I noticed was that Commissioner Tagliabue had more conversations at league parties I attended with more established NFL Owners like Pat Bolen, who owns the Denver Broncos, than with Seahawks owner Paul Allen.

Goodell will certainly alter this just a bit just by his style and orientation; I look for owners like Dallas Cowboys' head Jerry Jones to have more influence and be more of an insider given his historically aggressive push for more and greater revenues from marketing and sponsorship -- something Goodell himself has focused on.

The one question that remains is how Roger's going to handle the matter of getting a team into LA. My read is that Mike Ovitz is wrong -- Roger does want a team in LA, but under NFL terms: public money, and a renovated LA Coliseum. A newly created NFL expansion franchise is what Roger wants to see, but absent that, I'm willing to bet he'll back the Raiders return to Los Angeles, especially if the City of Oakland doesn't get it's act together.

Getting a team in LA is something I know Roger wants to do. Getting it done will be the first success in what will be a career full of them.

ROGER GOODELL NAMED NFL COMMISSIONER - NFL.COM

NFL Commissioner Search | Roger Goodell Oddsmakers Favorite To Win Job | About Roger Goodell

Goodell chosen as NFL's new commissioner

NFL.com wire reports
NORTHBROOK, Ill. (Aug. 8, 2006) -- Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL's next commissioner Tuesday, succeeding the man who groomed him for the job, Paul Tagliabue.

The 47-year-old Goodell worked his way from a public relations intern to perhaps the most powerful job in American sports. Favored for months to get the job, he was unanimously elected by the league's 32 owners on the fifth ballot.

The son of former U.S. Sen. Charles Goodell of New York, he has been Tagliabue's top assistant, particularly on expansion and stadium construction. In 2000, he became the NFL's chief operating officer.

Goodell becomes the league's fourth commissioner since 1946.

"We've had the two greatest sports commissioners in the history of professional sports, Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle, and I was fortunate to work for both of them," Goodell said. "I look forward to the challenge and thank them again for their confidence."

Tagliabue served 17 years, and during that time the league's revenues have skyrocketed. The NFL will collect about $10 billion in TV rights fees during the next six years, and enjoys labor peace with the players' association.

"Replacing Paul was not easy, and I think we've done a great job in selecting Roger," said Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. "The NFL is a complex business. Finding the right person to keep it on course was critical, and we did it."

Goodell beat four other finalists: lawyers Gregg Levy and Frederick Nance; Fidelity Investments vice chairman Robert Reynolds; and Constellation Energy chairman Mayo Shattuck III.

Goodell wasn't certain when he will assume office, although Tagliabue planned to leave the job this month.

"I believe in continuity," said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. "It's a lot like with head coaches, and that's what Roger brings us."

Goodell's election was much less complicated than when Tagliabue was chosen in 1989. It took seven months to select a successor to Rozelle. Originally, the top choice appeared to be Saints president Jim Finks, who was recommended by an advisory committee. But many of the newer owners would not back Finks, the choice of most of the old-line owners.

It took 12 ballots over a seven-month period -- six ballots on Oct. 26, 1989 -- to finally elect Tagliabue.

That wasn't the case with Goodell, who was chosen Tuesday in three hours of voting.

"The process was good in that it got everyone looking ahead and not just at the circumstances in their own city," Tagliabue said.

Tagliabue simply introduced Goodell as the new commissioner Tuesday night, then stepped aside as his No. 1 aide took the podium.

"I spent my life following my passion," Goodell said. "The game of football is the most important thing. You can never forget that."

UNDER ARMOUR BECOMES AN AUTHORIZED SUPPLIER OF NFL FOOTWEAR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS:
NFL- 8/7/06 BRIAN McCARTHY, NFL, 212-450-2069
mccarthyb@nfl.com

UNDER ARMOUR:
Emily Golin, Arnold Communications,
617-587-8911, egolin@arn.com

CLICK CLACK!
UNDER ARMOUR BECOMES AN AUTHORIZED
SUPPLIER OF NFL FOOTWEAR

BALTIMORE and NEW YORK -- The National Football League has named Under Armour, Inc. (NASDAQ: UARM), an authorized supplier of footwear, it was announced today.

The designation, part of a multi-year agreement that also includes advertising and marketing commitments with NFL Network, NFL.com and the NFL’s broadcast partners, enables Under Armour to supply NFL players with branded footwear for use during games. In addition, the company may use NFL and club logos to promote its footwear
products.

Under Armour joins Reebok and Nike as authorized footwear suppliers of the NFL. NFL players may wear any brand of footwear during games, but must tape over company logos if the shoes are not provided by authorized NFL footwear suppliers.

“We are pleased to add Under Armour to the select group of companies that have onfield rights with the NFL,” said Roger Goodell, the NFL’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We look forward to working with Under Armour, which is an exciting, fast-growing company with a strong history in football.”

"This is a partnership that will officially bring Under Armour's superior technology to the prestigious main stage that is the National Football League," said Under Armour Chairman, CEO and President, Kevin Plank. "This is the pinnacle of on-field authenticity and the partnership helps accomplish our mission to deliver the very best performance products to all levels of athletes. Now we have an official presence on Sundays with the best players in the world to complement the scores of student athletes wearing our products on Saturdays and under the Friday night lights."

NFL and Under Armour

Under Armour, known as the originator of moisture wicking performance apparel worn by athletes, launched its first line of footwear—football cleats and slides--during the NFL draft this past April with a major media campaign entitled CLICK-CLACK™, a reference to the sound cleats make on concrete just before the players step on the field. NFL players from that campaign include 2006 first-round draft picks A.J. Hawk (Green Bay Packers) and Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers) in addition to Jeremy Bloom, the former Olympic freestyle skier drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and veterans Julius
Jones (Dallas Cowboys) and Jonathan Vilma (New York Jets).

"We believe this partnership is the next logical chapter in the Under Armour brand story,” said Plank, a former special teams captain on the University of Maryland football team who founded Under Armour in 1996. “We're especially proud that our strong financial performance enables us to make this investment within the budgetary parameters we have previously outlined for our long-term growth."

In addition to related marketing expenditures, Under Armour has agreed to provide the NFL with the opportunity to purchase up to 480,000 shares of Under Armour's Class A Common stock in future years at a price equal to the closing price on the NASDAQ the day before the agreement was signed in August of 2006.

About Under Armour, Inc.

Under Armour® (NASDAQ: UARM) is a leading developer, marketer and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories. The brand's moisture-wicking synthetic fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional natural fiber products. The Company's products are sold worldwide and worn by professional football, baseball, and soccer players, as well as athletes in major collegiate and Olympic sports. The Under Armour European headquarters is located in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium,
and its global headquarters is located in Baltimore, MD. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.underarmour.com
# # #

NFL APPOINTS RAY ANDERSON SENIOR VP, FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(212) 450-2000 * FAX (212) 681-7573
WWW.NFLMedia.com

Joe Browne, Executive Vice President-Communications
Greg Aiello, Vice President-Public Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-47 8/7/06
NFL APPOINTS RAY ANDERSON SENIOR VP, FOOTBALL OPERATIONS

RAY ANDERSON, one of the most highly respected executives in the National Football League, has
been named NFL senior vice president of football operations, Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE
announced today.

Anderson becomes the NFL's senior football executive, the position previously held by ART SHELL,
who returned to the sidelines this season as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
Anderson’s areas of responsibility will include all NFL football operations, including officiating and the
NFL Europe League.

The 52-year-old Anderson, a three-year football letterman at Stanford, joins the NFL after spending
the past four years as the executive vice president and chief administrative officer of the Atlanta
Falcons. He worked closely with Falcons' President RICH MC KAY and was responsible for
overseeing the team’s player contracts, the salary cap, legal matters, facilities, equipment, video,
logistic and travel functions.

Anderson joined the Falcons from the coaches division of Octagon, where he served as a sports
agent for NFL coaches and players. He represented several current NFL head coaches.
In November of 2002, Anderson was named to the NFL Committee on Workplace Diversity by
Commissioner Tagliabue. A year later he was named to Sports Illustrated’s list of the "101 Most
Influential Minorities in Sports."

A native of Los Angeles, Anderson was an all-league high school quarterback and shortstop. As a
scholarship athlete, he played both football and baseball at Stanford, earning a political science
degree in 1976. In 1979, he graduated from Harvard Law School.

Anderson began his professional career as an attorney at Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta, working
primarily in labor law litigation. In 1987 he launched his own sports agency, AR Sports, specializing
in the representation of NFL coaches and players, which merged with Octagon in 2001.

# # #

Houston Texans: Founded October 6, 1999

In this video, Houston's officially awarded the 32nd franchise in the National Football League at the Fall NFL Owners Meeting, beating out Michael Ovitz bid to bring a team to Los Angeles. In light of the upcoming selection of the new commissioner of the NFL, it's worth taking a time out to see Commissioner Tagliabue at the work of awarding a new franchise to a greatful Bob McNair and the City of Houston.

NFL Commissioner Search: ESPN Thinks Goodell's a Shoe-In

Contrary to Profootballtalk.com, ESPN thinks Roger Goodell's a lock for commissioner

NORTHBROOK, Ill. -- In a meteorological stroke of good fortune, the skies over O'Hare Airport were brilliantly sunny on Monday morning and most NFL owners, convening here for the purpose of selecting a successor to retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue, arrived on time for the start of the session.

Which could mean clear sailing for the candidacy of Roger Goodell, the first lieutenant to Tagliabue for the last several years, the man who clearly rates as an overwhelming favorite in a five-horse race.

In 1989, stormy weather and a glitch in the O'Hare radar system delayed the arrival of several owners, as they were scheduled to huddle at an airport hotel to debate the merits of New Orleans general manager and football lifer Jim Finks, the clear-cut choice to succeed Pete Rozelle as commissioner. As the flight delays lengthened, and liquor tabs at the hotel bar mounted, so did the opposition to Finks by a contingent of younger owners who felt they hadn't enjoyed much input into the process.

The more the dissident group, which came to be known as the "Chicago 11," spoke, the less chance Finks had of ever landing the position for which he was supposed to have been rubber-stamped. His candidacy essentially vanished from the radar screen that day and, four months later, after a drawn-out and pitched battle, the league elected Tagliabue, who had served as its out-of-house counsel.

There was one similarity here Monday, with owners interviewing Gregg Levy, a Washington attorney who holds the same position Tagliabue did in the Covington and Burling law firm. Levy is one of the finalists selected last week from what began with a ponderous contingent of nearly 200 commissioner wannabes. But unlike 1989, the selection doesn't figure to take four months this time.

"I think there's a chance that we'll be done [on Tuesday]," said Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, co-chairman of the eight-man selection committee which winnowed the list. "A good chance."

If that is the case, this meeting, originally scheduled by the league to last as many as three days, probably will have turned into a coronation of sorts for Goodell, the NFL's chief operating officer and a man who has played an integral role in most of its most important accomplishments in recent years. In fact, when the list of five candidates was released on July 30, some owners reacted to the absence of league insiders Jeffrey Pash and Eric Grubman as finalists by suggesting that the search committee chose the quintets with an eye toward not siphoning off potential Goodell votes with their inclusion.

Others responded with an undeniable "Who's he?" reaction to at least three of five candidates.

Everyone, of course, knows Goodell and the key role he has played with the league. Levy, who represented the NFL in the Maurice Clarett antitrust lawsuit, is familiar to most owners as well. But the three other men -- Cleveland attorney Fred Nance, Fidelity Investments chief operating officer Robert Reynolds, and Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman of the board of Constellation Energy -- are virtual unknowns.

Or at least they were until Monday, when all five candidates were presented to the full membership.

A sixth finalist, Domino's Pizza chief executive officer David Brandon, withdrew his candidacy before his name was ever announced. Brandon had been identified by ESPN's Chris Mortensen as a finalist.

Each of the finalists had 15-20 minutes to present himself on Monday and were questioned for another 15-20 by the owners, with each man being asked the same thing. The executive search firm Korn Ferry International, which helped to both amass and whittle the initial list of candidates, presented detailed dossiers on each of the finalists. On Tuesday, the candidates will meet with owners in smaller forums, with four groups of eight owners each, and the questions are expected to be much more wide-ranging.

A vote could come as early as Tuesday afternoon. It takes the votes of two-thirds of the owners, or 22 of 32, to elect a commissioner.

"It's been a good and thorough process," said Jets owner Woody Johnson, a member of the search committee, "and that process is moving forward here today. But in matters this important, I'm not going to be drawn into making any predictions."

Most owners acknowledged that Goodell, 47, probably has the necessary votes in hand. But no one was about to say that publicly on Monday.

"I'm not going to be surprised by anything this week," Tagliabue said.

If there is anyone with a semi-legitimate chance of upsetting Goodell it is almost certainly Levy, who was described by one source as "probably the smartest guy in the room."

Said one NFC owner: "No matter how worthy or viable the rest of the candidates appear to be, I just can't fathom us putting the league in the hands of a guy we've only known for a couple hours. You can read all the reports in the world, complete all the due diligence, but the bottom line is, they're outsiders. And I don't know that it's prudent to stir the pot with a person who isn't very familiar with us, and with whom we are not all that familiar, either. So, yeah, I'd say the tea leaves look pretty good [for Goodell]."

That said, strange things often transpire when the NFL huddles to select a commissioner, as evidenced in the cases of both Rozelle and Tagliabue.

There are, it seems, two potential hurdles for Goodell, the son of former U.S. Senator Charles Goodell of New York: First, there remains a block of low-revenue owners whose dissatisfaction with the recent extension to the collective bargaining agreement, an accord with which Goodell was crucial, is still festering. But those same owners, who are concerned with the status quo, backed down when it came time to endorse the CBA extension; they tend to be more about bluster than action. Second, there is a group of general managers and other front office executives who feel the time is appropriate for a commissioner with more of a football than business background.

But the reality is that owners, not GMs, elect the commissioner. And the owners appear poised to elect Goodell as the next caretaker of their $6 billion-a-year industry.

As usual in commissioner elections, though, there remains a scintilla of intrigue -- but probably not much more than that.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, whose late father, Bob, was part of the "Chicago 11" that scuttled Finks' ascension to the NFL throne in 1989, acknowledged things should be smoother this time. But, in typical Irsay fashion, he leaned on a rock analogy to sound a somewhat cautionary tone.

"You would assume it shouldn't be as fractious [as in 1989]," Irsay said, "but as the late Jim Morrison (of The Doors) said: 'The future is always uncertain but the end is always near.' So we'll see."

Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.

NFL Commissioner Search: Procedure For Electing A Commissioner - ESPN

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli reported on this newly adopted resolution...

By a unanimous 32-0 vote, NFL owners on Monday adopted the following resolution, which establishes the procedure for electing a commissioner, with balloting possibly beginning as early as Tuesday afternoon:

Whereas, the ability of the league's membership to reach a decision to select the next commissioner may be enhanced with specified procedures, be it resolved that:

1. The initial rounds of voting will be conducted by secret ballot;
2. If no candidate receives the necessary 22 votes on any of the first three ballots, those three ballots, at a minimum, will include all five candidates nominated by the search committee;
3. During the voting process, it may become evident that additional voting procedures should be implemented in order to reach a membership consensus; and
4. The commissioner, in consultation with the search committee, will weigh membership views and determine whether to follow procedures such as (for example) the following:
a) dropping the candidate(s) with the fewest votes from one or more subsequent ballots;
b) implementing an open roll-call vote;
c) having the full membership rank the candidates in order of preference; and
d) other similar procedural steps.

-- Len Pasquarelli

Roger Goodell - Some Owners Opposed To Him Because of Process - Profootballtalk.com

This came from Profootballtalk.com

MOVE AGAINST (ROGER) GOODELL COMING?

As the 32 owners meet in Chicago on a so-called "one per club" basis (i.e., the room will have only 32 chairs), we're hearing that there very well could be a move by owners against the installation of Roger Goodell as the successor to Paul Tagliabue.

While some teams, we're told, are opposed to Goodell on the merits of whether he's the best candidate, a larger number of teams are miffed about the process. Andrea Kremer of NBC reported last night that one owner expressed concern regarding the "transparency" of the effort that, by all appearances, has set the table for Goodell.

As we hear it, there's a growing perception that the process has not been "fair, open, or above board."

The thinking is that Tagliabue helped steer the eight-member selection committee toward a list of five finalists from which Goodell would be the obvious choice. But even though Tagliabue has tried his best to put Goodell in position to get the job, we're also told that some league insiders believe that NFL outside counsel Gregg Levy was added to the list of five finalists in order to give Tagliabue a fallback candidate if Goodell can't win the support of 22 of 32 teams. Under this scenario, if Goodell can't get the votes, then Levy would acquire Tags' support, since Tagliabue's primary objective (we hear) is to get a new Commissioner in place, so that he can then ride off into the sunset.

We're hearing that there has been "a lot of chatter" about Levy over the past couple of weeks, and that he could indeed emerge as a compromise candidate.

Whether a compromise candidate is even necessary depends on whether enough owners mount an open charge against Goodell. Though there has been no overt lobbying for another candidate in the run up to the meeting, the undercurrent of frustration regarding the process, which as we hear it includes consternation as to the perception that the owners are limited by the list of hand-picked finalists, could bubble over.

If that happens, then the question becomes whether anyone can muster 22 votes in a three-day meeting. The owners proved in March that they can reach a consensus when the chips are down; however, this time around they have the luxury of time. Sure, Tagliabue might not like it if they can't git 'r done by Wednesday.

But what's he gonna do, vacate the office?

We're also told that there's another candidate who opted out of placement on the list of finalists because he didn't want to publicly make it to the last cut and then fail. We're trying to find out who the sixth finalist is, since there's a chance that he could end up right back in the mix if none of the five who are currently under consideration get the job.

Finally, we're told that the voting by the owners will occur on a "to be determined ad hoc basis" involving a combination of open voting and secret ballot. To the extent that secret ballots will be used, one of the Big 4 accounting firms is on hand to verify the results.

Stay tuned.

Chicago Bears Training Camp - Rex Grossman

Bears Training Camp 51.jpg, originally uploaded by Wahooo.

This is a photo from the Chicago Bears training camp scrimage and taken by "Wahooo!" on Flickr. It shows Bears starting QB Rex Grossman ready to pick up where he left off before being injured in a preseason game against the St. Louis Rams last year. Purdue Rookie Kyle Orton took over for most of the year.

The video features a pitch to the running back Adrian Peterson from Grossman. But watch how the lineman rise to tell Grossman something before the play. Is that something we will see more of in the NFL, and without a call for false-start?

The TURK - Tuesday Morning Comes Early In The NFL Thanks To The TURK

One thing i know about football players: they never wanna hear " Coach wants to see you in his office, and bring your playbook."

That means your going home. One week from today, on the 15th at 4 pm, some men will have their dreams of making it in the NFL end when they hear that phrase. For some it may not be over, they may catch on with another team, or play another version of the sport(arena, CFL, NFL Europe, or a variant of Semi-Pro ball).

But for most others, when they hear those words,..it's over. Those who finished college have a chance to Teach, and possibly coach at some level. others wind up doing a "regular" job while they wait for a call to go back and try one more time.

Kurt Warner got the call while he was bagging groceries in a supermarket. It's a process that goes on each year. The person who bringsthe bad news has been called all sorts of names by many people, but he'll always be known as the "Turk." i wish all the rookies in camps right now the best of luck. When the Turk shows up, they will need it!

Zennie is....

Many things to many of us. But he's Simply an amazing person. He was a pleasure to work with last week, and I'm sure we will do so again in the near future. His grasp of the business issues surrounding Football is remarkable.

Condoleezza Rice Greeted With Racist Images By Palestinian Media

As my Mom says, racism is alive and well. I'm not going to post here the image used to greet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as you can see the story with a click here. But I will state that the Palestinian media does that country's efforts at building World support a lot of damage with this kind of crap, proving once again just how stupid and animalistic people can be.

Think about it. Isn't the smart move by Palestinians to curry favor from other minorities Worldwide? Pretty dumb for them to even allow this approach.

This also reminds me of a racist incident that happened to me at a bar called Easy in Oakland. After I wrote about it in my Oakland Focus blog, someone had the never to write that my attacker was Arab, and the implication that he was not capable of being racist toward me.

How totally ridiculous.

This Reporter Exploded On Manhole Cover

Look. You know and I know this is fake -- but it's hella funny. If you were a reporter who was doing a story on exploding manhole covers, would you stop and stand on top of one to give your report? Of course not. And if you did, the camera person should have stopped you. So that's two checks against that action.

Still, it's funny to watch. She just goes right into the air.

NFL Hall Of Fame Game (Video): Raiders 16 - Eagles 10 - NFL.com

The one glaring problem was my Mountain Mike's Pizza friend Robert Gallery getting beat on the Raiders' second series for a sack. Offensive Coordinator Tom Walsh can help him by installing three-step drop passes. But if the Raiders insist on force-feeding the deeper drops, it's going to be a long season for Gallery and The Oakland Raiders.

Game video:



NFL.com wire reports

CANTON, Ohio (Aug. 6, 2006) -- All Art Shell asked to see in his first game back as coach of the Oakland Raiders was some progress.

He got that, and strong placekicking by Sebastian Janikowski in a 16-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles as the NFL preseason began with the Hall of Fame Game.

Oakland forced five turnovers and Janikowski made field goals of 50, 51 and 24 yards.

"Coming up with turnovers was huge tonight," Shell said. "They are reacting to the ball."

Shell was rehired a dozen years after being fired as Oakland's coach. His mission: bringing back the glory of the franchise for which he was a Hall of Fame tackle.

In front of former Raiders coach John Madden, who was enshrined Aug. 5, Shell got off to a winning start.

"It feels really good to be back," Shell said. "And getting a win is huge, because no matter if it is preseason, everybody wants to win. Playing in this game, with Coach Madden inducted, it was very much a good thing."

Philadelphia's David Akers set a game record with a 55-yarder in the second quarter. And the Eagles' first-stringers were solid on both sides of the ball.

"It was good that the offense got a chance to get out there and get things rolling," Donovan McNabb said. "I felt healthy, so it's an exciting time right now."

Eagles RB Bruce Perry was carried off on a stretcher with 1:14 remaining, his head immobilized. He was tackled by rookie Timi Wusu on a running play. Players from both sides stood silently or kneeled in prayer before Perry was removed. Perry gave a thumbs-up as he was wheeled to an ambulance and taken to a hospital.

Eagles coach Andy Reid said Perry had a concussion and a team spokesman added X-rays of Perry's neck were negative. A CT scan also was normal and the team expected Perry to accompany it back to Pennsylvania.

"He had some loss of feeling in his arms and legs initially and the feeling started to come back," Reid said. "I don't know how far along he is now."


Brian Westbrook carried the Eagles into the end zone early, but the Raiders laughed last.
In his one-series series, Donovan McNabb hit all three passes for 29 yards on a 61-yard drive that ended with Brian Westbrook's 1-yard touchdown run. McNabb is returning from sports hernia surgery that cut short his 2005 season, a major reason the Eagles finished 6-10.

"We came with a different attitude," McNabb said. "This is something that's serious for us. We were prepared to come out and have a good showing."

Westbrook, coming back from a foot sprain that cost him the final four games of 2005, had 32 yards rushing and a 14-yard reception in his short night.

"I think as an offensive unit, we're out there trying to prove we can run the ball," Westbrook said. "We've certainly committed a lot of time to the running game and we did it out there in the first preseason game."

The Eagles made Oakland's starting defense look leaky in taking the 7-0 edge, and the Raiders did little on offense with their first-stringers until getting a break.

Three plays after Aaron Brooks ' wobbly pass was picked off by Roderick Hood, Jeff Garcia returned the favor. The veteran QB, brought in as McNabb's backup this year, made a poor pass toward another Philly addition, Jabar Gaffney. Fabian Washington intercepted and sped 40 yards down the left sideline to the Philadelphia 23.

"I was excited at the time," Washington said. "But then I realized I can't take this into the regular season."

LaMont Jordan gained 14 yards on the final play of the opening period, then Brooks hit Courtney Anderson in the front of the end zone to tie it.

"I actually thought I wouldn't get it, but you never know unless you try," Anderson said. "I threw my hands up there and caught it."

Akers untied it with his record kick.

Oakland's defense provided another superb chance in the third quarter when Grant Irons sacked Koy Detmer, who fumbled at his 13. The Raiders got nothing out of it when holder Shane Lechler bobbled the snap on an attempted field goal and Janikowski never got off a kick.

He did get off the 51-yarder in the third quarter to tie it, though. His 50-yarder early in the fourth period made it 13-10, and his 24-yarder finished the scoring.

Al Davis - Al Davis On NFL Network After His Speech

NFL Network's Adam Schefter talks with Oakland Raiders Owner Al Davis and is visited by Dallas Cowboys' Owner Jerry Jones. Davis reminds Schefter that he no longer works for The Denver Broncos.

John Madden's Speech To The NFL Hall Of Fame

This is John Madden's speech after being introduced by Al Davis at the NFL Hall Of Fame

Here's video part one:



..and video part two:

Al Davis - Al Davis Presents John Madden At The NFL Hall Of Fame

This is a series of videos where Al Davis presents John Madden into the NFL Hall Of Fame. If transcripts of these great speeches become available, we'll post them for you. Visit NFL.com for more information.

Here's the first part of the video:



Here's the second part of the video:

NFL Hall Of Fame - John Madden Intro At Friday Night Party

This video -- without sound -- shows Oakland Raiders Former Head Coach and now NFL Hall Of Famer John Madden being introduced at the Friday night party before the Saturday induction ceremonies.

Here's John Madden

2006 NFL Schedule From The NFL

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CALENDAR

2006

Late July -- Training camps open.

July 24 -- Signing period ends at 4:00 PM ET for unrestricted free agents who received June 1 tender.
August 6 -- Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, Canton, Ohio -- Oakland Raiders vs. Philadelphia Eagles
(NBC).

August 10-14 -- First full preseason weekend.

August 29 -- Roster cutdown to maximum of 75 players.

September 2 -- Roster cutdown to maximum of 53 players.

September 3 -- Clubs may establish practice squad of eight players.

September 7-11 -- Kickoff 2006.

October 17 -- Trading deadline.

October 23-25 -- NFL Fall Meeting (New Orleans, Louisiana).

December 30-31 -- Regular season ends.

2007

January 6-7 -- Wild Card Playoffs.

January 13-14 -- Divisional Playoffs.

January 21 -- Conference Championships.

February 4 -- Super Bowl XLI, South Florida (CBS).

February 10 -- AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii (CBS).

February 21-27 -- NFL Scouting Combine, Indianapolis, Indiana.

March 25-28 -- NFL Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona.

April 28-29 -- NFL Draft, New York City.

Late May -- NFL Spring Meeting (Site TBD).

Technorati - Does It's Tagging System Allow Bloggers To Shut Out Voices?

Masood Mortazavi says this:

...Apparently, Jon had the good fortune of attending Peter Hirshberg's birthday party during which Peter showed off some of the new cool things about Technorati, but what grabbed my attention was Peter's discussion of the way Technorati is constraining its tag system.

For some reason, I never read about these constraints anywhere else when I first started using the tags. Here's a quote from Jon's article:

Lest omnivorous bloggers try to game the system and claim they cover subjects they rarely write about, they can declare expertise in only 20 subjects, and a feedback mechanism lets users suggest that blogs be removed from certain categories. Because Technorati scans 16.4 million blogs, all it takes is those bloggers spending a few minutes with the database "for the entire system [to] get smart and correct itself very quickly," says Hirshberg.


What this means is that if there are enough users organized to remove someone from a particular topic, they'll be able to do it. This is rule of the masses, not the rule of the free expression of ideas, and while I don't have anything against the masses, I have always found suppression of ideas quite reprehensible. What is even worse in my case is my prolific use of the tags, which have taken me to several dozen different topics. I find it ridiculous that the writer is limited to the use of only 20 tags. That might work for an advertising agency working for a corporation but it doesn't quite work for the free-wheeling blogger. As a lite-relativist, I've always had trouble with expertise being defined in such narrow ways. I spent my graduate years trying to escape it and now here we have a system that can do quite a bit of good in bringing you to greater number of readers but that puts restraints on how you stream your thoughts and what you write about. So, I'm out.

At least for right now, I have to say: Goodbye To Technoratic Tags!!!

No longer, will I bother and waste time with them. They may be good for category writers but not for me unless policies such as those above change.

Jon Fine's column is available online for free. By the way, in it, Fine mentions some Technorati competitors.

This is very disturbing news given Technorati's size. Dave Sifry should alter this ASAP!

Alien Behind Post Grabs Boy - Fake Video Looks Real

I read this video was made in Mexico and the producers admitted it was fake. Either that or the producers are lying and they are aliens. You never know.

But check this out:

Wall Street Journal Names Moguls Of New Media, Gets It Wrong

The Wall Street Jounal, looking to get a lot of links, asked John Jurgensen to pen an article pointing to the "Moguls of New Media."

Give me a break.

Hey, I'm glad they gave Amanda Congdon some more exposure-- too much is not enough in this case -- but John forgets her ex-partner Andrew Baron. Big mistake.

But it underscores what a joke of an article this is. The definitions of Mogul are:

-a bump on a ski slope
-a member of the Muslim dynasty that ruled India until 1857
-baron: a very wealthy or powerful businessman; "an oil baron"

None of which is listed in the Wall Street Journal's "mogul" list. But considering the WSJ and its author think New Media's just a terms for kids on MySpace -- which is featured in his article and prominently -- it's no wonder this pap was released. It does no one any good at all.

This video asking real New Media players -- people a bit more on the Mogul level -- what New Media is, has the definition in it and does a better job than the WSJ.

...But hey, it's expressed in a new media way, so what should I expect!

Marlin Jackson - Colts Corner May Get Starting Job

This shows that the Colts' 2005 draft effort's paying off. Jackson's the first round pick; the Michigan DB was selected to challenge his secondary mates and improve the defense.

Rather than move to safety, Colts' top 2005 draft pick might supplant David

By Mike Chappell
mike.chappell@indystar.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Marlin Jackson appears to be on the move, but not from cornerback to safety. Instead, his next stop could be in the starting lineup, at right corner.

Rather than switching positions, as was contemplated earlier this year, the Indianapolis Colts' 2005 first-round draft pick is working his way up the depth chart during training camp at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

A nickel back throughout his rookie season, starting just one game, Jackson has been getting more work as the right cornerback with the No. 1 unit.

He and incumbent Jason David have been splitting repetitions. Jackson was the starter during 11-on-11 work at the end of Friday morning's practice; in the afternoon they were back to alternating.

Jackson declined to predict he'll supplant David for the Sept. 10 regular-season opener. But it's clear that's his goal.
"In my mind, yeah, it can happen," Jackson said.

"I'll just say I want to be on the field. I'm champing at the bit to be on the field so much more."

Jackson appeared in 15 regular-season games as a rookie, with 52 tackles and one interception. David, a fourth-round draft pick in 2004, has started the past two seasons. He drew criticism for giving up some long receptions as a rookie but was solid last year with 41 tackles and two interceptions.

Coach Tony Dungy downplayed Jackson's increased work with the No. 1 unit.

"Marlin's doing fine," he said. "He obviously knows a lot more about our defense this year. That's going to help him.

Shaun King - QB Throws TD In Colts Blue / White Game

Saturday, August 5
BIG FINISH

By John Oehser - Colts.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - It was one pass at the end of one altered game at the end of a very hot week in August.
But the pass mattered very much to Shaun King and Brian Hare.

And the play put a memorable finish on the first week of 2006 Colts Training Camp, with King, a reserve quarterback, throwing a 14-yard touchdown to Hare – a reserve wide receiver – with no time remaining to give the offense a 16-15 victory in a Blue-and-White game with a modified format and an interest-capturing ending.

“Every rep I get is golden,” King said Saturday, shortly after the controlled scrimmage in front of about 3,000 fans at Cook Stadium at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

“I'm just trying to make the best of them.”

Jon Kitna's Positive Attitude Lands Start For Detroit Lions

Aug. 2, 2006
By Clark Judge
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions are halfway through practice when quarterback Jon Kitna takes a snap, retreats several steps, then uncorks a pass to his right -- a perfectly wound spiral that travels 30 yards before hitting Mike Furrey just before he steps out of bounds.

Journeyman Jon Kitna gets another shot as a starting quarterback. (Getty Images)
There is nothing extraordinary about the completion ... until what happens afterward.

Kitna turns to pat his center on the back. He shakes hands with his tight end. And he rushes to Furrey to congratulate him, with Kitna grinning as he pulls off his helmet.

So what? So it is everything you didn't see from the Lions a year ago, and I'm not talking about execution. I'm talking about harmony, with the quarterback and his teammates acting as if they actually belong together -- or, as they did not in 2005.

Of course, those were the days of Joey Harrington, and I don't know why he didn't fit in with the Lions or why coaches disliked the guy. All I know is that he's gone, and the Lions ... and Harrington ... are better for it.

Now they're in the hands of Kitna, who served the last two years as Carson Palmer's caddy in Cincinnati, and having him here is a good thing. In fact, it could be a very good thing.

Forget that he has the trust of a coaching staff. What's critical is that he's liked and admired by teammates who tired of Harrington. The difference is that they see Kitna as one of them -- someone who is tough, resilient, competitive and determined to do the right thing.

"What I like about him, more than the fact that he's bright, is that he's confident," said new head coach Rod Marinelli. "He knows how to lead, and the No. 1 thing this team needs is directional leadership."

That is what makes Kitna the right man at the right moment for Detroit. The Lions were short in the leadership department until Marinelli stepped into the picture, hired two top-notch coordinators -- Mike Martz and Donnie Henderson -- and put the club on alert that he would tolerate no nonsense.

Now look at them.

Detroit Lions
Out of Nowhere Man
DE Kalimba Edwards

OK, so he's not exactly an unknown, but look for Edwards to make an impact as a pass rusher. OK, so he led the team with seven sacks last year. Big deal. The Lions think he can do more, a lot more, which is why they re-signed him when Cleveland started courting him in the offseason. Now, Detroit has him paired with defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, and that's a good thing. Henderson coached John Abraham in New York, and Edwards -- who played behind Abraham at the University of South Carolina -- is determined to outplay his former teammate. Well, here's your chance, Kalimba.
Five things you should know
"Coach Marinelli doesn't let any little thing go," said Kitna. "There is nothing that will handle itself; he handles it right up front."

He proved it by hiring Kitna and firing Harrington, and what a difference. The black cloud that hung over this franchise much of last season has lifted -- and maybe it's only because it's training camp -- but players, coaches and front-office staff seem more comfortable with the new order.

Maybe Marinelli's style flies. Maybe it doesn't. But it's worth a try, especially if it has players rallying around the quarterback.

"I'm glad we have a veteran guy here," cornerback Dre' Bly said of Kitna. "He's more of a leader. Guys seem to respond well to him, and that's what has to happen for you to be a winning team or a playoff team."

Wait a minute, did he say playoff team? The last time the Lions won anything was 2000 when they were 9-7. The last time they were in the playoffs was 1999. But if the Detroit Tigers can jump to the top of the major league standings, I guess anything's possible.

"Can we reach the playoffs?" said Bly. "Damn right, because we have the talent. The same thing happened to us in St. Louis when I got drafted (1999). The year before we were 4-12, and we were able to turn it around just like that because we believed and we were prepared. This is the same situation. We have the playmakers."

But it's not a shortage of playmakers that handicapped the Lions. As Kitna pointed out, "It's not about talent; it's about attitude and having 53 guys pulling together."

That's where the Lions belly-flopped a year ago, with the coaching staff and front office in a tug-of-war over Harrington.

The results were predictable. The club swooned, players griped and coaches were fired. Now there's peace and stability, with Marinelli announcing at the beginning of camp that he was committed to one quarterback ... and it was Kitna.

"From day one, he told us how it was going to be," said Bly. "Either we were going to abide by his rules or we weren't going to be here. We're not going to slow up and wait for guys; we're going to keep moving -- and that's a difference from the past.


How will the Lions fare in the NFC North?
Third place
Second place
In the cellar
Division champs


"'Mooch' (Marinelli's predecessor, coach Steve Mariucci) won in San Francisco, but I guess that system wasn't meant for the guys we have. I love 'Mooch.' But I'm a veteran guy, and the older you get the more you understand what you need to do to prepare. With Coach Marinelli he doesn't sugarcoat anything. It's his way or the highway, and that's what we need."

They could also use a quarterback who makes plays, something that hasn't happened in years. Look at the history of the position here. Any idea how many times the Lions produced a Pro Bowl quarterback since Bobby Layne in the 1950s? Try once. Greg Landry in 1972.

Kitna doesn't have to be a Pro Bowler. All he must do is act as a compass for others to follow. I don't know if he does, but I know he can. He helped resurrect the hapless Cincinnati Bengals in 2003, with the club producing a non-losing season for the first time in seven years.

Coaches there were sad to see him leave this year, and Detroit's Martz is so happy with his play he can't quit rhapsodizing about him.

"This is his moment," Martz said. "He's everything I want in a quarterback. I'd ride him into the sunset."

He'd rather ride him to the playoffs. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there's a chance -- and not just because of Jon Kitna. But because of what Marinelli has accomplished already in a few months, exorcising a sad-sack mentality and replacing it with accountability, precision and --- dare we say it? -- teamwork.

Imagine. Hey, if it can work for Jim Leyland, why not Rod Marinelli? "There's pressure on my shoulders," said Kitna, "but not because of the history or legacy of this team. It's because you're the starting quarterback, and whatever you do everyone is living with you.

"You can say whatever you want, whatever you do you're taking everyone with you -- and I love that. If you don't want that you shouldn't play quarterback. I know there are some guys like that, but that's not me.

"My faith means a lot to me, and I really believe God used my first 10 years in the league to prepare me for this situation. Two years ago I wouldn't have been ready for this situation and what they're asking me to do; not to abuse the freedom they give me and to be the leader they ask me to be. Now I can't wait to go out there and play and finish the process that was started."

John Madden, Troy Aikman, Rayfield Wright, Warren Moon, Reggie White, Harry Carson - Six For The NFl Hall - NFL.com

Sara White (for Reggie White) and John Madden gave speeches that just brought the house down, although having met Troy Aikman, it was rare to see such a person under control show such moving emotion.

NFL.com wire reports

CANTON, Ohio (Aug. 5, 2006) -- Amid the tributes and the tears, one thing stood out: the chants.

"REG-GIE, REG-GIE."

On a day when Troy Aikman easily had the most jerseys in the crowd, the fans' passion was reserved for the late Reggie White as they joined Warren Moon, John Madden, Rayfield Wright and Harry Carson in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Troy Aikman was the winningest QB of the 1990s to go along with his three Super Bowl titles.
When master of ceremonies Chris Berman introduced White's widow, Sara, and when White's son, Jeremy, presented his father, the fans chanted his name. It didn't matter if they were dressed in Packers or Eagles green -- a collection of current Eagles, including Donovan McNabb, sat in the crowd wearing White's No. 92 -- or even Cowboys, Giants or Oilers blue or Raiders black.

They all stood and cheered for the "Minister of Defense," including Dallas' three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.

"I too am saddened by the absence of Reggie White, a great player and a man who left us too soon," Aikman said in concluding the inductions. "It's an honor to be a member of the Hall of Fame class that includes five men I have so much admiration and respect for. They played the game the way it should be played, and John Madden coached the game the same way."

Jeremy and Sara White shared tears and a long hug after unveiling Reggie's bust before a rapt audience. An hour later, the usually unflappable Aikman's voice cracked as he explained his emotions:

"I was able to live a dream. I played professional football," he said. "That I was able to do so with so many great players and coaches and win three championships and wind up here -- it is almost too much to believe. I am humbled to be welcomed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."

White, who died in December of 2004, was an ordained minister as well as an NFL superstar. White was a two-time defensive player of the year who made 13 straight Pro Bowls. He was the career sacks leader with 198 when he retired -- Bruce Smith since has passed him -- and won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 1997 after starting his illustrious career in the USFL, then moving to Philadelphia.

"It's not how we die, it's how we live. I encourage you to live like Reggie lived.

"Reggie was not phony. Reggie stood for what he believed in. Whatever you believe in, you stand on your principles," his widow told the crowd. "We knew Reggie's history in football. His legacy will live on through you."

Aikman won 90 games in the 1990s, the most by any quarterback in one decade.The top overall pick in the 1989 draft, he guided the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in four seasons, made six Pro Bowls and, as proof of his skill under pressure, had four 300-yard passing games in the playoffs, ranking third in NFL history.

He saved his strongest praise for his teammates, including NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who was in the audience and certainly will be on the stage for his own induction someday.

"I did what was asked to help the team win," he said, "and after a career of putting team goals first, it is so extremely gratifying to receive the highest individual honor a player can receive."

Earlier, Moon became the first black quarterback in the Hall, Madden brought comic relief and Carson made a pitch for more help for retired players and more diversity.


Warren Moon had some of the gaudiest quarterbacking stats after he played in Canada.
Moon is the only one of the six inductees not to win an NFL title. But he captured five straight Grey Cups for the Edmonton Eskimos after being undrafted out of the University of Washington.

"I was not really invited to the Combine and no coaches came out to give me workouts," Moon said. "It was a foregone conclusion quarterback was not in my future in the NFL, but changing positions was. I was going to play quarterback and I was looking for somebody who would let me do that.

"Thank you Canada."

Moon came back to the United States as a free agent in 1984 and spent 10 seasons in the Houston Oilers' run-and-shoot offense. He also played for Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City in 17 NFL seasons, passed for more than 70,000 yards (over 42 miles) and ranked fourth in TD passes, third in attempts, completions, yards passing and total offense when he retired at age 44.

"A lot has been said about me being the first African-American quarterback in the Hall of Fame," he said. "It's a subject I am uncomfortable with at times, because I want to be judged only as a quarterback.

"But significance does come with that, I accept that. I remember all the guys before me who blazed that trail to give me the inspiration. I always had that extra burden that I had the responsibility to play the game for my people. I carried that burden proudly."

It took nearly a quarter century for Madden to make it to the Canton shrine, and when the moment came, he got "goofy."

"I started thinking about this after I was voted to the Hall of Fame, and now I know," said Madden, elected by the senior committee for a coaching career in which he went 103-32-7, never had a losing season and won the 1977 Super Bowl. "At night, when the fans and visitors all leave, then the workers start to leave, then just one person turns out the light, locks the door, and I believe the busts talk to each other. And I can't wait for that conversation.

"We'll be there forever and ever talking about whatever. That's what I believe will happen and no one is ever going to talk me out of that."

Madden might be best known now for his announcing and his video game, but as his presenter, Raiders owner Al Davis, noted, Madden was 36-16-2 against other coaches in the Hall. Davis said he never doubted a 32-year-old Madden could handle the "Just Win Baby" legacy the team was building.

"He loved the game, his team, the Raiders, this league -- and especially his players," Davis said. "At a time when our country needed it, John Madden saw no color."

Except the Raiders' Silver and Black.

Carson became the first inside linebacker from a 3-4 defense to make it to Canton. It was a long-awaited honor -- he retired in 1988 after 13 seasons, nine Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl title with the New York Giants -- that Carson recently had given up on.

Two years ago, after making the final 15 candidates for the sixth straight year but not being elected by a panel of sports writers, Carson asked to have his name withdrawn from consideration. It wasn't, and he finally made it this year.

"To represent all who preceded me and those who will come after me ... to know there is absolutely nothing beyond their reach," Carson said, explaining the meaning of being a Hall of Famer.

Carson gave his presenter, son Donald, a long hug before addressing the crowd. Donald Carson suffers from a rare blood disorder.

"This isn't about me, this is about my family," Carson said. "I am so thankful my son presented me this afternoon; he is definitely a man. He's been through so much in the last seven months, more than I could ever have gone through. I never knew needles could be so long."

Carson also called on the NFL and the players' union to upgrade its treatment of retired players and to continue "bringing a great sense of diversity" to the sport.

Wright also played 13 seasons, and won two Super Bowls in five appearances. He retired in 1979 and was chosen for the Hall by the seniors committee.

A former college basketball player expecting to play in the NBA, Wright was a tight end who was "stunned" when coach Tom Landry said he was being moved to tackle. Wright made his first start against Deacon Jones -- only the most feared member of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome. Obviously, it didn't faze "Big Cat," who went on to make six consecutive Pro Bowls and help the Cowboys win 10 division titles.

Wright cited the poem "The Road Not Taken" for inspiring his career.

"Through this poem I discovered life would give me choices. It was recognizing those choices that proved to be the greatest challenge," he said in a teary speech. "My instinct was to always take the easy road, but the easy road never came my way.

"I'm privileged to be in such a stellar class."

Sara White Brings The Late Reggie White Into NFL Hall Of Fame - NFL.com

This was the most moving of all of the induction speeches. It was impossible for me to hold back tears.

By Craig Ellenport
NFL.com

CANTON, Ohio (Aug. 5, 2006) -- The chants of "Reggie! Reggie!" began early this afternoon, as Sara White was introduced to the crowd at Fawcett Stadium. The widow of legendary defensive end Reggie White took her place among the other five members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2006.

And as she stood there on pro football's greatest stage, there was no question the indomitable spirit of Reggie White was looking down and smiling.

Jeremy White introduced his mother, who kept her emotions mostly in check.
The Hall of Fame selection committee often is reminded that off-the-field actions are not to be considered in the voting process. Those instructions usually pertain to players who might have questionable character or checkered pasts.

But if voters aren't supposed to consider negative character, then they shouldn't consider positive character either, right? Being an ordained minister at age 17, earning countless honors for his humanitarian efforts, working with children, needy families and impoverished communities -- what to do about this?

"If life were to have a Hall of Fame for people who were important in society, I would be so bold as to say that my dad would be in the Life Hall of Fame," said Jeremy White, who presented his father for enshrinement. "His passion for God, his love for his family and community, and his dedication toward making the world a better place would at least get him nominated."

Perhaps it is not so much a matter of earning extra credit for those efforts. Rather it serves to illustrate what made him such a dominant figure on the football field. Simply put, whether it was setting up a corporation that provided loans to at-risk borrowers or facing a double-team while trying to get to the quarterback, White demonstrated a drive and will to succeed few could match.

"Today would have been the best day of Reggie's life besides watching the birth of his two children," said Sara White, who noted that making Reggie's enshrinement speech, saying what she thought Reggie would say, was perhaps the hardest thing she would ever have to do.

"Reggie was no phony," she said. "He stood for what he believe in. That's the thing that I want to encourage you. Whatever you believe in, you stand on your principles. Do not let anyone sway you."

Just as Reggie White stood on his principles and would not be swayed when he joined the renegade USFL after college, and when he took the path less taken when he signed with Green Bay as a free agent in 1993. Through it all, he dominated.

NFL Network video

A look back at the Hall of Fame career of Reggie White.
Click here to watch

At 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, few players in NFL history were more imposing, more feared, more disruptive than White, who earned 13 Pro Bowl nods and was the NFL's all-time sack leader with 198 when he retired after the 2000 season. White was a member of the NFL's all-decade team in both the 1980s and 1990s, as well as part of the league's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

White made his presence felt on every stop along his career. After earning All-America honors at the University of Tennessee, he made his mark in the USFL with the Memphis Showboats. From there, it was on to eight monstrous seasons in Philadelphia.

From 1985 to 1992, White was the heart and soul of a relentless Eagles defense that was nothing short of stifling. Incredibly, White recorded 124 sacks in 121 games with the Eagles. But then-Eagles owner Norman Braman let White become the NFL's first free agent in the winter of 1993.

Few people would have thought White would land in Green Bay, at the time a moribund franchise. Perhaps nobody was more surprised than Sara White.

She recalled the recruiting process, when Green Bay executives, including general manager Ron Wolf and head coach Mike Holmgren, were trying to convince White to come to Green Bay.

"Reggie said, 'I think I might go to the Packers,' " Sara recalled. "And I said, 'Where?'

"But that was the best thing that ever happened to us."

Sure enough, White signed with Green Bay and vowed to help restore the team to its previous glory. Four years later, White and Brett Favre led the Packers to a Super Bowl XXXI victory against the New England Patriots.

Finally reaching the ultimate game of his sport, White grabbed the opportunity by the throat. He set a Super Bowl record with three sacks in the Packers' victory.


Sara White made sure to highlight her husband's humanitarian work.
Still, it was inevitable that White's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame would be more about Reggie White the man than Reggie White the football player.

"Rather than being remembered for the records he broke, the games he won, the quarterbacks he sacked, Reggie will always be remembered as the man he was," Jeremy said. "He was a compassionate father, a loving husband, a selfless friend and a loyal teammate. I knew that he would be an inspiration to countless people who want to make their dreams a reality, no matter what their dreams might be.

"Reggie got to the top because he was determined to do what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a preacher and he wanted to be a football player ever since he was 10 years old. I would say that he has done great in both areas."

Reggie White passed away Dec. 26, 2004, a week after his 43rd birthday. But to say his legacy lives on is an understatement. As Sara White noted, some people think he's still alive because of all the positive work that has been done through charities and foundations that bear his name.

"He lived a full life," she said. "He lived 43 years and he's done so many things that people have not done in 70 years."

And that goes for his work on the field as well.

Fred Nance - Cleveland Attorney In Top Five For NFL Commissioner - AP News

Friday, August 4, 2006 · Last updated 12:57 p.m. PT
NFL considering Nance for top post

By TOM WITHERS
AP SPORTS WRITER


CLEVELAND -- He fought to keep the Cleveland Browns in town and kept LeBron James on the basketball court. Fred Nance is now preparing an argument that could make history - for him and the NFL.

Nance, a prominent Cleveland attorney known for being tough and fair, is one of five finalists to succeed Paul Tagliabue as the league's commissioner, arguably the world's most high-profile executive position in sports.

Nance is also black, making his inclusion among the finalists an important moment for the NFL, which has been criticized in the past for its lack of diversity among coaches and other prominent front-office positions.

"He would make a fabulous commissioner," Browns owner Randy Lerner said. "He is totally qualified and demonstrated his qualifications when he played such a huge role in bringing the Browns back.

"He's got leadership, tenacity. He's got a love for the kind of impact teams have on the community. He gets it. I think he's a world-class guy."

Nance was picked as a finalist following an extensive search by a committee of eight owners headed by Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney and Carolina's Jerry Richardson.

"It's a landmark, and even if he (Nance) is not chosen, it's a good day for sports," said Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. "It shows we have gotten to the point where the best possible candidates, and in this case an African-American, are being considered."

There has never been a black commissioner in any of the major pro sports leagues. The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have all made strides in hiring practices, but none so far has made a minority its top decision maker.



Though Nance may be a long shot to lead the NFL, those who know the managing partner of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey best feel he would be the perfect choice.
"Every night I cross my fingers and pray the NFL makes the right decision and makes Fred Nance its commissioner," said former Cleveland Mayor Michael White, who worked with Nance on several major projects. "He is the total package. He is extremely bright. He has got vision and he has the unique ability to be able to turn extremely difficult situations into a win, win."

Kansas City Chiefs coach Herman Edwards doesn't believe Nance's candidacy should be viewed as anything but a qualified person getting an opportunity to advance. Edwards, who is black, looks forward to the day when race is not part of the equation.

"The first thing we have to realize is get the right guy," Edwards said. "If he happens to be a minority, that's great. But I think we always get on that platform of 'minority guy, minority guy.' We need to just say we got the best guy. And whatever nationality he is, he is.

"If he happens to be a minority, that's great. But the less we talk about it, the better it is when the guy gets the job, because then he's not looked upon as, well, 'The league is trying to be the first to do something.'"

Nance, 52, and the other four finalists - favorite Roger Goodell, the league's chief operating officer; Gregg Levy, the league's outside counsel; Robert L. Reynolds, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Fidelity Investments; and Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Constellation Energy - will each make presentations Aug. 7 in Chicago and be interviewed by owners and club executives.

The next commissioner must be approved by 22 of the league's 32 teams.

Nance said he was honored to be a finalist, but deferred further comment until after next week's meetings.

Nance's chances of taking over for Tagliabue could hinge on his ability to sway some undecided voters. As one of Cleveland's top lawyers, persuasiveness is one of his many traits.

Lerner said he wouldn't offer Nance any tips on how to impress pro football's top executives.

"He doesn't need any help in how to present himself," Lerner said. "He's far more qualified than I am. Fred knows exactly how to manage himself and he'll be great, I have no doubt about it. He's compelling. He's cheerful. He's upbeat."

He's a winner, too. In 2003, Nance won back James' eligibility after the NBA superstar was suspended by the Ohio High School Athletic Association for accepting gifts. He was the city's top negotiator for development at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and he recently led an effort to keep more than 1,000 military accounting jobs in Cleveland.

Nance first became known inside the NFL's huddle in 1995 when former Browns owner Art Modell, angry with city leaders because he couldn't get a new stadium built for his club, decided to move to Baltimore.

On the night before Modell publicly announced his intentions, Nance and White flew to New York to meet with Tagliabue. In the weeks and months to follow, Nance worked with the commissioner - and Goodell - to make sure Cleveland would not be forgotten and that football would one day return to one of the league's strongest markets.

It was during Cleveland's fight for the Browns when White realized Nance had special qualities.

"Fred is tireless," said White, who served was Cleveland's mayor from 1990-2001. "He's probably the only person I know who God gave 25 hours in a day to. I've also known a lot of lawyers, and Fred is one of the very few whom I call client-sensitive. He listens to people."

---

AP Sports Writer Doug Tucker contributed to this report.

About ROGER GOODELL, NFL Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer

Roger Goodell's favorite by odsmakers | Meeting Roger Goodell

This is a copy of Roger's bio from the National Football League

Roger Goodell was named NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in December 2001.

Goodell's responsibilities include serving as president of NFL Ventures, Inc., which oversees the NFL's business units. Goodell supervises all league business operations, including media properties, marketing and sales, consumer products, international, stadium development, special events, and strategic planning. In addition, he is responsible for the league's football operations and officiating departments.

Goodell began his NFL career in 1982 as an intern in the NFL office in New York. In 1983, he worked in public relations and administration with the New York Jets, then returned to the league office in 1984 as a public relations assistant. In 1987 he was appointed assistant to the president of the American Football Conference (AFC), Lamar Hunt, by then--NFL Commissioner Rozelle.

Since 1990, Goodell has served under Commissioner Tagliabue as director of international development and club administration, vice president of operations, vice president of business development, senior vice president of league and football development, executive vice president of business and football development, and executive vice president of business, properties and club services.

Goodell has been instrumental in many league accomplishments, including expansion, realignment, stadium development, and international development. Most recently, he played a key role in the launch of the NFL Network, the restructuring of the NFL's business units, and the negotiations for the NFL's television agreements and Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association.

Goodell serves on the boards of the national and New York chapters of Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and he is an officer of NFL Charities, the league's charitable foundation.

Born in Jamestown, New York on February 19, 1959, Goodell graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1981 with a degree in economics. He lives in the New York area with his wife Jane and their twin daughters.

(5/06)

NFL PRESEASON KICKS OFF IN CANTON WITH HALL OF FAME GAME

Six will be honored…one will return…and a season will begin.
It is going to be quite a weekend in Canton!!

The NFL preseason of 65 games -- 15 on national TV -- kicks off at 8:00 PM ET Sunday night with the annual Pro Football
Hall of Fame Game in the birthplace of the NFL -- Canton, Ohio -- this year between the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia
Eagles.

The game will mark the "re-debut" of a longtime NFL partner. It will be televised by NBC-TV, which this year returns to
broadcasting the NFL for the first time in eight years. NBC had carried NFL games for 28 seasons, from 1970-97.

Announcing the game will be a well-known pair -- AL MICHAELS and JOHN MADDEN. They debut on NBC after
teaming on Monday Night Football for four years from 2002-05.

It will be a big weekend for Madden and five other familiar NFL names. The former Oakland Raiders coach will be
inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday along with TROY AIKMAN, HARRY CARSON, WARREN MOON, REGGIE WHITE and RAYFIELD WRIGHT.

Madden, of course, will go in as the former Raiders coach, but he has an on-field tie to the Eagles, too. As a 21-year-old
tackle out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in 1958, Madden was a 21st-round draft selection by Philadelphia (No. 244 overall), although he never played in the NFL.

The game will mark another "re-debut." ART SHELL is a member of the Hall of Fame class of 1989 who won a Super
Bowl XI ring as a player under Madden and followed him as coach of the Raiders (1989-94). This year Shell returns at
the helm of the club after a 12-year span. That same-team coaching respite ties for the fourth longest in NFL history (see
chart below).

It will be a special weekend for the Eagles, too, as one of their greatest players ever, defensive end-tackle White, is inducted into the Hall. The team retired his number (92) last season.

The Hall of Fame class of 2006:

-- TROY AIKMAN (1989-2000) led the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles. His 90 wins in the 1990s makes him the winningest NFL quarterback of any decade.

-- HARRY CARSON (1976-88) was named to nine Pro Bowls, led the New York Giants in tackles in five seasons, and was a leader of the team’s daunting defense in their Super Bowl XXI title season.

-- JOHN MADDEN (1969-78) owns the best regular-season winning percentage of coaches with 100 wins (.759,103-32-7). Oakland never had a losing record under him, and claimed seven division titles and the Super Bowl XI championship.

-- WARREN MOON (1984-2000) ranks fourth all-time in the NFL in completions (3,988) and passing yards (49,325) and fifth in touchdown passes (291). Selected to nine Pro Bowls. Threw for 3,000 yards in each of nine seasons.

-- REGGIE WHITE (1985-2000) retired as the NFL's all-time sack leader (198). Named to 13 consecutive Pro Bowls. Nicknamed the "Minister of Defense." Won a Super Bowl XXXI ring with Green Bay.

-- RAYFIELD WRIGHT (1967-79) was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s. Played in six NFC Championship Games and five Super Bowls, winning two NFL titles. Chosen for Pro Bowl six years in a row.

There will be another induction at the Hall of Fame this year -- one that will make history. Longtime TV broadcaster LESLEY VISSER will receive the Hall’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award for her contributions in covering pro football. She will be the first woman to be honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The future of the game also will be celebrated this weekend at the annual NFL Youth Football Summit.

A group of 150 youth and high school football coaches and administrators from all 50 states will convene to discuss issues related to youth and high school programs with football experts and NFL greats.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association sponsor the summit through their joint NFL Youth Football Fund.

Fans nationwide will be able to see all of the weekend Hall of Fame festivities on NFL Network, which will televise more
than 14 hours of on-site coverage, including eight hours on enshrinement Saturday.

The Hall of Fame Game will be the first of 15 nationally televised NFL preseason games this summer. Add to those the
"wall-to-wall-ball" schedule of NFL Network -- 52 games televised in 24 days (including two national TV broadcasts) -- and
fans will be able to see first-hand how NFL teams are developing this summer.

Included on the summer TV schedule will be a record 12-game "whip-around" on August 31. NFL Network on its NFL
Total Access: No Huddle show will cover every game being played that night and cut in to each game as the action
progresses.

"…AND, NOW, TO PRESENT THE HONOR…"

Always of interest are the names of the “presenters” of the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees on their special day. This
year, two sons, two coaches, an NFL owner, and a friend will have the honors.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2006 presenters:

INDUCTEE PRESENTER RELATIONSHIP

Troy Aikman Norv Turner QB coach/off. coordinator from 1991-93
Harry Carson Donald Carson Son
John Madden Al Davis Oakland Raiders owner
Warren Moon Leigh Steinberg Friend/Agent
Reggie White Jeremy White Son
Rayfield Wright L.J. "Stan" Lomax Coach at Fort Valley State College

* * *

ART’S BACK!: The Oakland Raiders' ART SHELL returns as the team’s head coach Sunday night after a 12-year
respite. The longest span between NFL coaching stints with the same team:

COACH TEAM TENURE 1 FINAL YEAR TENURE 2 FIRST YEAR YEAR SPAN

Joe Bach Pittsburgh 1936 1952 16
Chuck Knox L.A. Rams 1977 1992 15
Ted Marchibroda Baltimore/Indianapolis 1979 1992 13
Walt Kiesling Pittsburgh 1942 1954 12
Joe Gibbs Washington 1992 2004 12
Art Shell L.A./Oakland Raiders 1994 2006 12

# # #

NFL & NFLPA AGREE TO IMPROVED PLAYER BENEFITS

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(212) 450-2000 * FAX (212) 681-7573

WWW.NFLMedia.com
Joe Browne, Executive Vice President-Communications
Greg Aiello, Vice President-Public Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-43 7/27/06

The NFL and the NFL Players Association again have agreed to a series of improvements in NFL player benefits for retired and current players, including significant pension increases and other new benefits for retired players, the NFL and the NFLPA announced today.

The improvements are a part of the recently extended NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and will cost approximately $120 million per year, bringing the annual cost of NFL player benefits to $700 million per year.

This is the fourth time since 1993 that benefit improvements have been made for both current and retired players.

Retired players now receive nearly $60 million per year from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement Plan. In addition, there are three other funds that provide more than $1 million a year in financial assistance to retired NFL players in need. They are the NFLPA’s Players Assistance Trust, the NFL and NFL Alumni Association’s Dire Need Fund, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Enshrinee Assistance Fund.

"We are proud to have the most extensive benefits package in professional sports," said HAROLD HENDERSON, NFL executive vice president of labor relations/chairman of the NFL Management Council.

"These improvements are consistent with our commitment in every negotiation to address post-career issues and improve the benefits of retired players. No other industry reaches back like this to take care of former employees."

"The current players have great respect for the heritage of the NFL and the former players that have contributed to the league's success," said GENE UPSHAW, executive director of the NFLPA. "As they have done on previous occasions, the current players strongly supported the idea of using a portion of their negotiated benefits money to fund improvements for the retired players."

Details of the benefit plan improvements that were announced today:

-- PENSIONS: Pensions of retired players will be increased by 25 percent for the amounts earned before 1982 and by 10 percent for the amounts earned in 1982 and later. The minimum increase for retired players will be $50 per month.

-- WIDOW & SURVIVING CHILDREN BENEFIT: Benefits will be tripled for the survivors of a player who dies before his retirement benefits begin.

-- NUMBER 88 PLAN: Beginning next year, players retired under the pension plan will be eligible for payment of certain medical and custodial expenses, whether provided at home or in an institution, that are a result of dementia, including Alzheimer's, regardless of the age when care becomes necessary.

The benefit will pay the cost of providing up to $88,000 per year for institutional care or up to $50,000 per year for in-home nursing care. There also is agreement to fund research on dementia. The benefit is named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHN MACKEY.

-- TUITION REIMBURSEMENT PLAN: For players with at least five credited seasons who retire after the 2006 season, the plan will provide up to $15,000 per year for tuition expenses for the first three years after the player leaves football. Previously, this benefit was available to active players only.

-- HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT: A new Health Reimbursement Account will be created for current players for use when their NFL health insurance expires (currently four or five years after retirement). The accounts will begin for players who have three credited seasons at $75,000 and increase by $25,000 per year for up to 12 seasons. For example, a 12-year veteran will leave the NFL with a $300,000 health reimbursement account. The accounts can be used to fund post-career medical insurance, including the COBRA premium, and to pay other medical expenses, both for the player and his dependents.

Other CBA benefits for players include a 401K savings plan, annuity program, insurance, severance pay and
disability benefits.

# # #

#1 Ranked Fieldposition.com Podcast Now Features Zennie Abraham (Click For Podcast)

Thanks to Walter Anaruk and Bill Chackhes of this blog and Fieldposition.com, I'm the designated NFL Business Expert for their weekly podcasts, which are ranked Number One according to Yahoo!

The current podcast, available with a click here , is...

A roundtable discussion about issues surrounding the business side of the NFL.

1 - Reggie Bush signing
2 - Matt Leinart Impasse
3 - PSLs and Preseason Tickets.
4 - NFL Commissioner Search.
5 - Revenue issues

...According to Walter, and features....

Zennie Abraham, Sports Business Simulations
Walter Anaruk, Field Position
Bill Chachkes, Field Position

Check us out!