One of the most significant figures in NFL history left us on Sunday, with the news that former commissioner Paul Tagliabue had died, aged 84.

Tagliabue replaced Pete Rozelle as the NFL’s top dog in 1989 and served in that capacity until 2006 when he was replaced by current commissioner Roger Goodell.

“All of us in the NFL are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Tagliabue, whose principled leadership and vision put the NFL on the path to unparalleled success” Goodell said in a statement released on Sunday. “Throughout his decades-long leadership on behalf of the NFL, first as outside counsel and then during a powerful 17-year tenure as commissioner, Paul served with integrity, passion and an unwavering conviction to do what was best for the league.

“Paul was the ultimate steward of the game — tall in stature, humble in presence and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL. He viewed every challenge and opportunity through the lens of what was best for the greater good, a principle he inherited from Pete Rozelle and passed on to me.”

Tagliabue oversaw an era of almost unprecedented change during his tenure. The league grew from 28 teams to 32 and expanded from six divisions to eight. The league launched its own website and television network, allowing it to become the media juggernaut we have today. Genuine player free agency and a salary cap were introduced on Tagliabue’s watch, as the league sought to achieve parity where possible, allowing teams and fanbases to believe that going from worst to first was possible in a very short space of time.

There were also times of human tragedy that the NFL was able to navigate thanks to his steady hand, never more so than in response to the September 11th attacks in 2001 and after the devastation of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Tagliabue was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 having first been named as part of the 2020 class, becoming the fifth chief executive to be enshrined in Canton, following fellow commissioners Bert Bell and Pete Rozelle and former league presidents Jim Thorpe and Joe Carr.

NFL teams were quick to pay tribute to Tagliabue following the news of his passing. New Orleans owner Gayle Benson described Tagliabue as ‘a great friend, not only to me and my husband Tom, but also to the city of New Orleans, hosting three Super Bowls during his tenure’. The Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, spoke of Tagliabue’s ‘humility, integrity and selfless commitment to our league’, while Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, wrote ‘I had the good fortune of getting to know Paul on a personal level upon entering the league in 1994. He was an incredibly supportive commissioner who played a prominent role in my transition to becoming an NFL owner’. The McNair family, who own the Houston Texans, noted that Tagliabue’s leadership was ‘instrumental in bringing football back to Houston’ after the Texans entered the league in 2002 following the Oilers move to Tennessee several years earlier.

Tagliabue is survived by his wife Chan and their two children Drew and Emily. Everyone at Gridiron extends sympathies to the Tagliabue family at this sad time.