(EDITORS’ NOTE: To listen to Paul Tagliabue, click on the link below: https://www.spreaker.com/user/fullpresscoverage/eyetest-ep101)
The NFL has never been in better financial shape than it is right now, and look no further than their quarterbacks for evidence.
Green Bay awarded Aaron Rodgers a three-year contract averaging $50 million per contract. Cleveland acquired DeShaun Watson for a series of draft picks, then signed him to a $230 million contract with all money guaranteed. The Rams penned Matthew Stafford on a four-year, $160 million contract extension with all but $30 million guaranteed.
Money doesn’t seem to matter to the NFL.
So what is? We reached out to Hall of Famer and former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue on a recent Eye Test for Two podcast (fullpresscoverage.com) and asked him to identify the league’s biggest challenge going forward.
He had no trouble answering.
“I think part of that,” he said, “judging by the success and the size of the audience, is that so many institutions — let’s say that aren’t quite committed to the game as the game — are getting involved over the Popularity of the NFL.
“Legalized gambling, which is a result of the Supreme Court decision a few years ago… I don’t think it’s a good thing for the sport. I don’t think it’s good for pro sports…or college sports…college sports.”
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley might agree. He was suspended for the entire 2022 season for violating the league’s gambling policy. The NFL said he bet on games in 2021 within five days of late November.
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So basically, he was suspended for a workout that the NFL once shunned but is now embraced by groups like DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, their official sports betting partners.
There seems to be something wrong and Tagliabue doesn’t need to be reminded. Not only was he a commissioner when the league was against a franchise in Las Vegas; He played on a Georgetown University basketball team that faced NYU in a 1961 game in which several opposing players later admitted to shaving points.
“So I was there when that happened,” he said. “I’m not saying it will happen again. But I remember (former basketball star and US Senator) Bill Bradley testifying when Congress passed this law in 1991 separating gambling from sports.
‘Bill Bradley said, ‘There are two games: ‘My game and their game… and never should the two meet.’ I think the two met in a way that’s not good for the game… and I don’t think it’s good for the country.
“So I think that’s a challenge. Popularity creates challenges that go far beyond the game, stirring up controversy as you try to handle them.
“I think what’s going on in varsity sports today is a similar situation, as a result of the Supreme Court decision with the (unintelligible) issues and the collectives and all the money that’s being raised by people to… quote… licenses to pay if it becomes a form of signing bonuses for kids coming out of high school and going to colleges.
“Recruitment shouldn’t be about signing bonuses; it should be about the sport at a certain school… and an education. All incentives are commercial now and no one even talks about education even though people play for colleges and universities.”
But he didn’t stop there, calling them “two of the great challenges.” And the third?
“Social media,” Tagliabue said, “is another big challenge. Giving every fan access to a platform is a huge challenge for the entire country and indeed the entire world, as well as the NFL and the sport.”
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