IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1035 
Congratulating Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on his retirement from the 
National Football League. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 
Mr. MEEKS of New York submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Congratulating Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on his 
retirement from the National Football League. 
Whereas, under the leadership of Paul Tagliabue, the Na-
tional Football League (NFL) has grown from 28 to 32 
teams, revised its divisional alignment and scheduling 
formula, operated under successive long-term labor agree-
ments with the NFL Players Association, and secured 
the largest television contracts in entertainment history; 
Whereas during this time the NFL also has expanded league 
and team commitments to community service and re-
focused the NFL’s efforts in developing public-private 
partnerships for new stadiums; 
Whereas the NFL under Tagliabue has been the new media 
leader in sports, creating the first leaguewide Internet 
network for fans and the first satellite television subscrip-
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•HRES 1035 IH 
tion service, and launching the NFL Network on cable 
and satellite television; 
Whereas Commissioner Tagliabue has presided over the adop-
tion of a range of services to assist NFL players and 
their families, including the enforcement of stringent poli-
cies on the use of steroids and other drugs; 
Whereas the Tagliabue era has seen the NFL expand its 
presence internationally and create the NFL Youth Foot-
ball Fund to support the game at amateur levels; 
Whereas Tagliabue’s leadership of the NFL was featured in 
a Business Week cover story (‘‘The NFL Machine’’ pub-
lished January 27, 2003) and in a article in TIME Mag-
azine (‘‘The American Money Machine’’ published De-
cember 6, 2004), and was recognized as the ‘‘best man-
ager’’ in articles by Business Week (published January 
12, 2004) and FORTUNE (published December 12, 
2005); 
Whereas Tagliabue was named the 2004 and 2001 ‘‘Most 
Powerful Person in Sports’’ by The Sporting News, the 
2001 ‘‘Sports Executive of the Year’’ by The Sports 
Business Journal, and the 2000 ‘‘Sports Industrialist of 
the Year’’ by The Sports Business Daily; 
Whereas Commissioner Tagliabue showed tremendous leader-
ship after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by 
canceling NFL games so that the nation could mourn 
and by using the NFL family to help America heal in the 
weeks and months following 9/11; 
Whereas Tagliabue became the first CEO of a professional 
sports league to implement a model of racial diversity 
which has resulted in new opportunities for African- 
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•HRES 1035 IH 
American general managers, African-American head 
coaches, and African-American assistant coaches; 
Whereas before becoming the league’s CEO, Tagliabue rep-
resented the NFL as an attorney in many important 
areas as a partner at Covington & Burling, a Wash-
ington, D.C., law firm that was the NFL’s principal out-
side counsel (At Covington & Burling he also represented 
organizations engaged in the global development of pro-
fessional soccer and tennis (North American Soccer 
League and World Championship Tennis) and other pro-
fessional and amateur sports organizations.); 
Whereas earlier in his career Tagliabue served in the Office 
of the Secretary of Defense as a policy analyst and today 
he remains abreast of public policy matters as a member 
of the Council on Foreign Relations; 
Whereas Paul Tagliabue was born in New Jersey in 1940, at-
tended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on 
an athletic scholarship, and graduated from Georgetown 
University with honors with a degree in political science 
(He subsequently received his law degree with honors at 
New York University School of Law.); 
Whereas Paul Tagliabue has given back to the public by his 
numerous public service and charitable activities, includ-
ing serving as founding chairman of the board of direc-
tors of the Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of Inter-
national Relations and Commerce (part of the State Uni-
versity of New York (SUNY)) and serving as a member 
of the boards of directors of the Pro Football Hall of 
Fame, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the 
United Way of America (chairing it during 1998–99), the 
National Urban League, and other nonprofit organiza-
tions; and 
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•HRES 1035 IH 
Whereas Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has provided the Na-
tional Football League with a level of stability, unprece-
dented growth and a strong commitment to community 
that is unmatched in the modern sports era, and has cre-
ated an organization beloved by millions of fans around 
the world: Now therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives con-
gratulates Paul Tagliabue on his retirement from the 
NFL and wishes him well in his future endeavors. 
Æ 
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