page_title: History of the NFL Commissioner
section_title: Bert Bell (1946–1959)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the NFL Commissioner / Commissioners / Bert Bell (1946–1959)
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of President Truman at his desk in the Oval Office, receiving his annual pass to National Football League games from Bert Bell, Commissioner of the National Football League (center), and George Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins.
context_page_description: The Commissioner of the NFL is the chief executive officer of the National Football League.
context_section_description: On the day of Layden's resignation, Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell was elected commissioner and given a three-year contract at $20,000 per year. He subsequently sold his stake in the Steelers to co-owner Art Rooney. A year later, the contract was changed to a five-year pact at the same salary, a move that was followed in 1949 by a ten-year agreement that boosted his annual pay to $30,000. 
  Bell's salary was raised to $40,000 in 1951, which was extended for a dozen years in 1954.
  Before his appointment, Bell had been active in the NFL for two decades, first as co-founder, owner, general manager and head coach of the Eagles, then as part-owner of the Steelers.
  Among his accomplishments as commissioner, Bell merged the league with the All-America Football Conference, and did battle with the Canadian Football League over scheduling and player rights. He also coined the phrase, "On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team."
  One of his first major acts dealt with a gambling scandal that marred the 1946 NFL Championship game.  In response, he successfully lobbied legislators in virtually every state to enact laws that made it a crime for an athlete not to report a bribe attempt.
  In addition to all these duties, he also single-handedly plotted out league schedules each season on his dining-room table by using a giant checkerboard. He created the revenue-sharing system that enables the small-market teams to make larger profits and remain competitive.
  He also embraced the idea of television blackouts for home teams, especially after watching the Los Angeles Rams lose money after they televised all of their 1950 season games.  However, he was seen as being a little too strict when he refused to lift a blackout for Detroit viewers to watch the sold out 1957 NFL Championship between the Lions and the Cleveland Browns, claiming it would be considered "dishonest" to the paying customers.
  Bell died of a heart attack on October 11, 1959 at Philadelphia's Franklin Field, while watching a game between the team he co-founded, the Eagles, and the Steelers. The Eagles actually scored the game-winning touchdown the moment Bell died, as fans were paying more attention to Bell than the game. He had been under a doctor's care for two years and had recovered from a heart attack the previous February.  Few knew that at the time, Bell was planning to retire as commissioner in order to regain ownership of the Eagles before the next season.
caption: Bert Bell, in center.
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