Paul Tagliabue for Hall of Fame? Hardly Anyone in Phoenix Thinks He's Worthy

Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was one of the 17 finalists for this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame class, but he wasn't one of the six selected. In fact, he was eliminated on the first round of voting.

The Hall of Fame doesn't release vote totals, but I have to think Tagliabue's vote total was the lowest of any of the candidates. I talked to several Hall of Fame voters this week and couldn't find anyone who planned to vote for Tagliabue.

I think Tagliabue is deserving of recognition for his contributions to the game. He managed to work with the NFL Players Association to ensure labor peace, the league grew in popularity during Tagliabue's stewardship, and I think one of his most difficult decisions was also one of his wisest, shutting the league down for a week after 9/11.

But it looks like Tagliabue has a long way to go before he'll end up in Canton. Many voters seem to want to wait and see how the final collective-bargaining agreement that Tagliabue negotiated turns out, and other voters suggested that Tagliabue's successor, Roger Goodell, is already a more effective commissioner than Tagliabue ever was. So we might not get to see Tags in Canton.