Paul Who? The Quiet Achiever.

When NBA Commissioner David Stern or Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig walk into any stadium they are recognized by most fans. Their high profile precedes them as doors open up.

It is a different story with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Few people would take a second glance at the football chief if they happened to bump into him. Tagliabue's profile is low to dim when compared with Selig or Stern. He is rarely seen on TV and is best known as one of the best behind the scenes administrators in professional sports. Yet under his administration, the NFL has gradually become stronger and stronger in virtually every aspect. There have been a few hiccups and bumps in the road along the way. The major problems have been off the field and something that Tagliabue and his administration had no control over.

Although he would not have won too many points when Art Modell decided to relocate the Browns to Baltimore. However, Cleveland retained the rights to the name of the Browns and the team colors. Eventually, a new Cleveland franchise was formed with a new stadium. The end result is that everyone is happy.

Generally speaking, it has been a pretty smooth ride for Tagliabue.
Typically, there was no fanfare or press conference to announce that Tagliabue, 64, has had his contract extended and will remain as Commissioner until the end of the 2007 season.

According to reports, he will paid about $8 million a year.
There was never any doubt that the 32 team owners wanted Tagliabue to remain at the helm. They unanimously raised their hands when the vote was taken whether his new contract should be given the green light.

In the 15 years he has been Commissioner the NFL has enjoyed lucrative TV contracts, which has helped build new stadiums or give a major facelift to existing ones.
Right now the NFL is enjoying the richest TV contract in sports -- an estimated $17.6 billion. It will come to a close at the end of next season.

Owners began to take steps as early as last March to try to keep Tagliabue, whose current contract was scheduled to expire next year and he would have retired at age 65.
But with labor and TV contracts coming up the owners wanted Tagliabue front and center to negotiate the new deals and take the NFL into the next stage. Tagliabue is only the second commissioner the NFL has had. He replaced the legendary Pete Rozelle after he retired in 1989. Rozelle is acknowledged as the man who turned the NFL into a powerful force in professional sports and made the Super Bowl almost as popular as New Year's Eve, but Tagliabue has also been a huge success in his own right.
Ironically, Tagliabue was not the first choice when owners had to pick a new Commissioner. A committee formed to search and recommend a new Commissioner named Jim Finks, who at the time was the general manager of the New Orleans Saints.
But the recommendation ran into a wall of new owners who felt the NFL had to go in a new direction and felt Tagliabue was the man to take it there. They got their way and Tagliabue has steered the ship to success and can rightly be called as the quiet  achiever.