WASHINGTON – Georgetown University alumnus Paul Tagliabue (C'62) was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio this past weekend. The former NFL commissioner was one of 12 enshrinees from the Class of 2020, which is also the Centennial Class. The event presented the coveted gold jacket to both the members of the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 after last year's ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19.

Tagliabue was presented by former NFL player and executive Art Shell. Additionally, a gift from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to Tagliabue celebrating his election to the hall of fame was announced to be used to advance diversity throughout the sport. The James Harris-Doug Williams Fellowship, which provides a post-graduate opportunity at the Pro Football Hall of Fame to a recent college graduate from an accredited Historically Black College and University (HBCU), will be endowed for two years in Tagliabue's honor.

During Paul Tagliabue's 17-year reign as Commissioner of the National Football League, pro football grew to unparalleled heights. Expansion, labor peace, new stadiums, international operations, unprecedented television coverage and revenues, internet and new technology development are just some of the successes accomplished during his tenure.

Tagliabue was elected to succeed Pete Rozelle on October 26, 1989 to become the seventh chief executive of the NFL. A few months later, the new commissioner set the tone for his administration. At the March 1990 Owners Meetings, Tagliabue and Broadcast Committee Chairman Art Modell announced a new four-year TV deal worth $3.6 billion, which at that time was the largest in television history. At that same meeting, Tagliabue announced the formation of a Committee on Expansion and Realignment. The committee eventually recommended, and the clubs approved, the addition of two teams who began play in the 1995 season.

In 1991, Tagliabue and the club owners, recognizing the tremendous potential for pro football on an international basis, launched the World League of American Football. The WLAF (later known as NFL Europe) was the first sports league to operate on a weekly basis on two separate continents.
Labor peace is another hallmark of Tagliabue's stewardship. In 1993, the NFL and NFL Players Association officially signed a seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement which guaranteed more than $1 billion in pension, health, and post-career benefits for current and retired players - the most extensive benefit plan in pro sports. It was the first CBA since 1987 and the first of two successive long-term labor agreements with the players during Tagliabue's tenure.

Under Tagliabue, the NFL also addressed many other key priorities. During the Tagliabue-era, the league supported the construction of some 20 new stadiums; created a league-wide Internet network and the subscriber-based NFL TV Network; and secured the largest television contracts in entertainment history, totaling some $25 billion.

Before becoming the league's CEO, Tagliabue represented the NFL as an attorney at Covington & Burling, a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Tagliabue was a member of the varsity men's basketball team on the Hilltop from 1959-62. The three-year starter is ranked ninth on the career rebounding average list with 9.0 rpg pulling down a total of 584 which puts him in the top 30 all-time. He also served as a team captain his senior season. On campus Tagliabue was elected president of his senior class and was a member of the Jesuit Honor Society.

He was a member of Georgetown's Board of Directors from 2006-18 and served as both vice chair and chair during his tenure.

Tagliabue is the third member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have an affiliation with Georgetown. He joins longtime Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, who was inducted in 1964, and 1967-inductee Dan Reeves, the owner of then-Los Angeles Rams who moved the franchise to the West Coast from Cleveland. Rooney attended the Hilltop in the early 1920s (did not graduate), and Reeves graduated from the College in 1932.