When was pete rozelle commissioner

Rozelle made the decision to televise games on all of the-then three national networks. In the s, football flourished as it was the ideal sport to exploit the new technologies such as videotape. The popularity of the sport exploded and by the end of the decade it was the nation's 1 sport. Rozelle also should be remembered for helping break down the barriers that limited opportunities for African American players, though the rival AFL showed the way in drafting black players from small, traditionally African American colleges ignored by the NFL.

He served a two-year hitch in the Navy tour, then attended Compton Junior College and the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit school, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in Rozelle worked as a public relations officer for USF's athletic-department while a student, and then was hired as USF's assistant athletic director after graduating, leading to a job with the Los Angeles Rams, which hired Rozelle as publicity director in In , Rozelle left the NFL for corporate public relations, but the Rams appointed him as general manager in Bert Bell, the serving NFL commissioner, had recommended Rozelle as his diplomatic skills would be useful in settling an ownership dispute among the Rams owners.

It was his political skills rather than his skills as a sports franchise general manager that made his reputation. Although he was quite successful at marketing the franchise, pioneering the sale of souvenirs, he was less successful at trades and scouting. The year old Gunsel was a former F.

Edgar Hoover 's administrative assistant and as the head of the NFL's investigative department under Bell before being made League treasurer in a post he would hold until his retirement in With a steadfast belief that on-field competition was the lifeblood of the league and that comparable team revenues would encourage on-field competition, Rozelle instituted a revenue-sharing scheme.

The plan gave each team roughly the same amount of money to spend on players, thereby encouraging the evenly talented rosters he believed were necessary for fan growth. In addition to his contributions to the business side of broadcasting, Rozelle also had a profound impact on its content. Encouraging television to grow alongside professional football, he created Sunday doubleheaders, expanded playoffs, put every game on television, and along with ABC Sports President Roone Arledge, invented the wildly successful Monday Night Football broadcasts.

At first, Namath retired. But six weeks later, he changed his mind and returned to the Jets as he complied with Rozelle's edict. Though Rozelle had a reputation for acting firmly and decisively, he wasn't a strong-armed power broker as much as a consensus builder who listened well. In , owners rewarded him with a year contract. The NFL's growth became contingent upon a merger with the AFL, and Rozelle and his staff worked with owners and Congressional members to make it happen.

After months of secret meetings, the leagues agreed to merge in June , with the two leagues becoming one in Congress approved the action, passing a bill that exempted the merger from antitrust action. Though the initial contest between Green Bay and Kansas City drew only 61, fans in the ,seat Los Angeles Coliseum, it would eventually become the biggest annual one-day spectacle in American sports.

Rozelle pushed the Monday night idea hard on the networks, and ABC - last in the Nielsen ratings - took the gamble and watched it succeed beyond all expectations. Today, only CBS' 60 Minutes has been on the air longer.

Though Rozelle took satisfaction in the NFL's immense growth, he didn't relish the legal scrums, particularly those involving Al Davis, the Raiders' brash executive. The two were longtime rivals, dating to when Davis briefly was the AFL commissioner. After the first trial ended in a hung jury, an all-woman jury in cleared the way for the Raiders' move when it ruled against the league. That same year, Rozelle faced his second work stoppage the first was a preseason strike in , and the league lost seven games while players sat out for 57 days.

In , another strike cost one week of games before the league brought on replacement players to continue for three weeks. One of Rozelle's biggest legal victories came in , when the U. The labor strife and litigation, though, wore on Rozelle, and the commissioner resigned in , leaving a legacy that few could have predicted.