Paul Tagliabue
From Hoopedia
Paul Tagliabue was the former commissioner of the National Football League and former college basketball player for Georgetown University. He took the position as commisioner in 1989 and was succeeded by Roger Goodell, who was elected to the position on August 8, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL.
The Tagliabue family is Italian American. Tagliabue's forebears originate from the vicinity of Como in Lombardy (Lombardia). ("Tagliabue" is roughly translated from Italian as "cut the steer"). Tagliabue was the third of four children in a working-class family and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey. Tagliabue has two children: a son, Andrew Philip, born in 1969, and a daughter, Emily Elizabeth, born in 1972.
College Basketball Career
He graduated from Georgetown University in 1962, where he played basketball for the Hoyas and was team captain. He remains one of the leading rebounders in school history. He still ranks in the school's top 20 in career rebounds and top 10 in rebounding average.
Tagliabue initially majored in mathematics before switching to the liberal arts. He became more interested in academics than basketball, becoming a Rhodes Scholar finalist as a senior. He went on to earn a full scholarship and law degree from New York University School of Law in 1965. In the same year, Tagliabue married Chandler (Chan) Minter of Milledgeville, Georgia. They were married in Washington, D.C., and lived there from 1965 until he became NFL Commissioner in 1989.
