Pete Rozelle

Just about every college football game the next day that Saturday was canceled.

The NFL and then very young Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who remained the commissioner for almost 30 years, decided to go ahead with the games.

And this was something that most of the owners were not happy with.

And this is something that really tells you how things have changed in America.

You'll never see a dynasty like that again.

And when Pete Rozelle said to Mr. Rooney, we have to stop meeting like this, The NFL became a level playing field for everybody, and it's really tough now to be a repeat.

Joe Green was the fulcrum, if I can borrow a $10 word.

Terry Bradshaw was a great guy.

And the co- and Congress, like, shoved this thing through, and they did it based on, um, a couple concepts.

One, the, the most important one for what we're talking about today is, um, Pete Rozelle at multiple hearings told multiple members of Congress, "This will only apply to free over-the-air broadcasts.

It's not gonna apply to any sort of paid t- paid television," which was a very new concept at the time.

There was, there had been, like, one or two, I think, like, boxing matches aired over some sort of new pay-per-view technology, and Congress said, "Okay." Um, and so for a long time, that meant that the NFL would...

I did a Mount Rushmore of pro football history where I have the 100 most important people ever.

And I had Pete Rozelle number two on the list.

And I was pretty critical of Pete Rozelle in the chapter I wrote about him.

I think he stayed too long at the party.

two work stoppages in his last seven years in the job, and there hasn't been a work stoppage in 35 years since, 36 years since.

But all I'm saying is that Pete Rozelle, in shepherding through the revenue sharing deal, championed so much by teams in Chicago and New York, That is what has made the NFL the absolute total powerhouse that it is today.

And that means that and I was in Kansas City.

I was I talked to a group in Kansas City about early in September.

But essentially, what happened was I just decided, watching games that year, I said, "You know, there's so much that I'm still curious about of...

I, you know, I've got some great stories, but I don't wanna write Peter King's greatest hits." I wanted to go back and find out w- how, uh, y- you know why, for instance, in 1985, I just got this feeling leaving a long interview with Pete Rozelle, the commissioner at the time, even though I was only 28 years old, commissioner at the time saying, "Man, you might be staying too long at the party." Um, and so I went back to look into that.

I, I...

And then, you know, the strike season, 1987, how weird it was.

That was the guy.

Because Al was a swashbuckler, and he had his fights with Pete Rozelle in the league.

And Jerry came in.

A lot of people had their own opinions about him, and he wasn't doing the things they wanted to, and he listened to Al.

That was the guy.

Because Al was a swashbuckler, and he had his fights with Pete Rozelle in the league.

And Jerry came in.

A lot of people had their own opinions about him, and he wasn't doing the things they wanted to, and he listened to Al.