Tagliabue memoir a strong look into the NFL's inner workings

Paul Tagliabue left his job as commissioner of the NFL in 2006 and didn’t get selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame until last year

Paul Tagliabue left his job as commissioner of the NFL in 2006 and didn't get selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame until last year. If that seems odd for a man who guided the NFL for 17 years and oversaw labor peace, expansion, new stadiums, huge increases in broadcast rights fees, a significantly enhanced international presence — and maneuvered the league through such crises and events as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans — well, Tagliabue doesn't seem bitter about the delay. In his memoir “Jersey City to America's Game,” Tagliabue sticks to his journey and lets the facts speak for him. It's a terrific ride, a look into the inner workings of the nation's most popular sport. While Tagliabue details his young life, including starring in basketball at Georgetown, the best material focuses on his years atop the NFL. In particular, his descriptions of the heart-wrenching scenes in New York after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and how he dealt with Saints owner Tom Benson's desire to abandon New Orleans after Katrina are engrossing.