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Pete Rozelle

1940-55

1955-63

1966

1967

1980-89

- In 1989, he retires from being commissioner of the new NFL

- 7 Years later is announced dead due to trouble with brain cancer.

- Because of his death, that year the SuperBowl MVP Trophy is

named after him, “Pete Rozelle Super Bowl Most Valuable Player

Award.”

The Early Life of Pete Rozelle

AFL - NFL Merger in 1966

The Assassination of JFK

Drugs Issues in the 1980s

- Born in South Gate, California. Grew up in Lynwood, California during the Great

Depression.

- Drafted into the Navy in 1944 and served 18 months in the Pacific on an oil tanker.

- Started working as a student athletic director while attending Compton Community

College in 1946.

- Worked part-time for the Los Angeles Rams as PR assistant.

- Met University of San Francisco head coach Pete Newell who arranged a scholarship to

work as a student athletic news director while studying at USF.

- Upon graduating from USF in 1950, he continued to work full-time in the same job before

re-joining the Rams as its public relations specialist and remained there until 1955.

- Despite the assassination of President Kennedy on the 24th of November, 1963 the NFL played

its full schedule of games. This was trivial as the American Football League postponed all of

the games.

- After initial regret due to bad publicity, Rozelle was commended by White House Press

Secretary who had urged him to play the games. Rozelle was quoted saying "It has been

traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy. Football was Mr.

Kennedy's game. He thrived on competition."

- Redskins players urged their head coach Bill McPeak to send the game ball from their win over

the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House thanking Rozelle for allowing the games to be

played, claiming they were "playing...for President Kennedy and in his memory."

- Rozelle received Sport Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award in 1963.

- June 8th, 1966, merger of the AFL and NFL is announced with Rozelle in the

drivers seat.

- It was expected that the AFL would be lower level players, while the NFL

stayed at the top of the ranks.

- This did not play out this way, as nearby teams competed for fans, players, and

coaches.

- This healthy competition is what created the Super Bowl as it is known today.

The biggest sporting event of the year

- Known as the darkest year in NFL history.

- Players go on strike after two games.

- Owners sign replacement players and, after missing one week, stage three games.

- Veterans ignore the strike and rejoin their teams, including Joe Montana, Lawrence

Taylor, Steve Largent and Tony Dorsett.

- After 24 days, the union votes to end the strike even though no new agreement is

reached.

- A 15-game season is played.

The Decade of League Expansion

AFL - NFL Merger in 1966

Retiring and Death

Becoming Commissioner of the NFL

- The transferring of players between the NFL and AFL increased the intensity of the rivalry

between the two leagues.

- Team owners began trading players without the knowledge of Rozelle and Davis.

- Rozelle has been credited with the idea of a merger between the two leagues, ensuring

all teams stay as they are with larger schedules and increased competition.

- Al Davis convinced Rozelle to create the Superbowl and Monday Night Football with

Rozelle actually being credited with the ideas for both.

- After the merger, Davis resigned as the commissioner of the AFL with Rozelle being

made the commissioner of the newly merged league, still named the National Football

League.

- After various public relation jobs, Rozelle returned to the Rams in 1957 as the General

Manager. He turned the Rams from a disorganised, unprofitable team into a business

success despite their struggles on the field.

- Pete Rozelle was a surprise choice to replace Bert Bell as NFL commissioner in 1959. When

he took over the NFL was in a dire condition with half empty stadiums and few television

contracts.

- Rozelle adapted methods used by the rivaling American Football League to bring some life

into the NFL, a major one being revenue sharing.

- He negotiated television contracts allowing every game to be broadcast live. He also

convinced team owners to agree to revenue sharing, meaning all teams benefited equally.

- In 1962, Rozelle was re-elected to a five-year contract to remain as commissioner.

- 10,000,000 homes watched the first Super Bowl in 1967.

- By the time the 5th one came around, 24,000,000 homes watched.

- The 2009 Super Bowl had 48,000,000 homes with the game on.

- The growth rate of homes reached at the start of the Merged NFL is much higher

than the growth rate in the last 20 years or so.

- Football became the most popular sport to watch on TV in a matter of years.

- Ed Garvey is hired as NFLPA executive director.

- Union files antitrust case against league seeking to eliminate "Rozelle Rule" under which

commissioner Pete Rozelle could award equal compensation to a team losing a free agent.

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