Finks, Tagliabue Are Favorites for NFL Job

The four finalists for NFL commissioner made their cases to the 28 divided owners Tuesday but every sign pointed to a two-man race between Jim Finks and Paul Tagliabue.

It was the first attempt at electing a new commissioner since July 6, when Finks, president of the New Orleans Saints, fell three votes short of the 19 necessary for election.

Finks and Tagliabue have been the favorites since Pete Rozelle announced his resignation seven months ago.

Finks was back again, still the leading candidate, along with three other finalists--Tagliabue, the NFL’s Washington counsel; former Green Bay Packer star Willie Davis; and J. Patrick Barrett, a businessman and the New York State Republican chairman. All but Barrett were finalists before the first vote and all were at the meetings, to be interviewed Tuesday afternoon by any owner who wanted.

But Tagliabue was considered the only candidate other than Finks with a chance for the job. In fact, despite his ties to the league office, it seemed he was becoming the candidate of the dissident faction--the so-called Chicago 11 who abstained on the first vote.

“I would be extremely supportive of Paul Tagliabue,” said Edward DeBartolo Jr. of San Francisco, one of the organizers of the dissident group. “He is extremely competent.”

The 48-year-old Tagliabue , who has been one of the league’s top legal advisers for two decades, addressed the owners for about one hour, 15 minutes, Finks for just 45. The other two candidates spent one hour talking to the owners.

“I spent about 45 minutes telling them about my basketball career,” said Tagliabue, who is one of the leading rebounders in Georgetown history. “I wanted to show them that I knew something about what went on in the locker room.”

Asked why he wanted the job, Tagliabue replied: “Because it would be fun.”

Finks, meanwhile, said that while he didn’t take his first rebuff personally, he felt it was time to heal the wounds that have developed from his nomination.

“I think there’s some division--not a lot,” he said. “I think there are some strained relations. But that’s true on a football team or within the league at any time. It’s just that from the standpoint of the New Orleans Saints and the league, it’s time to get things done.”

Whether that would happen was unclear.

Some of the 11 seemed to be solid in their resolve to block Finks and were ready to line up behind Tagliabue. Davis and Barrett seemed to be out of the running -- both said they were honored just to be included in the process.

DeBartolo’s actions early Tuesday, however, indicated that the split still existed.

At the same time he was claiming there were no factions--”We’re 28 men in that room acting as individuals,” he said--he broke off an interview to catch up with Patrick Bowlen for a meeting with at least a segment of the 11 owners who blocked Finks’ election. Some Finks supporters, meanwhile, privately were suggesting they were ready to block any other candidate.

Finks partisans also were attempting to find three more votes to put the 62-year-old Saints president over the top.

They were aiming at Bud Adams of Houston, who missed the first meeting because his plane was delayed by bad weather, plus a couple of others from a group that included Robert Irsay of Indianapolis, Joe Robbie of Miami and perhaps Georgia Frontiere of the Los Angeles Rams or Victor Kiam of New England.

Rozelle announced his resignation March 22 and hoped to have retired to his new home in San Diego by the start of the season. When a reporter remarked as he arrived that he still had his suntan, Rozelle replied by referring to his wife, who has already settled in California.

“Carrie has a better one,” he said.

The day after Rozelle’s resignation, the first search commissioner was formed by Wellington Mara of the New York Giants and Lamar Hunt of Kansas City, presidents of the NFC and AFC, respectively. They were on it, along with Art Modell of Cleveland, Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh, Ralph Wilson of Buffalo and Robert Parins of Green Bay--all of whom had been in the league for at least 20 years.

That committee got down to six finalists but recommended just one--Finks, a former Pittsburgh quarterback who has also been general manager of the Vikings and Bears and president of baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

But the dissidents, led by DeBartolo, Minnesota’s Mike Lynn and Philadelphia’s Norman Braman put together a coalition that blocked the election, claiming it wanted more than one candidate from which to choose. A week later, a new committee was formed consisting of Mara, Hunt and four others--Finks supporters Al Davis of the Raiders and John Kent Cooke of Washington plus Lynn and Ken Behring of Seattle.

But while that committee presented four candidates, it was questionable how much compromise there had been--Finks supporters like Davis and Modell seemed prepared to block any other candidate.

Others thought there might be compromise--although it might take two days or more or even lead to another meeting next week. Some suggested that Rozelle, who has worked closely with both Finks and Tagliabue, might be able to affect a compromise.

“I think there will have to be some give and take,” said Rankin Smith of Atlanta, a Finks supporter. “This league has been run for years by a fellow who’s been a master of persuasion in this situation. I think he’ll have a great deal of input. I think he wants to go home.”