Finks Leaves Rich Legacy Behind Him : Pro football: Executive, who died Sunday of lung cancer, was key to Vikings, Bears and Saints.

The NFL lost one of its most popular and progressive executives Sunday night when Jim Finks, 66, died in New Orleans after a yearlong battle with lung cancer.

Finks, a consultant to the New Orleans Saints at the time of his death, rebuilt three struggling NFL franchises into playoff teams before nearly being named NFL commissioner in 1989.

A six-man selection committee picked him to lead the league, but a faction of younger owners resented being given only one candidate, and Finks was three votes shy of the 21 necessary.

The job eventually went to Paul Tagliabue, who immediately named Finks chairman of the powerful competition committee.

“Jim Finks had a vision for the game that stood the test of time,” Tagliabue said in a statement Monday.

Finks, a heavy smoker, was found to have lung cancer shortly after conducting the Saints’ 1993 draft as their general manager.

It proved to be their finest draft in more than a decade, and included such selections as tackle Willie Roaf, running backs Derek Brown and Lorenzo Neal, and Pro Bowl return specialist Tyrone Hughes.

But Finks was never able to enjoy this final triumph. Because of the lung cancer and, later, a blood clot in his brain, he was unable to attend a game last year.

“Everybody talks about franchise players . . . well, the Saints have lost a franchise general manager,” said Paul Buckley, general manager of the New Orleans Hilton and one of Finks’ best friends. “The impact on the Saints has been tremendous because they have lost an impact player.”

After winning their first five games last year, the Saints lost six of their last eight and finished at 8-8. That equaled their worst record since 1987, the year after Finks arrived and led the organization to its first winning season in 20 years.

“He was the most complete football man I ever knew,” said Wellington Mara, New York Giants’ co-owner.

When Finks joined the Minnesota Vikings for his first NFL general manager’s job in 1964, the expansion team had gone 10-30-2 in its previous three seasons.

Three years later, the Vikings were in the first of their four Super Bowls with Finks-built teams.

In 1974 he took over the Chicago Bears, who had not won a championship in 11 years. By 1977, they were in the playoffs. Before he left in 1983, he had acquired 19 of the 22 starters for the Bear team that won the Super Bowl after the 1985 season.

Before joining the Saints in 1986, Finks detoured into baseball and served as president of the Chicago Cubs. Under him in 1984, they won the title in the National League East, their first championship in 39 years.

Finks’ approach was as simple and direct as his many sayings, which co-workers scribbled on note pads for posterity.

Finks-isms included, “That guy could talk a dog off a meat truck,” and, “We’re hotter than a deep-holed stove,” and, “That guy is tougher than a boiled owl.”

“Some people in this game have athletic ability, others have player personnel ability . . . Jim Finks had a human ability,” Buckley said.

Finks is survived by his wife, Maxine, and four sons, Jim Jr., David, Dan and Tom.