Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones were the two nominees selected as finalists for the Pro Football HOF '17 class last week , but there were "other excellent candidates who have strong cases," including Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen, according to Peter King of THE MMQB. King, who is a part of the committee that selected Jones and Tagliabue, wrote, "It wasn't Jerry Jones over Pat Bowlen." King: "We judged not owner versus owner or GM versus GM; we judged candidate versus candidate. After our meeting, when it came time to vote, I felt Jones had the strongest case of the candidates -- he’s been the biggest agent of change in the league in the past quarter-century." The decision "came down to more of Tagliabue versus Bowlen for the second spot." Tagliabue "got the edge" because of his "key roles in the salary cap, 17 years without a work stoppage, establishment of the Rooney Rule, keeping the Saints in New Orleans post-Katrina and leading the NFL in the immediate aftermath of 9/11." However, his candidacy will have to "overcome failure" in the L.A. market and some "missteps early in the NFL’s evolving struggle against head trauma and concussions." King: "I don't know the odds of Tagliabue and Jones getting 80 percent of the vote next February. But it wouldn't surprise me if either or both did not make it" ( MMQB.SI.com, 8/22 ). In Boston, Ben Volin wrote he does not "understand the logic" to not nominate Bowlen. With Jones and Tagliabue in good health, it "makes little sense to put them in the Hall ahead of Bowlen," who is battling Alzheimer's. The HOF inducted Ken Stabler "a year after his death, and shouldn't make the same mistake with Bowlen" ( BOSTON GLOBE, 8/21 ).
GOLD, JERRY : In St. Louis, Jim Thomas wrote Jones "saved the league money" in '93 when he "stood up against plans to give a rebate to the television networks." He "pioneered the practice of increasing and maximizing forms of team revenue." Additionally, Jones built a "gaudy new stadium." It is "one thing to vote Jones" into the HOF "based off those factors." However, helping return the Rams to L.A. at the "expense of St. Louis shouldn't be the thing that puts Jones over the top" ( ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/22 ).
