Pete Rozelle
Alvin "Pete" Rozelle (March 1, 1926 - December 6, 1996) was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from the office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL arguably the most successful sports league in the world.
When he took office there were twelve teams in the NFL; by the time he resigned, that number had grown to twenty-eight. Following the lead of the rival American Football League, he negotiated large television contracts to broadcast every NFL game played each season. He got NFL team owners to agree to share revenues between teams, as the American Football League had done since its inception.
With American Football League Commissioner Al Davis and other AFL and NFL executives, he negotiated the merger between the American Football League and the NFL. In October, 1966, he testified to Congress to convince them to allow the merger, promising that if they permitted it, "Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted."; and "Every franchise of both leagues will remain in its present location." Rozelle also participated in the creation of the Super Bowl and Monday Night Football.
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1926 | 1 March | 1st March | AFL-NFL Merger | American Professional Football Association | George Preston Marshall | Historical anniversaries/March 1 | Jim Finks | Joe Namath | List of people by name: Ro | March 1 | March 1st | Monday Night Football | National Football League | National Football League Championship | Sid Gillman | Tex Schramm
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