Bert Bell

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Bert Bell : biography

February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959

Bell authorized a Pro Bowl to be held at the end of each season in order to showcase the talents of the best players.Brown with Clary: 214 But in the early 1950s, on the field activities sometimes denigrated to borderline assault and batteryRatterman; with Deindorfer: 125 with teams’ star players being viciously targeted by opposing players.; cf. Piascik: 155 He answered charges the league was too savage by saying, "’I have never seen a maliciously dirty football player in my life and I don’t believe there are any.’" Nevertheless, he ordered broadcasts to follow a strict rule of conduct whereby TV announcers would not be permitted to criticize the game, and neither fights, nor injuries, could be televised by virtue in his belief that announcers were "’salesman for professional football [and] we do not want kids believing that engaging in fights is the way to play football.’"King: 37; cf.

Bell was criticized for censoring TV broadcasts, a charge he dismissed as not pertinent because he believed he was not impeding the print media but only advertising a product.Lyons: 282 After CBS and NBC gained the rights to broadcast the games in 1956,Patton: 37; cf Rader: 87 he advised the franchises to avoid criticizing the games or the officials, and forewarned that TV would give "’us our greatest opportunity to sell the NFL and everyone must present to the public the greatest games … combined with the finest sportsmanship.’"Maraniss: 168–169 This relationship with television was the beginning of the NFL’s rise to becoming America’s most popular sport.Lomax: 16

Compromise with the NFLPA (1956–1957)

In Radovich v. National Football League, the Supreme Court ruled in Radovich’s favor and declared the NFL was subject to antitrust laws,Coenen: 182; cf. Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 293 and the implication was that the legality of the draft and reserve clause were dubious.Coenen: 182; cf. Lyons: 255–256 Bell pressed a case in the media that the NFL should be exempted from antitrust regulations and proffered the league was a sport and not a business.Lyons: 261 He invited an investigation from Congress with respect to the court’s ruling. The House Judiciary committee, chaired by Emanuel Celler—who believed the draft was illegal and should be abolished, convened in July 1957 to discuss the ramifications of the Radovich decision.Carroll: 199 Red Grange and Bell testified at the committee’s solicitation and argued the draft was essential to the sport’s success.U.S. House Committee III, 1957, p. 2596; cf. Carroll: 199 Representatives of the NFLPA contradicted these statements and said the draft and the reserve clause were anti-labor, and it seemed as if Congress was going to accept their position. Faced with Congressional opposition, Bell formally recognized the NFLPA and declared he would negotiate with its representatives.

However, Bell was speaking only for himself and without the auspices of the owners.Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 78 At the next owners’ meeting, Rooney admonished they either had to recognize the NFLPA or remove Bell as commissioner.Rooney; Halaas and Masich, 2007, p. 78. In order to do this, they had to agree in a vote that required a super-majority.Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 294; cf. U.S. House Committee III, 1957, p. 2580a-2580at Bell unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the owners to permit the NFLPA to act as a bargaining agent for the players.Staudohar, 1986, 63; cf. Oriard: 57 However, he did reach a compromise with the owners to get them to acquiesce to some of the NFLPA’s requests for salary standards and health benefits.

Final days (1958–1959)

For the 1958 season, the durations of timeouts was extended from 60 to 90 secondsGifford; with Richmond: 121; cf. Maule: 245 and Bell mandated officials call a few TV timeouts during each game — a change which triggered criticism from sportswriters.Powers: 84 The 1958 championship game became the first NFL championship game decided in overtimeGifford uses literary license when he writes "The overtime rule had been instituted for this game …" p. 210 Gifford; with Richmond: 207–208, 210, 214 and it was considered to be the greatest football game ever played.; cf. Gifford; with Richmond: 230 The game further increased football’s marketability to television advertising,Patton: 41 and the drama associated with overtime was the catalyst.Powers: 88; cf. Gifford; with Richmond: 213 Years later, after witnessing Bell openly crying after the game, Raymond Berry attributed it to Bell’s realization of the impact the game would have on the prevalence of the sport.Gifford; with Richmond: 229; cf. ,