Pete Rozelle as One of the Most Influential People In American History
Muhammad Ali, Albert Einstein, and Bill Gates are all very influential people in American history. However, Pete Rozelle is also a very equally qualified candidate for the most influential. Rozelle did some things that most people thought could not be done. He was once the commissioner of the National Football League. Rozelle also invented the Super Bowl, and Monday Night Football. Some would say that is enough to get you nominated as the most influential person in modern day history. Rozelle however obviously didn't think so because in 1960 he merged the NFL and AFL into one big league. In the following paragraphs I will explain why I think Pete Rozelle is one of most influential people in history.
First of all, what does the word commissioner mean, and what does he do? Well people who were close to Rozelle had a very different opinion of him then what the coaches, players, and fans thought. Until Rozelle died in 1996 he was dwarfed in every way by owners, coaches, and players. They saw him pretty much as the hired help whose job was to order the stuffed mushrooms for the party after the game. Well that was not Rozelle at all. He was a shrewd promoter of his sport. Like stated earlier Rozelle invented the Super Bowl. Rozelle did not stop there however; he then sold the rights to the first game to both NBC and CBS forcing them to compete for viewers. Rozelle also invented Monday Night Football, the second longest running prime-time show on American television, after 60 Minutes.
Coaching any sport is much harder than it seems. There are some jobs that almost anyone with the right education can do. Coaching is definitely not one of those jobs. One can get educated on drawing X's and O's on a paper for decades and still might be far from being a successful coach. Of course knowledge of the sport is very important too but to be successful in a job like coaching, one has to dedicate himself to his job; his job has to be his life. This is the major reason even those who hate Patriots still respect Bill Belichick and agree that he had unique abilities that make him so successful. His exceptional intelligence, his ability to break down and exploit game film, his singular discipline and his almost unmatched work ethic makes him probably the best coach in the NFL today and even one of the best in the history of the NFL.
Frank Supovitz, who was Senior Vice President of Events for the National Football League. His department, event production must score touchdowns on a lengthy roster of events, including the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, NFL Experience, NFL Draft, and the NFL International Series.
...orts. He set firsts for some things and re-iterated others. He is still a very large contributing influence in the football world today. He is currently a NFL analyzer. He is very smart and knowledgeable. But he didn't get to where he is now without struggle. Power and fame almost ruined him. Yet he was able to bounce back and use his experience to learn from and shape his future and create a positive outcome. He made it positive not only for himself but for others as well. He set his goals and was determined. One thing
George Herman Ruth Jr., also known as Babe Ruth, is known as one of the most influential people in America. George Herman Ruth brought many fans into the stands when baseball was not very popular. Additionally, he is most known for his home run record. Although, he has downfalls in his reputation and his actions, he still changed the game of baseball and gave people hope while doing so.
Every person ever associated with football knows how the game is played. They know every rule, play, stat, and anything else that can be recorded. There was a certain one of these people, though, that stood out from the rest. This was a man by the name of Vince Lombardi. Most people generally know who Vince Lombardi was. They know him as the former, and most famous, coach of the Green Bay Packers back in the late fifties and early sixties. They also recognize him as the man the trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winner, the Lombardi Trophy, is named after. This is all common knowledge in the football world. Do any of these people know who Vince really was? Do they know what he did to the game of football? Do they know that he changed the game, forever? Not many can actually say they know what Vince Lombardi did to the game of football that left a lasting impression. There can be arguments made of other coaches that have made great lasting impressions in football. Some names including: Bud Grant, Mike Ditka, and Don Shula. If you look more in depth at this though, they haven’t left that big of a lasting impression of the game. None of them really changed the way the game of football is played. None of them did like Vince Lombardi. He was the first to truly take risks to change the game of football. Through hard work, dedication, and an understanding of the game, Vince Lombardi was truly the most influential person in footballs history.
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
Throughout all the great civil rights leaders, I personally believe that Martin Luther King was the greatest of them all. What king achieved during the little over a decade that he worked in civil rights was remarkable. "There are few men of whom it can be said their lives changed the world" from wikipedia. Using Mohanda Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence King gained the power of many citizens respect which lead him in success in, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Birmingham Protest March, and breaking the barrier to allow black people vote rights.
The man with the most impact that changed history was Thomas Paine. He created a pamphlet called Common Sense . Not only did he have an impact he had a somewhat negative life. His burial was very awful. Paines beliefs in religion was different from other people. That belief caused him to create a book the age of reason.
Paul Jackson Pollock was an amazing alcoholic artist. Jackson Pollock was one of the most controversial Americans of the 1930s. He helped shape the way America is today, yet he is not on the “100 Most Influential Americans.” (https://www.theatlantic.com) However I believe he should be on the list, simply because Jackson Pollock changed how people see the world.
Paul Tagliabue was appointed the NFL's commissioner in 1989 succeeding Pete Rozelle. Many believed Pete Rozelle to be the standard of measure when considering a new commissioner. Pete Rozelle was believed to have had the vision and leadership to guide the NFL to a new level. Paul took over the NFL just as it concluded a decade of two work stoppages and the embarrassing "scab football". NFL owners began leaving their traditional franchise homes in search of newer stadiums and bigger pay markets. Paul was viewed as being out of touch because of his reactive nature, management-by-crisis style, inability to form cohesion among team owners, and his faulty public relations skills (Greenfield).
There are various people in the world who are very influential in many different ways. The people who are influential are the people who inspire people to not give up, people who stand up for what they believe in, and people who overcome difficult things in their life. One of those people is the man who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson is influential because of his accomplishments, courageousness, and also his ability to stay strong and fight for his rights.
Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous.
Jim Thorpe was one of the first to change the game. He was an American Indian who was tremendously talented at football. He became the president of the league after he was done playing on a team. He named the league the NFL, which stands for National Football League. This name still stands today for the name of the league where the pros play.
It is undeniable that Albert Einstein was one of the most influential and greatest thinkers the world has ever seen. His huge impact on the world of physics through the Annus Mirabilis papers and his many other discoveries about space and matter have opened up new possibilities for future scientists and inventors. Einstein did not only impact the world through science, but also with his political views. His letter to Roosevelt which ultimately end up completely changing how World War II concluded and his involvement in the cold war, trying to stop a nuclear war from ever happening. All of these things make Albert Einstein very much so deserving of the noble prize he received. His theories in physics will continue to make an impact on the discovery of the universe and future generations.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.