Some criticize current NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as a management guy who knows nothing about the game of football. At Answers Journal, our nomination for a questionable choice as NFL commissioner is Bert Bell, who was an owner, a coach and then head of the league from 1946 until 1959.
Bell convinced the owners they needed the National Football League Draft in order to afford the weakest teams the first opportunity to sign the best available players, brought us the proactive anti-gambling on games policy, changed how the league schedules to put an emphasis on enhancing the dramatic effect of late-season matches. Bell tweaked pro football’s rules to strengthen its appeal to mass media. He also created the policy of blacking out local broadcasts for home teams in order to safeguard ticket receipts. You can debate the relative merits of each decision and many others he made.
However, we base our assertation on his record as a coach and owner. Bell was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1936 until 1941. He had to fire his coach as an austerity move, and he assumed control of the own the field activities. As a pro coach, he was much more familiar with the losing over winning, winding up with a record of 10 wins. 46 losses and 2 ties. That’s a winning percentage of .190. For coaches with at least five years in the NFL, it is the worst record ever.