India, Nov. 10 -- Paul Tagliabue, the second-longest-serving NFL commissioner who guided the league through unprecedented growth from 1989 to 2006, died Sunday morning at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was 84 years old. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tagliabue's family informed the league of his death.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, who succeeded Tagliabue, said: "Paul was the ultimate steward of the game - tall in stature, humble in presence and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL. I am forever grateful and proud to have Paul as my friend and mentor. I cherished the innumerable hours we spent together where he helped shape me as an executive but also as a man, husband and father."

"All of us in the NFL are deeply saddened by t...