Pete Rozelle Interview (page: 9 / 9) Pro Football Hall of Fame	Print Interview

What inspired you to be so open with charity, and to make the NFL a very large donor?

Pete Rozelle: I became interested in the United Way, because, in our contract with the television networks, we had a certain amount of promo time for ourselves. It was so much money, about $40 million a year. We had a couple of extra minutes on each tape, on each network. We used them for a while on relatively self-serving things, and I thought, rather than have that time be spent on saying "the NFL is great," we should try to use it for some good. That's when we bound our relationship with the United Way. They do some wonderful things with our time on that, in telling the general public what the United Way is, and the programs that help people. I like that very much. So it's a sound program, and I'm glad we did it.

Did you feel a sense of responsibility to give back some of what you've earned?

Pete Rozelle: I think everyone has that.

Your wife is active in charities as well.

Pete Rozelle: Yes. When I got her out of New York, I didn't think she would be as active, but she's getting pretty involved out here in the San Diego area. She feels a great commitment. About ten or 11 years ago, she founded a charity -- the Foundation For Children With Learning Disabilities. Because two of my stepchildren -- two of her natural children -- were learning disabled. It's something that parents have gotten involved with, someone that can help them with recommendations on schooling and so forth. It's been very successful. She's done a wonderful job. There wasn't much understood about this for many years. I remember when I was with the Los Angeles Rams, there was a football player, he was a back, and he had a big L on this foot and a big R on this one. And I thought, "Boy, the quarterback calls the plays whether to go left or right, and he will be down the street." But it's something that a lot of people have had, including Einstein, had a degree of learning disability. But in any event, she started this foundation, and got a lot of prominent friends of ours involved. It's been very successful. I'm very proud of her efforts on that. Now she has Ann Ford Scarboro as chairman. She lives in New York and she is chairing it now, so Carrie is just helping as best she can from out here.

She's been very active in your business life, and I gather that she was an important source of strength during a lot of upheaval for you.

Pete Rozelle: We had a no-cut agreement when we got married, and the league honored it. She traveled with me at the time, I would not travel alone. She was very helpful, sitting through all the trials with me, and general travels, Washington, Congress, and so forth. She was very supportive. They just put it in the contract that she could always travel with me, which I wanted. It worked out very well. She was quite an asset.

Why was it so important to put that in the contract?

Pete Rozelle: Just for her expenses to be covered. Whenever I would travel she would travel with me, wherever I went. She got very involved with the league. She set up, for the first time programs at owners meetings where the wives could have something for a change. She set up tennis and golf tournaments for the other half, and also speakers on feminine subjects of interest, seminars. She got it so the wives wouldn't just sit around and stare at each other by the pool, they got actively involved, and I think they enjoyed it.

Going back to your beginnings, for a moment, was there a book, or a couple of books, that particularly inspired you as a kid?

Pete Rozelle: There really wasn't. That's one thing I kind of regret. I started reading, and became interested in reading very young. But I read sports books. I read sports pages and newspapers. That's one thing that I would like to have had that I missed, reading more scholarly books than I did. I was so devoted to sports.

Were there any sports book in particular that you remember?

Pete Rozelle: They were minor books for the most part. Bestsellers in sports have just been recent.

Were there any particular sports writers that you were especially impressed by?

Pete Rozelle: Oh, over the years, there are so many. One would be the man -- I wanted to take his job away some day -- Paul Zimmerman, sports editor of the L.A. Times. Jim Murray is writing for the Times now. Red Smith. I had the honor of meeting Grantland Rice way back when I was at the University of San Francisco. When we played New York in football back in 1951. Just a lot of good sports writers became friends of mine. And I respect them a great deal.

Is there any parting advice you'd like to offer young people who are reading this interview?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Pete Rozelle: Never underestimate the power of an education. Everyone will tell you that, and you say, "Well, it's not for me." But if you can get it, it's the most valuable thing you can get. Because it leads to happiness in your general life, and also can be your basis for a great vocation. Be patient. Learn to get along with people. It just doesn't make sense to have an antagonistic personality. Try to get along with people. And when you have a project, prepare carefully for it. Prepare carefully. And if you do those things, I think you can lead a pretty good life.

A lot of people get so wrapped up in their jobs, they neglect their personal life.

Pete Rozelle: That's important too. Because everyone has to have an outlet. Otherwise you can get so involved in your job, or any one thing, that you're not a very well-balanced person, and you're not happy either, normally. I think it's very important to take up an avocation. Sports -- that was mine. But gosh, it could be music. It could be any number of things that can help give you that escape from your job or your family problems. I think the big thing is that through an avocation, you might find your vocation. In other words, just exploring music, or whatever it might me, you might find that you end up doing it, somewhere in that field. That can be part of your education, actually.

Pete Rozelle is a good example of that.

Pete Rozelle: In my case, it worked.

Are any of your children or stepchildren following in a sports career?

Pete Rozelle: Not really. A couple of them are going to law school, or will be going. And my daughter did some public relations work, more or less following my pattern, back in New York.

Are they big football fans?

Pete Rozelle: Very much so.

Do you believe a person has control over his own future, and what he makes of his life?

Pete Rozelle: He can have a heck of a lot to say about it, if he gets luck and timing. But he can have a lot to say about it if he prepares himself properly and learns to get along with people, and just prepares well. Then he needs the luck with that. Without the luck, he may have trouble, but also without that preparation, education-wise, he wouldn't have a shot.

How would you say that, if you were addressing a young person?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Pete Rozelle: You will probably consider it a cliché, because people have been telling you this for the rest of your life, but don't minimize the importance of an education. That's the most valuable thing you can have. It can, of course, lead to a fuller life. It can lead to possibly a better life in your job, but most importantly, it can make you a happier person. I think that's the most important thing I can tell you, and you will hear it over and over again, so you're going to feel it's a hacneyed cliché. You can't minimize its importance. The other thing is trying to learn to get along with people. You're going to be living with them for the rest of your life, so you might as well learn how to get along with them and be compromising, and just learn to get along.

Thank you so much for talking with us today. We really appreciate it.

You're welcome.

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