Paul Tagliabue, who served as NFL commissioner for 17 seasons as the league experienced tremendous prosperity and growth, died Sunday morning at the age of 84, his family announced.

The apparent cause of death was heart failure complicated by Parkinson's disease.

Tagliabue became commissioner in 1989, taking over for Pete Rozelle. He was succeeded by current commissioner Roger Goodell in 2006.

The value of many of the league's franchises increased tenfold during Tagliabue's time in the commissioner's chair. When he left, more than two-thirds of the NFL's 32 teams were either playing in or building stadiums that didn't exist when he took over as commissioner in 1989. The league also added four teams -- the Charlotte Panthers (1995), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995), present-day Cleveland B

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