Public service announcement: For fantasy football leagues that start their playoffs in Week 15, you have four weeks left.

That means four more weeks to set your team up to succeed when it matters most. What that looks like depends on your record.

If you’re sitting pretty at 9-1 or 8-2, you’re likely already in the playoffs. Don’t sit idle, though. You can still improve by targeting players with premium matchups in Weeks 15-17.

If you’re fighting for a playoff spot at 6-4, 5-5, or even 4-6, it’s time to focus on players with great short-term matchups to help you get there.

This Week 11 trade targets article highlights both types of players, along with a few buy-low and sell-high options.

Fantasy football players to buy in Week 11

RB Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

Warren is coming off three straight games with fewer than 70 rushing yards, which should lower his trade cost.

So why trade for him? Well, the Steelers have the second-best schedule for running backs from Weeks 11-14, with matchups against Cincinnati, Chicago, Buffalo and Baltimore.

RB Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns

Judkins has been outstanding this season and will likely not be cheap, but if you need wins now, he is worth acquiring.

The Browns’ immediate schedule isn’t quite as favorable as Pittsburgh’s, but matchups against Baltimore, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Tennessee rank as the fourth-best over the next four weeks.

One additional benefit: if you make the playoffs, Judkins faces a neutral strength of schedule, while the Steelers have a negative matchup strength for running backs.

WRs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles passing game has been inconsistent and frustrating, but here’s a fun fact: Smith is averaging the fifth-most points per game among wide receivers since Week 5, and Brown ranks 12th.

Many managers remember the inconsistencies, making this a prime time to pounce. Their schedule over the next three weeks ranks second-best, with Week 14 against the Chargers being the only tough matchup. The playoff schedule is also favorable, facing the Raiders, Commanders and Bills, which ranks eighth-best.

WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Week 10 was frustrating for Jefferson managers. He finished with four receptions for 47 yards despite seeing 12 targets. Some of those were difficult deep throws, and a few scoring opportunities went unconverted. More often than not, Jefferson makes those plays.

The Vikings have one of the better schedules for receivers for the rest of the season. Weeks 11-14 include matchups against the Bears, Packers, Seahawks and Commanders, ranking seventh-best. During the playoffs, they face the Cowboys, Giants and Lions, the second-best schedule.

If Jefferson is out of reach, Jordan Addison serves as a strong complementary option.

Fantasy football players to sell in Week 11

RB D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears

Now is an ideal time to sell Swift. He returned from injury in Week 10 and saw his highest snap share since Week 4. He rushed 13 times for 80 yards and added five receptions for 18 yards, performing well enough to keep his value high.

Kyle Monangai, after a huge Week 9 performance, will likely remain involved enough to limit Swift’s upside. The schedule also works against him, ranking 26th toughest in Weeks 11-14 and 31st toughest in Weeks 15-17, making it the hardest remaining schedule in the league.

TE Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

Ferguson’s main upside comes from the Cowboys’ struggling defense, which means the team will likely need to pass often to stay competitive. This translates into plenty of targets for Ferguson, making him appealing to managers.

However, over the next three weeks, Dallas has the toughest schedule for tight ends. Many waiver options are available in most leagues who can easily replace Ferguson’s production. The fantasy playoff schedule is neutral, but with the Chargers right in the middle, it’s a reason to avoid relying on him long term and to consider trading him now.

RB Breece Hall, New York Jets

Hall had a solid game in Week 10 against the Browns and now has two strong performances in a row, scoring three touchdowns — his only scores of the season. It is the perfect time to sell while you can.

The Jets offense is too unreliable to trust, with Justin Fields throwing for less than 100 yards in four of eight games. Hall’s production was a major reason Fields managed 54 passing yards on Sunday. He turned a screen pass into a 42-yard gain, accounting for the bulk of the passing offense.

The upcoming schedule does not make selling him any easier. Over the next four weeks, the Jets have the ninth-best schedule for running backs, but it starts with a tough matchup against the Patriots. After that, it could be difficult to move him for value.

There are a few reasons to be cautious. First, his big day came mostly from two long touchdown runs of 69 and 55 yards. It is great that he has that ability, but those plays are hard to count on consistently. Second, Terrell Jennings was injured in the second quarter, which temporarily increased Henderson’s workload. Third, once Rhamondre Stevenson returns, possibly in Week 11, the backfield split will likely return to a similar pattern as before.

RB TreyVeon Henderson, New England Patriots

This is the only suggestion that does not rely on the upcoming schedule.

Henderson had his breakout game this past week. Hopefully he was in your lineup because it could easily be his best performance of the season by a wide margin.

Everyone would love for coach Mike Vrabel to see this game and decide it is finally time to hand Henderson the keys, but that is unlikely to happen.

Several underdog teams, including the Jets and Saints, secured victories in Week 10 of the NFL season.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor broke the franchise record for most rushing touchdowns and had a standout performance in Berlin.
The NFL world mourned the passing of former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.

The 32 things we learned from Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season:

1. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” If you didn’t think you’d be learning (or getting a refresher on) Biblical quotes in this week’s installment, that one is from the fifth verse of Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew. Worth wondering if several of the NFL’s meeker teams read it prior to Sunday’s action.

2. The number of consecutive games won by the New York Jets, who started the 2025 season with an 0-7 record that rendered them the final team to break into the win column.

3. The NYJ prevailed Sunday despite being without arguably their two best defensive players, CB Sauce Gardner and DT Quinnen Williams, who definitely are no longer their best defensive players after they were stunningly exported ahead of the league’s Nov. 4 trade deadline.

4. The number of sacks collected Sunday against the Cleveland Browns by Jets DE Will McDonald IV, who established a new career high, tied the franchise single-game record and staked a claim as Gang Green’s current preeminent defender.

5. RB Breece Hall, whom the Jets ultimately decided not to trade, scored the only offensive touchdown in his team’s 27-20 triumph, taking a screen pass 42 yards to the end zone. New York’s other touchdowns remarkably occurred via both a kickoff and punt return – the first time in franchise history that had happened in the same game.

6. The number of Jets players who caught a pass Sunday … none of them gaining more than 5 yards, save Hall. Yep, there’s a reason this roster is about to get overhauled yet again. But, hey, they beat Cleveland … and might have hurt themselves long term in the draft order, but that’s a 2026 problem.

7. The New Orleans Saints also won their second game of the season, stunning the Carolina Panthers 17-7 in Charlotte. Tyler Shough became the first Saints rookie quarterback credited with a win since Dave Wilson in 1981 − when Archie Manning was still the face of the franchise.

8. Who needs WR Rashid Shaheed, a player New Orleans moved ahead of the trade deadline? However they wisely kept WR Chris Olave (62-yard TD catch) and CB Alontae Taylor (INT), who both had key performances Sunday.

9. Seems like perhaps the Panthers, though they didn’t actually lose any ground in the NFC South despite the loss, should focus more on their offense and less on touchdown celebrations.

10. The Miami Dolphins snapped a seven-game losing streak to the perennial AFC East champion Buffalo Bills with a 30-13 upset in South Florida. Good for embattled Fins coach Mike McDaniel, who moved to 1-0 since the team moved on from apparently more embattled GM Chris Grier. The Dolphins are now 3-7.

11. Miami RB De’Von Achane eclipsed 200 yards from scrimmage for the second time in his career, putting 225 (and two TDs) on Buffalo’s porous run defense.

12. Who needs OLB Jaelan Phillips, a player Miami moved ahead of the trade deadline – though Grier was apparently reluctant to do just that?

13. The number of penalties the Minnesota Vikings had (for 102 yards) in their defeat, which also included three turnovers.

14. The Baltimore Ravens, who prevailed in the Twin Cities for their third consecutive win, were only too glad to capitalize on those mistakes as they continue to capitalize with far healthier roster at their disposal.

15. Like the Ravens, the two-time-defending AFC South Houston Texans improved to 4-5 and served a fresh reminder that they’re still in the thick of the playoff race. Houston scored 26 points in the fourth quarter to stun the Jacksonville Jaguars 36-29.

16. Unlike the Texans, the Jags, who have now lost three of four, made a big pre-deadline acquisition … but got all of 41 receiving yards (still a team high Sunday) out of WR Jakobi Meyers.

17. Are the Seattle Seahawks the best team in the league? Pretty impressive when you can win by 22 points on a day when QB Sam Darnold’s MVP credentials take a hit with a season-high three turnovers and season-low 12 pass attempts.

18. The normally explosive Shaheed had just one catch for 3 yards in his Seattle debut, though he did gain 20 yards on two rush attempts and handled three kickoffs.

19. We should know more about the Seahawks a week from now, when they visit the Los Angeles Rams – with whom they’re tied atop the NFC West with matching 7-2 records.

20. However Rams QB Matthew Stafford is pretty clearly ahead of Darnold and the rest of the MVP field after another sterling performance, which included four TD passes, Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

21. Sunday, Stafford became the first player in league history with at least four TD passes but no interceptions in three consecutive games.

22.Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor also kept his name squarely in the MVP debate – which is effectively a quarterback award – with another huge game Sunday in the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Berlin. (And it didn’t hurt that Colts QB Daniel Jones turned the ball over two more times.) Taylor rushed for 244 yards yards and three TDs – one an 83-yarder that was the league’s longest of the season, another the game-clincher in overtime.

23. Taylor overtook Hall of Famer Edgerrin James for the most rushing TDs (66) in franchise history. He also became the fourth player in NFL annals with at least three TDs in five games during a single season – all-time greats LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk and Chuck Foreman being the others.

24. And yet Taylor has a dogfight on his hands to be the Offenisve Player of the Year with Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has a shot to be the league’s first 2,000-yard receiver. He now has a league-high 1,041 through nine games.

25. As for new Colts CB Sauce Gardner? Really good player. But probably not worth two first-round picks and probably not the missing piece in what Indy hopes is a Super Bowl recipe.

26. The New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-23, prevailing in the (Tom) “Brady Bowl.”

27. The Pats, who already beat the struggling Bills earlier this season, also opened up a 1½-game lead in the AFC East while keeping pace with the Colts and Denver Broncos atop the conference standings.

28. If the season ended today (it doesn’t), the Colts and Seahawks would be the No. 1 playoff seeds. However the Philadelphia Eagles will overtake Seattle by winning Monday night in Green Bay.

29. In his Soldier Field debut for the Bears, DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson had the first multi-sack game of his seven-year NFL career. The second one forced the New York Giants to punt and gave Chicago possession on what would be its game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

30.President Trump, who apparently wants the Washington Commanders’ new stadium named after him, appeared in the FOX broadcast booth at Northwest Stadium on Sunday with Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma. “I’d love to have your job someday,” said Trump. (How about now?)

31. RIP to Marshawn Kneeland and condolences to his family and Dallas Cowboys teammates after the 24-year-old defensive end apparently died by suicide.

31a. But a salute to Colts OT Braden Smith, who’s had his own mental health struggles but is now trying to affect change with the way the league deals with mental health. His agent detailed some of Smith’s laudable ideas to Pro Football Talk.

32. Finally, RIP to former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. The Hall of Famer’s 17 years running the league were hardly perfect, yet he also pushed it to new heights in terms of its earning power and footprint in the country’s sporting landscape. “Tags” died Sunday at the age of 84.

The protracted chorus of boos, the middle fingers — this could be your future, too, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris.

Harris got a glimpse of the albatross he’ll saddle himself, and his team, with if he gives in to President Donald Trump’s latest vanity ploy. Name the new Commanders stadium after Trump, as he reportedly wants, and Harris can kiss goodbye all the goodwill he’s generated since buying the team.

A president who unleashes goon squads on U.S. citizens, who gives foreign governments money while asking the Supreme Court to allow him to keep withholding food from the poor and elderly, who takes a wrecking ball to the White House and the Constitution is a leader whose name should be consigned to the dust bin of history, not plastered across a stadium.

“We’re doing great,” Trump said in an interview with FOX during the third quarter of the Commanders’ loss to the Detroit Lions.

“People have spirit,” he added. “Our stock market hit an all-time high. Prices are coming down — we inherited a mess — prices are coming way down. And I’ll tell you, our country has over 17 trillion being invested in it, which is a record. So we’re doing great.”

The stock market aside, nothing Trump said is true. Many, many people in this country are hurting and they’re angry, and Harris should not be naïve enough to think he and his team will be spared their wrath should he pay Trump fealty he does not deserve. Put Trump’s name on the new stadium, and the Commanders will return to the pariah status they had under previous owner Dan Snyder.

It would cost Harris a boatload of money, too, given a naming-rights deal for a new stadium in Washington, D.C., would fetch at least nine figures.

Commanders once a pariah

The Commanders were once one of the NFL’s marquee teams. But they became a national embarrassment under Snyder, who clung to a racist nickname, sexually harassed an employee and fostered a toxic, misogynistic workplace.

Sponsors fled, the Commanders might as well have been on a milk carton for as little as they were on national TV, and Snyder couldn’t get lawmakers in the District of Columbia, Virginia OR Maryland to work with him on a stadium deal.

Under Harris, Washington’s fortunes have been reversed. Literally and figuratively. Not only did the Commanders make the postseason last year for only the second time since 2015, they got their first playoff win since the 2005 season.

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels had the top-selling jersey in all of sports in January and finished with the fourth-highest selling jersey in the NFL last season. The Commanders are on national TV eight times this year, a sharp increase from the two appearances that were common in recent seasons. In August, Forbes valued the franchise at $7.6 billion, $1.5 billion more than Harris paid for the team in 2023.

And in December, Congress passed a bill that gave Harris and the Commanders the land around RFK Stadium so they can finally build a new stadium. Then-President Joe Biden, not Trump, signed the deal into law in January.

Trump’s hold weakening

To jeopardize all that progress to placate a deeply unpopular president would be both foolish and self-destructive. If the Democratic landslides in Tuesday’s elections — besides their wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats flipped offices in Georgia and Mississippi. Mississippi! — isn’t enough of a cautionary tale for the Commanders owner, Trump’s reception Sunday should make Harris steer a wide berth.

The sight of Trump on the Jumbotron drew jeers. When he was given the spotlight to swear in new military members, the chorus of boos was deafening. Rather than saluting our fearless leader, fans gave him the bird.

Put Trump’s name on the new Commanders stadium, and Harris can look forward to a similar future for his team. What should be a shining symbol of the Commanders’ renaissance will be considered junk real estate. A team that’s been one of the NFL’s feel-good stories will again be considered morally bankrupt.

If Harris capitulates, he won’t just be giving away a stadium name. He’ll be selling out his team, its reputation and its integrity. And it will be a blight from which the Commanders will never recover.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be in Toronto on Nov. 10, but there’s a definite Boston vibe this year.

It was appropriate that the visiting team in the Nov. 8 Hall of Fame Game was the Boston Bruins.

Defenseman Zdeno Chara was the longtime Bruins captain and won a Stanley Cup with the team. Center Joe Thornton was drafted No. 1 overall by the Bruins and was the team captain before being dealt to the San Jose Sharks.

Jack Parker spent decades as the men’s hockey coach at Boston University. Jennifer Botterill, a four-time Olympian with Team Canada, was a standout at Harvard.

They will be joined by three-time Stanley Cup winner Duncan Keith, Russian NHL standout Alexander Mogilny, U.S. Olympic star Brianna Decker and longtime Team Canada coach Danielle Sauvageau. Mogilny didn’t go to Toronto for the festivities.

Here are the eight people in the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025 (Chara, Keith and Thornton were inducted in their first year of eligibility) and how to watch the induction ceremony:

Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025

Players

Zdeno Chara: The 6-foot-9 defenseman with the massive wingspan was tough to beat one-on-one. He won the Norris Trophy in 2008-09 and a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. The seven-time All-Star was Bruins captain from 2006-20. He set a record for hardest shot (108.8) in the 2012 All-Star Game skills competition. His 1,680 regular-season games rank first among defensemen and he totaled 680 points with the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Bruins and Washington Capitals.

Duncan Keith: The defenseman was part of the Chicago Blackhawks core that won three Stanley Cup titles from 2010 to 2015, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2015. He won the Norris Trophy in 2009-10 and 2013-14 and totaled 646 points with the Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers.

Joe Thornton: The center was one of the top playmakers during his time. He was drafted No. 1 overall in 1997 by the Bruins and was traded to the Sharks in 2005-06. He led the league in assists (96) and points (125) that season and won the Hart Trophy. Thornton led the league in assists two other times and ranks seventh all time with 1,109 assists. He totaled 1,539 points with the Bruins, Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.

Alexander Mogilny: The Russian winger scored 76 goals in his fourth season in the league and won a Stanley Cup in 2000 with the New Jersey Devils. He totaled 1,032 points with the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Devils and Maple Leafs.

Jennifer Botterill: The four-time Olympian won three gold medals and a silver with Team Canada. She also won five golds and three silvers at the world championships. Botterill was a prolific scorer at Harvard. She had 340 points in 113 games, including a 10-point game on Jan. 28, 2003 against Boston College.

Brianna Decker: Decker won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2018 Olympics and silvers in 2014 and 2022. She won five gold medals and two silvers at the world championships and was MVP of the 2017 tournament after recording 21 points. She ranks first at the University of Wisconsin with a career +175 plus/minus and is second all-time with 112 goals. She holds the longest Badgers scoring streak at 32 games

Builders

Jack Parker: Parker coached for 40 years at Boston University and won NCAA championships in 1978, 1995 and 2009. He retired with a record of 897-472-115.

Danielle Sauvageau: Sauvageau has taken part in six Olympics as women’s coach, general manager or coaching consultant. She also played a key role in Canada’s victories at seven consecutive world championships. She’s the first woman to be inducted in the builders category.

Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, how to watch, stream

Date: Monday, Nov. 10

Place: Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto

Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: NHL Network, which will show a preview at 7 p.m. ET

Streaming: Fubo and certain Sling TV packages carry NHL Network. Fubo offers a free trial for new subscribers. 

Texas Tech’s dominance over BYU damaged the Big 12’s shot at two bids. Vanderbilt stands to benefit.
The ACC is caving in on itself. That’s good for SMU.
Five playoff bids for the SEC? That’s in play.

Tired: Bemoaning that an unranked Group of Five team will snag a playoff spot.

Wired: Realizing the ACC doesn’t particularly deserve an auto bid, either.

When the new College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled, nobody from the 17-team ACC will be found within the top 12. Its presence in the playoff will be a byproduct of preseason bracket rules more than in-season merit.

Here’s my latest playoff bracket projection. Note: This is not a prediction of how this week’s rankings will look. It’s also not a modeling of how the bracket would look if the season ended today. Rather, I’m projecting forward. This reflects how I think the selections will look come selection Sunday in December.

1. Ohio State

Ryan Day labeled it a ‘business-like’ 34-10 victory against Purdue. That’s accurate. The Buckeyes are in the business of clubbing Big Ten opponents. You can question OSU’s schedule. Can’t question its performance against that schedule. Each of the Buckeyes’ past eight wins came by at least 18 points. Onward march.

2. Alabama

LSU’s season sank to such depths that Alabama’s two-score victory counts as more workmanlike than impressive. Alabama’s defense keeps improving, so that leaves the Tide’s meager ground game as the lingering flaw. Nobody’s flawless in the SEC, and Alabama continues its march toward a conference championship game clash with Texas A&M.

3. Indiana

Indiana is more battle-tested than last year’s Hoosiers. They won the battle against Penn State thanks to Omar Cooper Jr.’s great hops, good hands and a few blades of green grass being between his foot and the white chalk. Curt Cignetti, ever the showman, soaked up the triumph in his native state. A peek at Indiana’s schedule shows it almost certainly will remain undefeated into December.

4. Texas A&M

Mike Elko described Texas A&M’s run defense as ‘awful’ in a 38-17 smashing of Missouri. That gives the Aggies something to work on as they roll on as the SEC’s only undefeated team. Elko also expressed derision when a reporter referenced what happened to the Aggies last November. He’s rooted in the present, and the Aggies are following his lead, playing up to potential after years of fizzling.

5. Georgia

Georgia carried out its weekly routine of spotting an opponent a first-half lead before awakening and winning. This latest 41-21 win came with relative ease, though. The defense still doesn’t perform to the Kirby Smart standard, but the Bulldogs retain their winning genes, plus a steady-handed quarterback in Gunner Stockton. That counts for a lot.

6. Texas Tech

Big 12 football, not just a land for offense anymore. Booster Cody Campbell’s checkbook bought the best defense south of Big Ten land. The Red Raiders smashed Brigham Young in a battle for conference supremacy. The lopsided result damaged the Big 12’s chances at two playoff bids. The teams might meet again in the Big 12 championship, but why should that go any differently?

7. Mississippi

The Rebels enjoyed such a carefree win against overwhelmed The Citadel that Lane Kiffin amused himself by photobombing a couple’s on-field engagement proposal. (She said yes.) All smiles for Ole Miss. With fan bases from Florida to LSU pining for Kiffin, his Rebels keep rolling. Can this team keep the distractions at bay? So far, so good.

8. Oregon

The Ducks are so well-adjusted to the Big Ten they gave Iowa a masterclass on how to be Iowa. Oregon stole Kirk Ferentz’s theme music and won 18-16 in Iowa City. A safety on an errant punt snap provided the two-point difference. Oregon has a thorny runway to the playoff, but as long as its defense keeps this up, the Ducks will make the Big Ten a three-bid league.

9. Notre Dame

The CFP committee remains under the spell of Notre Dame’s helmet magic, placing the Irish eight spots ahead of Miami, even though the Hurricanes beat Notre Dame. So long as the Irish keep beating overmatched opponents, they’ll be in good shape for qualification. The resume might be a bit lacking, but the committee retains a brand bias.

10. Vanderbilt

Recency bias hurt the Commodores in the initial rankings. They checked in at No. 16, with the loss to Texas fresh on the brain. Vanderbilt’s metrics suggest it should have been a couple of spots higher. There’s time for the committee to reconsider — and for teams ahead of Vanderbilt to lose. Three already have. If the Commodores beat Kentucky and Tennessee to reach 10-2 with no bad losses, that’s a compelling pitch.

11. SMU

The ACC could have a three-loss champion turned playoff qualifier for the second straight season if SMU keeps winning. Duke gives the ACC a shot at a four-loss qualifier. And to think Tony Petitti wanted to give the ACC a second auto-bid. Excuse me? SMU got hot against Miami and stayed hot against Boston College. Keep it up, and it can win this league. Never mind its nonconference record.

12. South Florida

USF coach Alex Golesh didn’t care for Texas-San Antonio’s Jeff Traylor playing the pauper and noting the Bulls’ superior roster payroll, before their game. Golesh won’t apologize for his program’s resources, or for how the Bulls thumped Traylor’s team by 32 points. Golesh’s team looks the part of conference frontrunner within a league best positioned for the G5 bid.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has passed away at the age of 84.
Tagliabue’s 17-year tenure saw enormous growth, labor peace, and the establishment of the Rooney Rule.
He chose Hall of Fame player and coach Art Shell to present him for his 2020 Hall of Fame induction.
Tagliabue’s legacy includes navigating the aftermath of 9/11 and keeping the Saints in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

When the call came in, Art Shell was as shocked as anyone.

After Paul Tagliabue was finally elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in early 2020 as part of its centennial class, the former NFL commissioner asked Shell for a favor.

Tagliabue wanted Shell to present him for his induction in Canton.

“Of course, when he asked me, it was easy to say yes. My goodness,” Shell told USA TODAY Sports on Nov. 9, after Tagliabue’s family announced that he passed away at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland from congestive heart failure related to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

Survived by his wife, Chan, and children Drew and Emily, Tagliabue was 84.

“I hung up that phone and, like for days, a million things go through your mind,” Shell continued. “What am I going to say? Just be yourself. Just be who Paul knows you to be, and things will work out. As I sat down and thought about it, it was, what a great honor to do this.”

The choice of a presenter is one of the most symbolic and delicate decisions by a newly elected Hall of Famer. Typically, coaches, team owners, teammates, family members or close friends get the nod. Walter Payton chose his son, Jarrett. Jim Kelly chose his Bills coach, Marv Levy. Deion Sanders went with his classy agent, Eugene Parker. The late Al Davis presented nine Hall of Famers – more than anyone.

In opting for Shell, a Hall of Fame player and former coach who had worked as a senior executive at NFL headquarters, Tagliabue was so intentional in making a statement.

Tagliabue, who served as a lawyer for the NFL before becoming commissioner in 1989, told me during an extended interview in 2021 that he chose Shell as his presenter because he wanted to pay homage to Black coaches and to the impact that HBCU institutions had on the evolution of the NFL. Shell, who starred at Maryland Eastern Shore before embarking on his career as a Hall of Fame tackle with the Raiders, became the NFL’s first modern-era African American coach in 1989.

While Shell doesn’t question Tagliabue’s authenticity when it came to progressiveness on matters of race and equality – the NFL established the Rooney Rule during Tagliabue’s 17-year tenure as commissioner and he led the NFL’s decision to move a Super Bowl from Arizona until the state recognized the holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. – he suspects that in some respects he was the second choice to be the presenter.

“I guarantee you one thing: If the big guy was alive, that’s who he would have selected,” Shell maintained. “He loved Gene.”

The big guy, Gene Upshaw, teamed with Shell to anchor an offensive line that won three Super Bowls during the 1970s and early ‘80s. Then, as executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Upshaw ultimately teamed with Tagliabue to ensure a then-unprecedented, extended era of labor peace (after the NFLPA won free agency in federal court in 1993). Upshaw passed in 2008.

“His friendship with Gene was big time,” Shell said. “He deferred to Gene most of the time because of the respect he had for him as a man. He enjoyed him as a player, but also as a man that he could sit down and talk to. And Gene thought he was great.”

In 2021, I asked Tagliabue how he might have handled the controversy with Colin Kaepernick, who was essentially banished from the NFL after igniting national anthem protests in 2016 to protest the killings of unarmed African Americans by police.

“It’s easy to say I would have done it differently, but I don’t know,” Tagliabue told USA TODAY Sports. “I guess the way I think about it is that if Gene were alone and we were dealing with it together, we would have figured out some way to solve the problem.”

That visit with Tagliabue, weeks before the induction ceremony (pushed into 2021 because the pandemic canceled ceremonies in 2020) was striking on several levels. While in the early stages of Parkinson’s, he was well enough to drive himself to the waterfront restaurant, Fiola Mare, that he selected for us to meet near Georgetown.

And he was so candid, even as he defended some of his actions in dealing with the issue – the NFL’s burgeoning concussion crisis – that undoubtedly delayed his induction into the Hall of Fame for more than 15 years after he left the commissioner’s post in 2006.

Regardless, his legacy is complete. Tagliabue, a consensus-builder who ultimately lost patience with that role in dealing with NFL owners, presided over enormous growth in the NFL (which is still growing), bolstered by the labor peace. He had a strong influence in the commitment to keep the Saints in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina (and a year of displacement), brokered an agreement to keep the Browns name and trademarks in Cleveland after Art Modell moved his franchise to Baltimore. He also collaborated with Upshaw in navigating the crisis of 9/11 and the aftermath.

Another significant moment came after he left the commissioner’s post, when his successor, Roger Goodell, selected him as the arbitrator in the appeal of player discipline from the Saints “Bountygate” scandal in 2012 – much to the chagrin of the NFLPA and attorneys for the players.

Then came the verdict. There was no rubber-stamp of Goodell’s ruling. Tagliabue vacated the suspensions.

It was another example of how principles and independent thinking often drove the big decisions for Tagliabue. That’s probably one reason the NFL didn’t have a franchise in Las Vegas – until long after it had a different commissioner, and maybe more substantially, after a Supreme Court ruling led to legalized sports betting in more than half of the states.

Tagliabue worried that, even with technology that aids in surveillance, the NFL would be vulnerable amid a more robust gambling environment. The NFL and its teams have embraced the gambling industry yet avoided a major scandal. At least so far.

“I still worry about some young guy … and somebody says to him, ‘Take the money,’ ” Tagliabue said in 2021.

His position against sports gambling was hardened decades ago. In 1961, Tagliabue, a center at Georgetown, played in a game that was fixed.

“We beat the hell out of NYU,” Tagliabue reflected. “It was the biggest victory in my three years of basketball at Georgetown. Turns out that guys at NYU were taking money to shave points.”

Shell doesn’t hesitate to vouch for Tagliabue’s heart. When he began working for the NFL in 2002, first as an appeals officer for player discipline, then as senior vice president of football operations, Upshaw described Tagliabue to Shell as “tough … but fair.”

Shell found that out for himself – and more.

“Paul would reach out to the group (of staff) and he’d come to me on some things,” Shell said. “And he’d listen. In the long run, he’d come up with what he thought was the right answer for everybody involved. But he’d try to make sure that he got the main people to understand this is the reason we need to go with a particular problem, and it’ll be good for us.”

Take it from his Hall of Fame presenter.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on  X: @JarrettBell