Bert Bell
Bert Bell (
1895-
1959) was the founder of the
Philadelphia Eagles in
1933, and commissioner of the
National Football League from
1946 until his death. He was responsible for creating the NFL amateur draft. As NFL commissioner, he merged the NFL with the
All-America Football Conference, and single-handedly plotted out league schedules each season on his dining-room table using a giant checkerboard. He died of a heart attack on October 11, 1959 at
Philadelphia's Franklin Field, where he was watching a game between the team he founded, the Eagles, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which he briefly co-owned during
World War II.
He coined the phrase, "On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team."