American Football: Super Bowl planner/ NFL VP Steeg calls it quits

Jim Steeg, the NFL's senior vice president for special events but better known as the man who planned the last 25 Super Bowl games, will leave his position at the end of the 2004-'05 season, ESPN.com has confirmed.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue informed NFL employees via a memo on Friday of Steeg's pending departure from the league.

The decision to consider career alternatives is not a shock to those who know Steeg well. Over the past two years, he has explored job possibilities both inside and out of the NFL.

"During Jim's career, he has been recognized for his strong work ethic, dedication to the NFL, and for helping to increase the scope and impact of the Super Bowl to a level that not even the late commissioner Pete Rozelle could have imagined when he first planned the game in 1967," Tagliabue said in the memo.

Tagliabue said that Steeg had informed him of his decision earlier this week.

Steeg, 54, will remain with the NFL through the Pro Bowl game. It is not yet known who might be among the candidates to replace Steeg, one of the league's most popular and engaging officials, but the commissioner emphasized that the timing of his departure will permit the NFL to "plan for a transition in March of 2005."

Whoever follows Steeg will have huge shoes to fill.

A tireless worker and a man whose job commanded attention to detail, Steeg rarely received the public credit due him for his efforts, which included the Super Bowl and other major events. He joined the NFL office in 1979 after working four years in the Miami Dolphins front office.

commendable of him to give the NFL a notice well ahead of time. extremely classy.