Day in sports: Roger Goodell selected as NFL commissioner

Roger Goodell was a unanimous choice by the team owners to succeed Paul Tagliabue on this date in 2006 when he was hired as commissioner of the NFL.

Goodell, 47, was chosen on the fifth ballot, beating out four other contenders in a vote that took only three hours.

He was just the fourth commissioner since World War II, having started his NFL career as a public relations intern 25 years earlier, and served as Tagliabue’s second-in-command for almost 10 years.

“We’ve had the two greatest sports commissioners in the history of professional sports, Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle, and I was fortunate to work for both of them,” said Goodell, who shook every owners hand afterward.

A look at memorable games and outstanding sports performances on Aug. 8, through the years:

1936 — At the Summer Olympics in Berlin, the United States swept the medals in the men's decathlon when Glenn Morris set a world record of 7,900 points to win the gold. He was followed by silver winner Robert Clark with 7,063 points and Jack Parker who took the bronze with 6,760. Morris had set a world record at the U.S. trials in Milwaukee when he scored 7,884 points.

1982 — Third baseman Doug DeCinces of the Angels hit three home runs for the second time in five days when he connected for two solo shots, one in the first inning and the second in the third, off of starter Mike Moore. He launched a two-run blast off of Rich Bordi in the eighth during a 9-5 win over the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. DeCinces hit three home runs on Aug. 3 in a 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Anaheim Stadium.

1982 — Ray Floyd shot a course record seven-under-par 63 in the first round and went wire-to-wire to win the PGA Championship by three shots over Lanny Wadkins at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. The victory was Floyd’s third major championship and second PGA title, and his 72-hole total of eight-under-par 272 still ranks as the second-best in PGA Championship history.

1998 — Designated hitter Paul Molitor, 41, became the fifth player in baseball history to have 3,000 hits and steal 500 bases when he stole No. 500 in the Minnesota Twins’ 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Molitor joined Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins and Lou Brock in the exclusive club when he stole second in the fifth inning with Sidney Ponson on the mound for the Orioles.

2000 — Right-hander Darren Dreifort of the Dodgers hit two home runs and was the winning pitcher in a 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. Dreifort connected off of Phil Norton in the fourth inning and Todd Van Poppel in fifth. His first home run was measured at 441 feet and the second traveled 462 feet. He was the first Dodgers pitcher to homer twice in a game since Hall of Famer Don Newcombe hit two against the Milwaukee Braves in 1958 at the Coliseum.

2001 — Damion Easley went six for six with a home run and three RBIs when the Detroit Tigers routed the Texas Rangers 19-6 at Arlington, Texas. The Tigers tied a modern major league record when they scored 13 runs in the ninth inning, that included a grand slam and RBI double by Shane Halter, a bases-loaded triple by Randall Simon and a home run by Deivi Cruz. Easley’s six hits tied a Tigers franchise record held by Ty Cobb and Kid Nance.

2010 — Sparks forward Tina Thompson scored 23 points and became the WNBA's all-time leading scorer in a 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars at Staples Center. Thompson surpassed Lisa Leslie's career total of 6,263 points when she hit a 16-foot jumper with 5:01 left in the third quarter that pulled the Sparks to within four points of the Silver Stars, 50-46.

2012 — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States were the first three-time gold medalists in Olympic beach volleyball history when they beat Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 in an all-U.S. final at the Summer Games in London. The victory extended their winning streak to 21 matches through three Games — Athens, Beijing and London.

2012 — Two-time world champion Brittney Reese won the long jump at the London Summer Games with a leap of 23 feet 4½ inches, and became the first U.S. woman to win the Olympic field event since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988. Reese’s jump came on her second attempt in the final round and it made her just the fourth American woman to medal in the long jump.

Sources: The Times, Associated Press