Carl David Baker (born February 16, 1953) is the former President and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in English Literature and Criticism from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law (formerly Pepperdine University School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juris Doc ...

, during which time he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ''

Pepperdine Law Review The ''Pepperdine Law Review'' is a student-edited law journal published by an independent student group composed of second- and third-year J.D. students at Pepperdine University School of Law. The Law Review publishes four to five issues a year an ...

''. One of Baker's more imposing aspects is his size – 6 feet 9 inches tall and 400 pounds. He was a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

from 1971–75 where he established the school record for career rebounds (926) that stood for 44 years until broken by Jonathan Galloway in 2019. Baker also played two seasons of professional basketball in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

before attending law school. Baker was a City Councilman of

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. He left his political career in 1988 after being convicted of forgery in California for attempting to embezzle $48,000 in campaign funds. On November 8th, 1996, Baker became the fourth commissioner of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He started in the league as the owner of the

Anaheim Piranhas The Anaheim Piranhas were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The team was originally known as the Las Vegas Sting, ...

, which he left after a single season of owning the team to become league commissioner. Baker resigned as Arena Football League Commissioner at

ArenaBowl XXII ArenaBowl XXII was played on July 27, 2008 at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana (the host of ArenaBowl XXI). It was the 22nd and final championship game in the history of the Arena Football League, original Arena Football League. This was ...

, on July 25, 2008, after almost twelve years as commissioner. From 2009 to 2014, he was Managing Partner for Union Village, an integrated health care village in Henderson, Nevada. On January 2, 2014, Baker was announced as the President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In his first three years of leadership at the Hall, the organization's net assets grew 161%. He was also involved in the ''Hall of Fame Village'', a mixed-use development surrounding the Hall of Fame. On November 28, 2017, Baker received the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

Sports Leadership Award. On October 16, 2021, Baker announced his retirement as the president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Baker and his wife Colleen will be leaving Canton, Ohio. One of his sons is Sam Baker, who played for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

as an offensive tackle. Baker is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

References

External links

"Q&A with AFL commissioner David Baker"
''Inside the AFL''. June 23, 2004 interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, C. David 1953 births Living people Basketball players from California Arena Football League executives Arena Football League commissioners Mayors of Irvine, California UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball players American athlete-politicians Pepperdine University School of Law alumni University of California, Irvine alumni California Republicans American men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball)