If your interest runs deeper than touchdowns, tackles and fantasy stats, you have to admit that loving the NFL of late feels rather unsavory. Just last week, a league-authorized investigation found probable cause that support staff of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots may have altered the size of the footballs that were used during playoff games. And it may have happened with the knowledge and/or instruction of their heartthrob quarterback Tom Brady.
Off the field, the league continues to struggle with the notion that its membership is rife with players who use drugs illegally, beat and rape women and act with general impunity. Meanwhile, the perception continues that the NFL and its ever smiling commissioner, Roger Goodell, relentlessly pursue the almighty dollar with hardly a modicum of decorum.
The latest exhibit that the league, which makes in excess of $10 billion annually, goes after every dollar with the zeal of a preacher seeking lost souls, came in a story from the Bergen, New Jersey Record last week. The paper discovered that over the last four seasons, the U.S. Defense Department has paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million for advertising. On its face, that may not trigger the outrage reflex for many. That is, until you discover the form the advertising would take.
The Record cited examples where during timeouts at New York Jets games, a segment honoring so-called hometown heroes, meaning U.S. soldiers, would air on the stadium scoreboard. The featured soldiers would receive thunderous applause as well as tickets in a ritzy part of the stadium. Given the extent to which the NFL has always gone to identify itself as an essential thread in the American fabric, right down to modeling the logo after the U.S. flag, this seemed entirely appropriate.
Except that those seemingly spontaneous tributes weren’t provided by the grateful clubs, but were paid for by the Defense Department. So, again, nearly half the teams in a league that generates more revenue than most states take in in tax revenue were charging the government to honor soldiers. The Record discovered that the Jets made nearly 400-thousand during those four seasons, while the Atlanta Falcons shook down the Defense Department – and by extension, the American taxpayer, for over $1 million.
According to copies of federal contracts obtained by The Record, the Baltimore Ravens received $884,500 from the government for this advertising, ranking them second behind the Falcons.
Given the voluntary nature of membership in today’s military, the government certainly has the right and the obligation to use the nation’s most popular sport to reach potential volunteers. But, as Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake, points out, most people believed the soldiers being recognized as hometown heroes were being so honored out of the goodness of the hearts of NFL teams.
To borrow from the late, great George Carlin, the idea of the NFL and goodness is becoming as sensible an idea as military intelligence.