With an organization like the NFL stuck on stupid, this kind of ear clank is to be expected, I suppose:
Taxpayer-funded Hometown Heroes & the NFL
Ya know those “Hometown Heroes” spots during your NFL sports games where the game stops and some local guy or girl trots out on the field in uniform to wild applause from the crowd? Well, I hope you enjoy them because New Jersey.com says that you’re paying the NFL for them;
The Department of Defense and the Jersey Guard paid the Jets a total of $377,000 from 2011 to 2014 for the salutes and other advertising, according to federal contracts. Overall, the Defense Department has paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million during that time, of which $5.3 million was paid by the National Guard to 11 teams under similar contracts.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who routinely posts examples of what he calls wasteful spending, called out the Jets’ agreement as wasteful and disingenuous.
“Those of us go to sporting events and see them honoring the heroes,” Flake said in an interview. “You get a good feeling in your heart. Then to find out they’re doing it because they’re compensated for it, it leaves you underwhelmed. It seems a little unseemly.”
Yeah, in fact it’s a lot like prostitution – taxpayers giving up our money to feel good for a little while. We get the impression that the NFL is doing this for altruistic reasons, for patriotic reasons, only to find out that we’re paying them to do it.
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