14 NFL Teams That Accepted Taxpayer Money To Honor Military
BOSTON (CBS) - You know those hometown hero salutes often seen during breaks in NFL games? Those feel-good tributes to the brave men and women that serve our country in the armed forces?
As it turns out, almost half of the teams in the NFL accepted money from taxpayers to put on these displays. NJ.com reports that the Department of Defense has paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million from 2011-2014 to make these tributes and other arrangements, including advertising.
Was your team one of them?
Here are the 14 NFL teams that accepted taxpayer money to honor the military from 2011 to 2014:
14. Miami Dolphins: $20,000
13. Cleveland Browns: $22,500
12. Pittsburgh Steelers: $36,000
11. St. Louis Rams: $60,000
10. Dallas Cowboys: $62,500
9. Cincinnati Bengals: $138,960
8. Kansas City Chiefs: $250,000
7. New York Jets: $377,500
6. Green Bay Packers: $600,000
5. Minnesota Vikings: $605,000
4. Indianapolis Colts: $620,000
3. Buffalo Bills: $679,000
2. Baltimore Ravens: $884,500
1. Atlanta Falcons: $1.05 million
On the New York Jets' partnership with the New Jersey National Guard, Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) called out the agreement as wasteful spending, saying in a recent interview:
"Those of us go to sporting events and see them honoring the heroes. 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."
When a member of Congress makes more sense than your sports league, you know what you're doing is a problem. I'm thinking the NFL could probably afford to foot the bill for this sort of thing in the future and, you know, do this out of the goodness of their heart from now on?
Just a thought.
Read more from Andrew Celani by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @CelaniSays!
