Congress planning to ban 'pay for patriotism' promotions

The United States Congress is in the process of banning the entire "pay for patriotism" relationships professional sports teams had with the Department of Defense from 2011 to 2014. This is in line with a story that had legs earlier this year and is now starting to pick up some steam. 

If you have followed the story closely, you know that the DOD paid out $5.4 million to NFL teams during that four-year span. These payments were made by the government as a way for teams to "salute" U.S. troops at the expense of taxpayer money. This backdoor deal between the military and NFL teams was not known to fans who saw the service members and the U.S. Military saluted on a consistent basis over that four-year span.

Now that we know teams were being financially rewarded for paying homage to those protecting us abroad, the Congress has decided to act.

The legislation, which would ban the Department of Defense from paying NFL teams for saluting troops prior to and during games, awaits final approval from the House and Senate. It's likely going to receive bipartisan support.

As a veteran of the Vietnam War, this issue hit home with one former presidential candidate. Back in May, John McCain had this to say about the contracts:

“Along with sports fans across America, I was appalled to learn last month that many of the ceremonies honoring members of our armed services at NFL games are not actually being conducted out of a sense of patriotism, but for profit in the form of millions in taxpayer dollars going from the Department of Defense to wealthy NFL franchises."

And while the NFL has indicated that the legislation misleads the public into believing what the real relationship between the league and the military is, it's unlikely anyone outside of the league office isn't upset over taxpayer dollars going to NFL franchises as a way for the league itself to "support" the military.

In addition to the legislation, which is likely going to pass, a separate government report is asking that NFL teams donate the money they have received from the DOD to charity. While that likely won't impact the opinion of many who find this whole situation disturbing, it will allow us all to move on from this.

It's now time for professional sports teams to support the military under the guise of patriotism, not as a way to earn a few extra bucks. We should all be able to get behind that.

Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL.