Greeson: NFL continues to fumble national anthem issues

An official ball for the NFL Super Bowl LII football game from the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio, is displayed Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. The New England Patriots will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski) An official ball for the NFL Super Bowl LII football game from the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio, is displayed Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. The New England Patriots will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

By Jay Greeson January 25, 2018 5 min read

Ad for veterans

Here are the words on the ad the American Veterans wanted to put in the Super Bowl program:“#PLEASESTAND. Make a $20 tax-deductible donation and help us help veterans by texting VETERANS to 444999. AMVETS is the most inclusive Congressionally-chartered veterans service organization in the nation. Helping Veterans Since 1944. AMVETS.org/Americanism.”

There is no way to downplay the ripples from a story that circulated earlier this week.

According to the Fox News website – insert bias pshaw here – an advertisement request from a group representing American Veterans asking everyone to stand for the national anthem has been refused by the NFL.

Read that paragraph again. The American Veterans wanted a full-page ad in the program for Super Bowl LII (that’s 52 for those of us who are Roman-numeral challenged) that asked for $20 donations via text and asked people to stand during the national anthem.

We’re not sure what the cost of an ad in the Super Bowl program runs for, but this being the NFL nothing comes cheap. A 30-second television commercial during a Super Bowl broadcast runs in the neighborhood of $5 million, and as recently as last year there were political statements made in those advertisements.