Booty: Pirates and the No Fun League

I am going to go out on a limb and say that no introductions are necessary for the guy pictured above. Yes! It's Captain Morgan, purveyor of fine rum. I'll leave it at that for now. But Pauline, you say, aren't you all about images like this being untrue to the actual vicissitudes of piratical life? I am. But I'm also all about the football, baby.


On November 12th Charles Robinson over at Yahoo! Sports posted an article entitled NFL shipwrecks Captain Morgan campaign. In it, Mr. Robinson specifically addressed this:

That is Eagles tight end Brent Celek taking a Captain Morgan-esque stance in the end zone after scoring against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Of course, the first mate and I were watching the game and I said in passing: "He's getting fined." I'm full of understatement like that.

Robinson's article goes on to say that essentially the NFL came unglued and went straight to work banning rum-soaked, piratical shenanigans of any kind. Celek, who was penalized 15 yards on the field for demonstration, became a target for a holier-than-thou NFL rant about players not being allowed to promote products.

As it turns out, Captain Morgan was in fact encouraging players to take the lifted knee pose not only for promotion but - here's the kicker - to help an NFL charity. The rum brand was offering contributions to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund which is a nonprofit organization that helps retired NFL players with such diverse necessities as housing and medical care. The contributions were set to be significant and would be made each time a player was caught on camera imitating the Captain. The final pay-out was to include $100,000 dollars to the GGAF each time a player participated during the Superbowl. Check the article for further details.

The NFL's response was typically hypocritical and made no mention of corporate support for a charity the NFL touts as close to their heart. According to Robinson's post, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello was quoted as saying:

Whether it's rum or soft drinks or any other commercial product, that type of promotion is prohibited.

By "that type" he meant "support of a commercial product during a game". My curiosity is why the NFL isn't currently in talks with Captain Morgan to work out another way for the rum brand to donate to GGAF. Maybe it's time for the NFL to meet this guy:With the real Henry Morgan as NFL Commissioner, mates who needed help would get it regardless of the source. Then, too, things would be a whole heck of a lot more fun... more bloody and violent, but fun. Oh, and since we're talking about football, I'd like to say one last thing on a personal note:

GEAUX SAINTS!

Happy Friday, Brethren!