Gambling is the NFL’s latest hypocrisy

By John McMullen  |   Friday, May 15, 2009  |  Comments( 4 )

 NFL Football News
Located on the eastern section of the Delmarva Peninsula between the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, Delaware is the second smallest state in the nation. To the rest of the world, Delaware is known as one of the 13 original states to participate in the American Revolution and the first to ratify the Constitution of the United States. To those of...
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CommentsComments: 4
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 No.1
Amir FaSaad		 09:52 AM
05/15/2009
It took 16 paragraphs but McMullen's point, it's all Obama's fault, showed in the end.
You big fat "Elephants" lost. Get over it.
Delaware was gonna do this no matter who's in office.
 No.2
DEVASTATORS		 11:40 AM
05/15/2009
This hypocrisy isn't anywhere near being new. For as long as the NFL has been supplying -- even by mandate to teams -- an injury report to bookies, whether directly or indirectly, they have condoned gambling. It's matters like this that should be challenged by both the players "union" and the players themselves, as gambling has always been taboo to them going all the way back to at least Paul Hornung's days with the Green Bay Packers of the '60s.

The most recent hypocrisy would be the StarCaps situation, where they are trying to punish players for taking a supplement that they have endorsed but at the same time say its on the banned substance list.
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 No.3
Os Davis		 01:34 AM
05/16/2009
John, Bravo for this piece, but the NFL's insidious, hypocritical stand on gambling goes well, well further than Delaware.

Back in the dusk of the Bush Administration, Congress was busy passing a bill called the SAFE Port Act, some peepshow stuff the politicos passed off as an anti-terrorism act -- you know, filled with stuff like searches of transport vehicles, wiretapping, other stuff that Obama still supports.

Buried within this thing was an Administration-crafted subsection called the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act." Bush's cronies ramrodded this thing into the bill while Congress was essentially ending its 2007 session. Without going into details, UIGEA essentially makes online gambling of any form -- casinos, sportsbook, poker, etc. -- illegal.

The interesting bit as regards the NFL in UIGEA is that UIGEA makes special exceptions for certain types of online gambling: state lotteries (naturally), horseracing (rumored to have been included due to lobbyists from the State of Kentucky) and ... fantasy football. And who do you think runs the biggest fantasy football program out there? That's right, Warren Sapp's fantasy team plays at NFL.com.

Coincidence because Bush (like Obama) is such a huge sports fan? Yeah, surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre. A guy named William Wichterman of Covington & Burling law firm has been estimated to have taken in $2.8 million thanks to his pro-NFL anti-gambling efforts through 2008.

Hypocrisy on the part of the NFL? No way, dude!

Excellent piece, John, despite what the Obama backers say.

Until the next time some WR gets busted for smoking pot while steroid use is rife,

Os.
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