NFL Does Not Want a Little Captain in It

When Eagles tight end Brent Celek scored a touchdown on Sunday night, he celebrated his touchdown by putting his hands on his hips and raising his right leg off the ground. You may not have thought anything of it at the time, but now you'll understand why you spent the rest of the night craving a glass of spiced rum.

Celek's celebration was actually a pretty nifty bit of guerilla marketing by Captain Morgan, which offered to donate money to charity anytime a NFL player celebrated a score by striking the pose made familiar in commercials and on liqour bottles. The NFL didn't find it quite so nifty, however, and reached out to the charity and the company to tell them to put the kibosh on the stunt.

While Celek originally denied the promotional angle, but an exec with the company confirmed the deal. The company was planning to donate $10,000 to Gridiron Greats, which helps retired players deal with hardships, every time a player struck the pose on camera during a regular season game. The money would rise to $25,000 and $100,000 in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports spoke with NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, who, unsurprisingly, said that the league isn't into companies using their games as a platform unless the NFL gets a cut of the action. They said they will punish any players who go forward with the celebration, presumably in the form of fines equal to the amount donated to the charity.

"A company can't pay a player to somehow promote it's product on the field. Every league has the same rule. ... It's come up before, companies trying to use our games and then players for ambush marketing purposes."

While no one was going to be hurt by a few players striking a particular pose, it's hard to argue with a league's right to profit from its own marketability. That said, no players are getting paid for this, as all the money is going to charity, so while they're right about the Captain using guerilla marketing techniques, there appears to be a loophole. But no player is going to explore that loophole at the risk of infuriating a coach and losing money, so the NFL isn't likely to see a challenge.

Plenty of companies already pay players to promote their products on the field, however. Nike is paying Adrian Peterson to promote its products every time he touches the ball, it's just in a less blatant fashion than Celek promoting Captain Morgan.

The damndest part of the whole thing? Gridiron Greats might not even get the 10K from Celek's act. The campaign hadn't officially launched yet, which means that the Captain got all the publicity without any obligation to give money to the charity. Well played, NFL. Hopefully they'll still do it, because it would be a shame if the only two winners from this were the league and a corporation.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

11-12-2009 @ 5:45PM

a4manbob said...

you can kill dogs run people down shoot yourself in a nite club get busted for drugs,but don't dare
do something that might benefit someone else unless the nfl can get its cut?
bite my ass.

11-14-2009 @ 8:36PM

j1234b said...

GREEDY NFL BASTARDS. Well... guess who wins on this one??? Best part is that NFL still won't get a piece of it... and I hope the public starts doing the stance and photographs pop up around the world. This sounds like a great charity.

11-14-2009 @ 11:09PM

poochie said...

Well said the Nfl should be ashamed espically that jackazz commisioner he's a real azzhole

11-15-2009 @ 3:38AM

Wish Belkin said...

I love football, but I hate the NFL.

11-12-2009 @ 6:16PM

mike said...

nfl= no fun league

11-12-2009 @ 6:30PM

joecrpschrst said...

a4manbob, SO TRUE!

11-12-2009 @ 8:54PM

Sandy said...

Actually, the penalty occurred because a teammate lifted his leg.

Still a stupid penalty, but it was a choreographed celebration.

11-13-2009 @ 12:54AM

reikilight said...

How funny that an NFL player is doing the Captain Morgan pose ... my buddies son did the pose three years ago and it is just now making the news because some guy is doing it for a charity? Give me a break! The NFL is full of criminals and thugs where cheap shots happen in every game they play and striking a pose for a charity is something the NFL frowns on? The NFL is a JOKE and their marketing a PR BS spin that somehow these guys are admirable and model citizens and role models is the biggest joke in all the sports BS spin! Who really cares? Goodell is a hypocrite and a slimy corporate facade. The NFL needs to get real! Who believes that these guys are moral or ethical? What A JOKE!

11-13-2009 @ 10:01AM

eztotouchme said...

What is really insulting here is, the charity is Gridiron Greats. Helping reired players the NFL doesn't want to be reminded of. If you ask me, anytime a player is fined for any reason, the money should go to the Gridiron Greats.

11-13-2009 @ 10:28AM

sdh4194 said...

instead of playing football why don't they just dance and posture in the end zone.

11-13-2009 @ 11:09AM

bobknot131 said...

nfl doesn't mind if oyu kill some one or a few animals but when it comes to charity thats when they stop it. why? is cus of the money that's going for a good cause?

11-13-2009 @ 11:20AM

Bill S said...

They might as well fine players for handing the ball back to the ref like Barry Sanders used to do. It would simulate a bartender giving a beer to a patron. How about no "jumping" for joy. Budweiser frogs jump.

11-13-2009 @ 11:27AM

baxka1 said...

F U to the NFL!! You greedy bastards, Im done with you!!

11-13-2009 @ 11:37AM

KWAYINC said...

ACTUALLY THE NFL DOES MIND THE KILLING OF DOGS, DRUGS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OR THEY WOULDNT SUSPEND OR FINE PLAYERS FOR THESES ACTIONS AND AS FAR AS THE POSE GOES IT DOSENT MATTER WHAT CAUSE ITS FOR WOULD YOU ALLOW SOME ONE TO COME INTO YOUR BUSINESS AND ADVERTISE WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION I WOULD HOPE NOT THE OL CAPT SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN WITH THE NFL FIRST AND WORKED THINGS OUT HOPEFULLY THIS CAN STILL HAPPEN BECAUSE THE OLD TIMERS REALLY DESERVE ALL THE HELP THEY CAN GET.

11-13-2009 @ 12:01PM

dbloomslm said...

Maybe the NFL should be made to make the donations. I'll watch golf before I support the nfl.

11-13-2009 @ 12:02PM

zippertheslipper said...

At least the guy wasn't jagging the weed simulation, or boinking the wind simulation in the end zone, that would truly be of ill celebration of a score.

11-14-2009 @ 8:28PM

Deborah said...

THANK YOU reikilight and a4manbob , for posting the truth , the whole truth , and nothing but the truth !!!!!!!!!!!

11-14-2009 @ 8:40PM

manwhopoints14 said...

Thanks for trying Celek!

11-14-2009 @ 8:52PM

BIG KELL said...

No need to be one if you can't act like one.

11-14-2009 @ 9:06PM

bwb1234 said...

it's a shame and pathetic to me that the retired NFL players who MADE this league what it is and made so little money need the help of Capt. Morgan to survive. The owners should be seeing to their well being. Scumbag billionaires want a "piece of the action". Bastards!