NFL should save its animal namesakes
Endangered species aren’t rare in football
Chicago Bears. Carolina Panthers. Cincinnati Bengals. Close to half of the NFL teams are named after animals, and almost half of those animals are in danger of extinction.
Black bears are plentiful in the U.S., but panda and polar bears have a precarious existence. Florida panthers are endangered, and the panthers that once roamed throughout the Carolinas were slaughtered to extinction. About 2,500 Bengal tigers remain in the wild. If tigers ceased roaming the forests, what will Mike Brown call his team?
Sunday is Super Bowl day for the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles (in the non-football world, once an endangered species). What an opportunity to promote conservation! American sports, especially football, can try to ensure that future generations will have a chance to see the animals that serve as team names, logos and mascots.
Social causes and politics have been part of the NFL for ages. When Pete Rozelle was NFL commissioner, football became less fashionable among the left wing because of his political viewpoints. Today, some on the right are annoyed with Roger Goodell for not clamping down on the “kneelers.”
Yet the NFL sponsors a pink day for breast cancer awareness, donating money to that cause, and on Week 13, the NFL has a “My Cause, My Cleats” day, where players showcase social causes on their footwear. Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Both New York Giants quarterback Geno Smith and New York Jets linebacker Demario Davis wear the logo of the United Way on their shoes, supporting an organization whose mission is to advance the health and education of underprivileged people.
Conservation, like breast cancer, cystic fibrosis and improving the health of millions, is not a left-wing favorite or a right-wing anathema. Saving endangered species is not the domain of one party. GOP presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower to Richard Nixon, who signed the Endangered Species Act, have been instrumental in promoting conservation.
The NFL “shared revenue” structure from TV proceeds could help save species from extinction. The league shares more than $7 billion a year in TV revenue, divided equally among its 32 teams. What if the owners decided to set aside a penny for every $10, or 0.1% before division of profits?
NFL teams have an approximate value of nearly $80 billion. What if the NFL siphoned off a fraction of its finances to save lions, bears, dolphins, tigers, eagles, jaguars, rams (California Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep) and panthers, along with endangered animals that do not appear on helmets?
The NFL can support efforts to save endangered species the same way it supports efforts to eradicate cancer and poverty. About 17 million people attend games every year, and there’s no reason the NFL cannot provide its captive audiences with some tidbits about the endangered status of their team namesake. Lion populations have plummeted precipitously in the past couple of decades. As few as 20,000 lions wander the African plains. What do the Detroit Lions name themselves if African lions are no more?
With his cheekbone solid eye-black smudges, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady could promote cheetah conservation. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has a mustache rivaling that of the South American mustached tamarin monkey, but his team is named after a species declining in number and considered to be “near threatened.”
It is fourth down, minutes to go, many animals are on their own 1-yard line, and they risk a fatal safety. But the animals need not lose out; the NFL can win the game for endangered species.