NFL shoots (down) the moon

[Viper]

From the "Giving Superman's Cape A Good, Hard Tug" Dept.... but just who's pulling whose cape here is a good question:

The ad for [u.S. Senator Russ] Feingold, who's running for re-election in Wisconsin, includes footage of the 2005 incident in which Moss, then with the Vikings, scored a touchdown against the Packers at Lambeau Field and then proceeded to moon the crowd. [...] NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the league contacted the Feingold campaign about removing the footage, which Feingold did not have the league's approval to use.

On the one hand, the NFL has every right to control how its game footage is used, and apparently they don't want it in political campaign ads.

On the other hand, considering that the party whose senator got dinged by the NFL will still be in control of the White House, and in all likelihood at least the Senate too, until at least January 2013, one has to wonder whether Roger Goodell and company won't come to regret this move by then.

[illwauk]

The "what's legal isn't always what's right" side of me says that the senator is a Wisconsin taxpayer using footage that was shot in a facility built by Wisconsin's taxpayers and he should have every right to use it. But regardless, as you said, it's probably not the best move on the NFL's part to agitate someone who works for the same federal government that allows them to be exempt from federal anti-trust laws and hasn't probed them about performance-enhancing drugs the way they did baseball... yet!

As a sidenote, I'm a little surprised to see a democrat trying to use footage from a Packers game. It's usually the republicans who make transparent attempts to align themselves with the Packers (even though I doubt ANY politician could name three players on the team who aren't Aaron Rodgers or Donald Driver).

[Viper]

The "what's legal isn't always what's right" side of me says that the senator is a Wisconsin taxpayer using footage that was shot in a facility built by Wisconsin's taxpayers and he should have every right to use it. But regardless, as you said, it's probably not the best move on the NFL's part to agitate someone who works for the same federal government that allows them to be exempt from federal anti-trust laws and hasn't probed them about performance-enhancing drugs the way they did baseball... yet!

Not to mention the possibility of Congress and/or the WH possibly trying to meddle in the league's labor dispute (hey, they've already tried to meddle in the BCS), or Dems at the state and/or local levels using this against teams lobbying for public financing of stadiums, which is already an uphill fight for NFL teams as it is. It would be somewhat ironic if the Moss footage flap wound up being the last nail in the coffin of a new Vikings stadium, and thus of the team's stay in Minnesota.

[RyanB06]

NFL game footage is property of the NFL. They even say so during their broadcasts.

Feingold was wrong in using the Moss film, and the NFL rightly called him out on it.

BTW, did anybody else notice that the rest of the ad used USFL footage? I wonder why that is... (and yes, I know why, it's a rhetorical question)

[OMMF]

The "what's legal isn't always what's right" side of me says that the senator is a Wisconsin taxpayer using footage that was shot in a facility built by Wisconsin's taxpayers and he should have every right to use it.

Seriously?

[ninersdd]

Maybe he pissed off Packer fans because he showed a time when they were getting their butt kicked. If anything he should show TO when he got pounded for the Star celebration.

[The_Admiral]

I feel like Wisconsin is the one place where all the politicians can rattle off their NFL team's roster

If nothing else, being the David to the NFL's Goliath here should rejuvenate the Principled Scrappy Outsider image that Feingold worked so hard to cultivate, one that's been on the wane the last year or two.

[illwauk]

The "what's legal isn't always what's right" side of me says that the senator is a Wisconsin taxpayer using footage that was shot in a facility built by Wisconsin's taxpayers and he should have every right to use it.

Seriously?

If pro sports franchises claim to be private organizations with private holdings (such as game footage), then they can use private funds to build their palaces. As I mentioned in the bootleg jersey thread, this is exactly why I don't feel bad when said organizations get "ripped off."

I feel like Wisconsin is the one place where all the politicians can rattle off their NFL team's roster

If nothing else, being the David to the NFL's Goliath here should rejuvenate the Principled Scrappy Outsider image that Feingold worked so hard to cultivate, one that's been on the wane the last year or two.

Maybe I still have a bad taste in my mouth from Scott Walker campaigning in the Lambeau parking lot in a Packers jacket he probably got from the ShopKo up the block... I have a real hard time believing THAT guy is a football fan.

But now that you mention it, it would be very like Feingold to have this whole scenario planned out from jumpstreet.