What George Romney Said

Today’s Sun-Times has a story in the news section, not sports, about the new Bears’ Fan of the Year, a person both loyal and true. According to the story (and I’ve rewritten enough press releases in my life to know that’s just what this is), the NFL Fan of the Year contest “aims to highlight fans who have a deep connection with their team, inspire others and bring together family, friends and local communities.” Every year, each team picks one such fan, and the most-super of these super fans will be chosen at an event three days before the Super Bowl; the finalists also get an all-expenses paid trip and two tickets to the game. I have no doubt these people are decent human beings who devote a good part of their time volunteering to worthy organizations. They get to attend the Super Bowl on the NFL’s dime, so, good for them. But not necessarily us. Forgive me for being cynical (again), but by picking the most civic-minded fan(s), the NFL wants to bask in reflected goodness: Oh, John Doe and Jane Smith spend all their free time when not watching their favorite team on Sunday (or Monday or Thursday or Saturday) in some worthy activity. If you love/respect what John and Jane are doing, the odds are you’ll love/respect the NFL for honoring them, too. And if the NFL is all about honoring worthy fans (just like teams calling their fans the indispensable “twelfth man” for generating crowd noise), why, then, the NFL must be telling the truth about financial assistance for stadium construction; the need to relocate franchises (apparently, fans in St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego didn’t cheer loud enough); and the proper level of compensation to former players suffering from traumatic brain injury, as well as efforts to prevent injuries to current players. If you believe all of the above, then you know what George Romney was talking about back in 1968.