Football, Politics And Cash

I don't watch football. I don't care about football. I can barely stand it when my friends want to talk to at me about football. I bet the only times I've even mentioned football this year at DWT was in regard to the socialistic nature of the Green Bay Packers and their support for the battle against fascism in Wisconsin, and the speculation on whether failed quarterback Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC) would retire from Congress to become a gym teacher back in Tennessee (fingers still crossed).

Shuler played-- badly-- for the Washington Redskins and then the New Orleans Saints. After throwing 5 interceptions in a game against the Arizona Cardinals Shuler spent most of his football career warming the bench and whining about various and sundry injuries. He's an even worse congressman than he was a quarterback, helping the GOP win the same way he helped the Cardinals win.

Yesterday Open Secrets was pulling the covers back on the financial relationship between the NFL and partisan politics. And one of the teams that has been most supportive of the Republican Party and their far right agenda has been the Redskins (though not as supportive as the Cardinals). The Houston Texans, however, is the team that ranks as the most politically active since January 2009-- and that activity is strictly right-wing and pro-fascist. Houston owners, extreme right-wing, anti-democratic plutocrats Robert McNair, Sr. ($215,200) and Philip Burguieres ($106,400), are among the 4 biggest political donors related to the NFL.

Since 2008 McNair and his wife Janice have been giving massive contributions to right-wing extremists like Pete Olson (R-TX), Herman Cain and the Hermanator PAC, Rand Paul (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Michael McCaul (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Sharron Angle (R-NV), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Steve Pearce (R-NM), John Boozman (R-AR), John Culberson (R-TX), Rob Portman (R-OH), etc. And Burguieres and his wife have pumped tens of thousands of dollars into right-wing Texans like Cornyn, Culberson, and Canseco and to national rightists like Vitter and McCain.

McNair has donated $215,200 of his estimated $1.4 billion net worth to political causes since January 2009, almost strictly to Republicans. That pushes the Texans to a team total of $293,100 in political contributions from its players, executives and coaches.

That is more than enough to outdo the No. 2 team, the San Diego Chargers, whose players and executives gave $171,500 to federal politicians and committees since January 2009, according to the Center's research. The majority of that sum came from the Spanos family, which includes the owner, the president and the chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, the New York Jets ranked third among the most politically active NFL teams, at $147,850 in contributions, according to the Center's research.

Most of this came from Jets owner Woody Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. Johnson has given $130,550 since January 2009, according to the Center's research, the second most of anyone associated with the NFL. Like McNair, almost all of Johnson's generosity benefited Republicans.

Players and executives of the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins have also given more than $100,000 to federal candidates and committees since January 2009, according to the Center's analysis. No other teams cracked that mark.

Overall, the teams that favored Republicans most with their campaign cash included the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs,  Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, San Diego Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens, all of which donated at least 70 percent of their contributions to the GOP.
 
Meanwhile, the teams that favored Democrats most with their political donations included the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints, all of which donated at least 70 percent of their political contributions to Democrats.

In all, NFL players, owners and executives, along with their spouses, contributed a total of at least $1.4 million to federal candidates and political committees since January 2009, according to the Center's research, with about two-thirds of that money aiding Republicans.

According to the Center's analysis, eight of the 10 biggest NFL-related political donors, all owners, also make the list of the 10 biggest contributors to Republicans.

Some of these men have given large amounts to each party, such as Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Indianapolis Colts owner James Irsay and the San Diego Chargers' owner Alex Spanos.

But most lean heavily Republican with their money like McNair, Johnson, and the Arizona Cardinals' Bidwell family.

Only New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who's overseen three Super Bowl-winning teams, has heavily favored Democrats and given enough to make the top 10 contributors list. Of the $33,600 he has contributed since 2009, only $4,800 went to Republicans.

Seattle Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen comes close to Kraft's level of Democratic generosity. He's given every cent of his $36,000 in contributions since 2009 to Democratic causes.

...A few players also managed to hang with the Allen and Kraft in terms of contributions to Democratic causes: namely, Bengals safety Gibril Wilson, who contributed $15,000, exclusively to Democrats, and Dhani Jones, the former Bengals linebacker and current free agent who also hosts his own Travel Channel show, who has given $25,200 since January 2009, strictly to Democrats.

But for the most part NFL players, despite an average salary of $1.9 million, make up relatively little of the NFL-related political contributions.

Some other notable players who've contributed to federal candidates since 2009 include:

• Peyton Manning, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, who donated $5,000 to Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

• Julius Peppers, a defensive end for the Chicago Bears, who donated $2,400 to Kevin Powell, a Democratic candidate in New York's 10th Congressional District.

• Brett Favre, the now-retired, long-time quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, donated $2,400 to Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), who lost in November. (Favre's wife Deanna also donated $2,400 to Taylor's unsuccessful campaign.)

Then there's the NFL and the NFL Players Association, both of which play the Washington game, spending thousands each year lobbying the federal government.

As is often the case in business versus labor battles, the NFL, the business side, has had the deeper pockets. During the first six months of 2011, the league has spent $820,000 on lobbying versus the players union's $120,000.

...The NFL's PAC has also so far donated $15,000 a piece to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.