Tags, you're not it
The NFL had 5,000 brand-new Wilson NFL balls to use for the upcoming season, until one crazy thing happened: Commissoiner Paul Tagliabue pulled the rip chord. Oh, and all those pigskins had his autograph on them.
What's the world's richest league to do? Hey, let's give 'em away.
The league announced today that USA Football, the youth football advocacy organization that the NFL and the league's players association founded, will get those 5,000 balls. Most will go to high school programs around the country, with an emphasis on Gulf Coast schools who are recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Here's more on the story:
As part of “Play Football Month� (today through Sept. 15), footballs will be given to high school programs around the country.
The NFL’s official football supplier, Wilson Sporting Goods Co., began producing new balls this week for the 2006 season stamped with new commissioner Roger Goodell's signature, beginning with the season opener, Thursday, Sept. 7 (Miami Dolphins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers). The “Commissioner Tagliabue� footballs will be used throughout preseason.
“Play Football Month� was created to celebrate the beginning of football season at all levels – from youth leagues to the NFL – and includes clinics, skills competitions, scrimmages, picnics and parades for football fans in communities throughout the country. As part of the campaign, USA Football plans to award $525,000 in equipment grants to eligible youth football leagues throughout the month. Available equipment grants include a $25,000 grant and 500 $1,000 grants.
For more information about Play Football Month and to access grant applications and eligibility requirements visit www.usafootball.com. NFL teams also are donating more than 100,000 preseason game tickets to youth organizations and military personnel during the month.
The move to the Goodell-signed balls is the second modification of the NFL game ball this year. Earlier this year, NFL clubs endorsed a recommendation to return the name of the official game ball to “The Duke� in honor of the late New York Giants owner Wellington Mara, one of the most beloved and respected figures in professional sports history. Mara died last October. Mara, who spent 81 years with the New York Giants and made numerous contributions to the NFL, was named Wellington by his father after the Duke of Wellington. He was given the nickname “The Duke� as a youngster by Giants players.
Wilson’s football factory in Ada, Ohio began making the new game balls earlier this week. To accommodate the change, employees at the world’s only dedicated football factory will work for the length of the season to complete the thousands of game balls needed for the NFL season. The short time frame requires that new game balls are constructed weekly and shipped to the various teams in time to be broken in, inspected, and brought to each specific game venue.
Wilson has been the official football supplier of the NFL since 1941, making balls from genuine leather (not pigskin) in the factory about 80 miles north of Columbus, Ohio.