U.S. ARMY PHOTOSgt. Christopher Waiters (C) walks onto the field with fellow service members at MetLife Stadium during a New York Jets home game in 2012.
It all boils down to Gang Greed.
That was how a hero soldier honored by the Jets reacted to news that the team and 13 other NFL franchises were paid by the National Guard and the Department of Defense to salute the troops at home games.
“I think it’s pretty shameful that millionaires and billionaires take money from the service,” Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Waiters told The News.
“It’s just greed,” said Waiters, an Army medic who served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.
Waiters spoke a day after a story in The News — which featured him on the cover — revealed that the Department of Defense and the New Jersey National Guard doled out $377,000 to the Jets over the last four seasons to honor military members at MetLife Stadium games.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) blew the whistle on the military money grab. Flake revealed that $5.4 million in taxpayer money went to the Jets and 13 NFL teams between 2011 and 2014 to give shoutouts to the troops while making it appear they were doing it out of patriotism.
U.S. ARMYArmy Sgt. Christopher Waiters (R) said it was "pretty shameful" for the Jets to take money from the service to salute troops during home games.
Figures obtained by The News on Monday from the National Guard are even more stunning: From 2013 through fiscal year 2015, the Guard will have spent more than $17.2 million in taxpayer loot on advertising and marketing — including more than $8.5 million to the NFL.
The Jets picked Waiters as an honorary team captain at a 2012 home game after he received the military’s Distinguished Service Cross for rescuing two soldiers from a burning Bradley armored vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Now Waiters, 33, of Lacey, Wash., wonders if the Jets’ honor resulted from the team being paid. A Jets spokesman could not clarify that point.
Flake’s research, first reported by The Record of Bergen County, revealed Gang Green officials used some of the military money to recognize service members as “Hometown Heroes” during games and host them at events like the team’s “Kickoff Lunch.”
A Jets spokesman defended the deal as an advertising arrangement designed to assist the New Jersey National Guard in recruiting.
US ARMY PHOTOArmy Sgt. Christopher Waiters is seen rescuing soldiers from a burning vehicle in Iraq. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism.
“Even though the agreement with the New Jersey National Guard has expired, we will continue to honor members of the military as we did before and during this relationship, including members of the New Jersey National Guard,” said Bruce Speight, a Jets spokesman. “If there are future agreements with the military, we will make it abundantly clear that an advertising relationship exists.”
The National Guard also weighed in.
“The intent of these advertising partnerships is to promote the (National Guard) brand,” Maj. Earl Brown, spokesman for the federal National Guard Bureau, told The News.
He said that this fiscal year, the Guard will dole out more than $4.1 million to NFL teams and other athletic programs for advertising and marketing, including $150,000 to the Buffalo Bills and $225,000 to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Even Waiters’ beloved Seattle Seahawks are slated to receive $120,000 from the Guard.
Brown said the Guard also has similar advertising arrangements with NBA, NHL and MLB teams.
The Jets are so blinded by petty cash that they can’t tell the difference between hot dogs and heroism. This practice must end.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/exclusive-army-hero-rips-new-york-jets-greed-article-1.2218603
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