Stow the Pitchforks: NFL Will Allow Color Guard to Watch Super Bowl

Last week, I posted a Pitchfork Alert about the situation involving the military color guard at the Super Bowl. The SitRep, widely posted on a milblog near you, was that the NFL planned to bring in a color guard, and then boot the flag-bearers out of the stadium before the game got underway.

Not so, says NFL spokeswoman Mallory Steinberg. In an email sent last week, Mallory wrote the following.

Our longstanding support of the military is a proud NFL tradition, including numerous NFL players and coaches traveling overseas with the USO to visit troops. Last summer, Commissioner Goodell, Drew Brees, and Osi Umenyiora went on a USO trip to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen.

Since we had not heard about this directly from the military, we contacted our military liaison for the color guard immediately to discuss the issue. After speaking with our military liaison for the color guard, we will host the members of the color guard (12 people) in the stadium.

The background is this:
The members of the color guard have always been our guests at a Super Bowl party in a compound on the stadium grounds where they watch the game on big-screen TVs and enjoy food and beverage. That is how we have done it every year. The military provides an intra-service color guard as part of our pre-game tribute to the military that also includes the military fly-over of the stadium. Then we arrange a place for the color guard to watch the game along with other pre-game and halftime show participants (more than 2,000 people).

We appreciate your commitment to the NFL.

Best,

Mallory Steinberg
NFL Communications and Public Affairs

Thank you, NFL. Thank you, Pitchforkers.