I understand that companies try to present a certain image to its consumers.  While that image may change from demographic to demographic, there is usually a pretty straight forward approach taken.

Not so much with the NFL at the moment.  Back in 2001, Charles Woodson first met his cellar master in Napa 2001, while still with the Raiders.  He appears to be a wine enthusiast and because of that, he will be debuting his first wine in September.  His name and signature appear on the label and in the marketing materials.  Nothing wrong yet, right?

Apparently he did an interview discussing his enthusiasm for wine.  He was also planning a public event for the debut of his wine.  The NFL caught wind of this and informed Woodson that the league had a Goodell-instituted policy, which stated that any interviews supporting alcohol would be seen as an endorsement and "may have a detrimental effect on the great number of young fans who follow our game."

I hope I'm not the only one that sees the NFL's position as borderline insanity.  If you don't, head over to NFL.com's coverage of Super Bowl XLII commercials and check out all the Bud Light ads.  Or maybe the announcement by the NFL in 2005 that Coors would be the "Official Beer Sponsor" through the 2010 season.  Of course the Coors deal was implemented before Der Kommissar took charge and I'm sure he'll denounce all alcohol sponsorships when they expire.

Courtesy of twentyfourwine.com