The National Football League has been minding its public relations in a very public manner recently.
Two Carolina Panthers running backs, Fred Lane and Tshimanga Biakabutuka were publicly upbraided by both their team and the league for sitting and chatting during the playing of the National Anthem.
Similarly, league officials pressured the St. Louis Rams to place linebacker Leonard Little onto the non-football injury list - despite the fact that he was 100% healthy - following a car crash in which he killed a woman while driving drunk. A team source admitted, 'It could have been bad PR to let him play.'.