The National Football League’s pimping of the American Taxpayers began more than sixty years ago (1942), but throughout the decades has been re ned into an art form of hubris and greed. 1966 was the year the NFL really “played” the American people (it’s taxpayers), here’s how Dave Dixon a powerful New Orleans businessman tells the story, star ng with a phone call from F Commissioner Pete Roselle.
“Pete called me and said, Dave, what can you do to help ’ ” Dixon said. “I said, ‘Pete, there are two prominent guys who can be of huge help, and I’m pre y sure I can get their support if I talk to them, and that’s Hale Boggs and Russell Long.’ ” Boggs, he added, needed a jolt to his popularity, which was hurt by his support for the 1965 Vo ng Right Act.
The CongressionalSellout
In June 1966 the National Football League and the American Football League were merging. However, the league needed the blessing of Congress to bypass long standing an trust laws. Emanuel Celler, (D) NY, the chairman of the House udiciary Committee, opposed change, and Pete Rozelle, the N.F.L. commissioner, needed to execute a legislative blitz. Representative Hale Boggs (D) of Louisiana was House Majority Whip and Senator Russell Long (D) also from Louisiana was the Senate Majority Whip. They were two of the most powerful men in Washington.
