Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is taking a close look at the military’s ties to the National Football League amid a spate of domestic violence scandals involving high-profile athletes.
Hagel has not requested a formal review nor threatened to cut off any programs. But he is asking his staff to provide a status update about the department’s many links to the league.
“The secretary wants to get a sense of the depth and scope of the interaction” between the Defense Department and the league, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Friday.
“We have high expectations of the organizations with whom we partner,” Kirby said.
The Defense Department is connected to the NFL on many levels.
At big stadium events, military aircraft conduct flyovers, ceremonial units perform drills and individual service members are invited to sing the national anthem.
Recruiters spend millions of dollars on advertisements during games, though most of those contracts are between the services and television networks.
Overseas, the NFL offers free broadcasting rights to Defense Department Armed Forces Television so deployed troops can watch games around the world.
The Army and NFL have an agreement to share research about traumatic brain injury, which is common among both football players and combat troops.
Several NFL players were recently accused of domestic violence. They include Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was caught on a hotel elevator security camera punching his fiancée in the face. Critics say the league has not responded forcefully enough.
The military logs more than 8,000 domestic violence complaints each year from military families. About one-third of those involve male victims and female perpetrators, according to Defense Department data.
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