NFL Tossing Pink Penalty Flags in Jets’ Game Due to Fifth-Grader
National Football League officials will use pink penalty flags during the New York Jets’ game against the Miami Dolphins this week after a New Jersey fifth- grader made the recommendation to Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The NFL has been recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness month, with players wearing pink equipment including cleats, socks, wristbands and gloves. Coaches, cheerleaders and officials also have used pink accessories.
Dante Cano, an 11-year-old from Marlboro, New Jersey, wrote to Goodell suggesting that league officials throw pink flags following on-field penalties instead of the standard yellow, NFL spokesman Dan Masonson said in a telephone interview.
Goodell invited Cano to the Oct. 28 game between the Jets and Dolphins at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where he’ll present the pink flags to the officials prior to kickoff.
“Sometimes the simplest ideas can be the best,” Goodell said in an e-mailed statement. “I applaud Dante for sending in his recommendation.”
The NFL said its fourth annual campaign helps remind women 40 and older about the importance of having an annual mammogram and has raised more than $3 million for the American Cancer Society, with the majority of the donation raised through the sale of pink items.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
NFL Tossing Pink Penalty Flags in Jets’ Game Due to Fifth-Grader
J. Meric/Getty Images
A goal post with a breast cancer awareness logo just before the start of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 14, 2012 in Florida.
A goal post with a breast cancer awareness logo just before the start of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 14, 2012 in Florida. Photographer: J. Meric/Getty Images
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