NFL Senior VP/Communications GREG AIELLO said that NFL Senior VP/Public Policy & Government Affairs CYNTHIA HOGAN last September "ordered up a 'top-to-bottom review' of the NFL’s political action committee by the league's outside lawyers because she was new to the league." FEC filings show the NFL’s PAC "owed law firm Covington & Burling nearly $33,000 in outstanding invoices" at the end of '14. Aiello said that the bill "has since been paid, and the review prompted only 'housekeeping changes' and rearranging personnel." The legal bills "came during a two-year election cycle when the NFL’s PAC, known as Gridiron PAC, gave less money to federal candidates than it ever has -- $330,750, compared to more than $500,000" during the '10 midterm election cycle. The money "was split nearly evenly between Democrats and Republicans" (PUBLICINTEGRITY.org).
INSURANCE PLAN: Jaguars WR MARQISE LEE is "suing Lloyd's of London for skipping out on what he says is millions of dollars in insurance money that he is owed." Lee said that his claim to "collect money owed to him as a result of slipping" in the '14 draft "was formally denied." Before his '13 season as a junior at USC, Lee "paid a $94,600 premium to Lloyd's to cover him should he fall in the draft to a contract worth less than" $9.6M, as a result of sustaining an injury. Lee "was selected with the 39th overall pick" and signed a $5.17M deal, about $4.5M "short of the policy's guarantee" (ESPN.com, 3/5).
U-NIQUE EXPERIENCE: A 13 1/2-foot bronze statue of Basketball HOFer DOMINIQUE WILKINS will "take its place among the people when it is erected" outside Philips Arena on Friday. The statue, created by sculptor BRIAN HANLON, "will be placed near the second A in the ATLANTA sculpture" outside the arena. Several people spoke before it was unveiled on Thursday night, including NBA Commissioner ADAM SILVER; Hawks co-Owner MICHAEL GEARON JR.; Atlanta Mayor KASIM REED; NBA TV's MIKE FRATELLO; Basketball HOFers JULIUS ERVING and CLYDE DREXLER; former NBAer KEVIN WILLIS and Hawks broadcasters BOB RATHBUN and STEVE HOLMAN. The city also "renamed a section of Centennial Olympic Park Drive from Marietta Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive as Dominique Wilkins Lane" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/6).
SNEAKER ROYALTY: Royals P JEREMY GUTHRIE in the sneaker world is “something just short of a deity.” He has been “accumulating shoes since he was a kid, when he got his first pair of Air Jordans, and his vast collection held in a vault in his Utah home has grown to roughly 500 pairs.” There is “at least one of every edition of Air Jordan.” Guthrie “estimates that his most expensive pair is worth about $40,000,” and his “entire collection” is worth about $500,000. Filmmaker DAVID FRIENDLY recently got in touch with Guthrie, who “gave him unfettered access to his knowledge and collection.” The result was "'SNEAKERHEADZ,' a film exploring the subculture that will premier March 16" at SXSW in Austin (DESERET NEWS, 3/6).
NAMES: Baseball HOFer TOM GLAVINE on Thursday was “honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Atlanta Sports Council” (AJC.com, 3/5)....The MLB Giants, Patriots and Rays are “filing legal briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of gay marriage” (AP, 3/5)....The attorney for Predators C MIKE RIBEIRO said that he and his wife “will fight a lawsuit brought about by the couple’s former nanny” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 3/6)....Rock band O.A.R. will play April 4 “as part of the festivities” surrounding the NASL Jacksonville Armada’s inaugural game (JACKSONVILLE.com, 3/5).
