We all see the military promotions and honors the NFL does. The Arizona Cardinals do them every year. Apparently, it isn't simply an act of good will. It is a paid commercial. Many NFL teams who do military promotions are doing so receiving taxpayer money.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with the scenario, especially since the amount of money being paid is much less than many other actual commercials. The problem is the fans don't know that it is a paid promotion.

An NJ.com report discovered which NFL teams received money for their promotions. Guess what? The Arizona Cardinals are not on that list.

From 2011-2014, 14 NFL teams received over $5 million in taxpayer money for such arrangements.

The arrangement shouldn't be a surprise. The NFL is all about the bottom line and image. They get money to promote the military and, in turn, the league looks good for supporting our troops and honoring those who do and have served.

But some transparency would be nice. If it is a paid promotion, fans should know and teams should not act as if they are doing something simply in good will.

For some, this is perhaps troubling news. For others, it might be nothing. But for Cardinals fans, it is good to know the organization (thus far) has not been funding their military promotions with taxpayer money. They do get promotional support from advertisers (USAA is a big supporter), but there is something relieving to know "our team" is not taking "our money"...at least not the money we give to the government.