Vick Signing Is Risky Business

Real football doesn't begin for three weeks, but the Philadelphia Eagles have already pulled off one incredibly risky play. Or so you'd think after the Eagles announced on Aug. 13 that they had signed Michael Vick to be their backup quarterback.

Vick comes to the Eagles with a ton of baggage. Just last month, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell granted conditional reinstatement to the league's once highest-paid player, who had been out of the NFL for two years after serving 18 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring.

No doubt, some Eagles sponsors are wringing their hands about whether that unimpressive résumé could rub off even slightly on their brands. And like most NFL franchises the Eagles have plenty of such sponsors, including Canon (CAJ), Budweiser (ABI.BE), Gatorade (PEP), MasterCard (MA), Staples (SPLS), and US Airways (LCC). In an especially rich deal, NovaCare Rehabilitation years ago bought the naming rights to the team's training facility. The Eagles play in a football palace named Lincoln Financial Field, a deal that is costing the insurer Lincoln National (LNC) nearly $140 million through 2022.

That's a reasonable concern, but probably a needless one. If the history of sports teaches anything, it's that fans don't blame sponsors for the misdeeds of players on the field—mostly because they don't blame the players themselves. At least, not for long.

So far, Eagles sponsors have remained almost totally mute about the team's surprise signing. And what they are saying seems phrased to underscore one point: If you're angry about this, don't be angry at us.

"We have a strong commitment to the Greater Philadelphia region, which includes a long-term agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles for stadium naming rights to Lincoln Financial Field," Lincoln National said in a statement released Friday, Aug. 14. "We have no role in the Eagles operations, including personnel decisions."