Who Dat Think the NFL is Greedy?!

For those who missed this story, the NFL has recently come down on several Mom-and-Pop retailers in the New Orleans area who have been printing and selling 'Who Dat?' merchandise ahead of the Saints' appearance in this year's Superbowl. 'Who Dat?' has been a rallying cry for the New Orleans Saints since the early 1980s and now the NFL has peacocked-up to say that it owns the exclusive trademark rights to the phrase and that none may use it without licensing is from them for around one-hundred billion dollars, muahahahaha.

K, not that much, but still - you can imagine what the NFL is asking for the phrase and you can extrapolate that it's way more than a Mom-and-Pop tshirt shop is able to afford. The league has sent out cease and desist notices to New Orleans vendors threatening legal action against anyone who uses the term with the NFL's consent. Basically they are taking away a fan-base's phrase saying that if they want it back, they'll have to pay the NFL to have it one their shirt. As you can guess, Louisiana is not exactly pleased.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana stepped up to the plate yesterday and sent the following letter to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell protesting the NFL's efforts to claim exclusive rights to the term "Who Dat."



Roger Goodell
CommissionerNational Football League
280 Park Avenue, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Dear Commissioner Goodell:
I was stunned to learn recently that the NFL is taking the position that it owns the exclusive trademark of the term "Who Dat" and has even threatened legal action against some mom-and-pop merchants selling t-shirts using the term. I would urge you to drop this obnoxious and legally unsustainable position and instead agree that "Who Dat" is in the public domain, giving no one exclusive trademark rights.


This letter will also serve as formal legal notice that I am having t-shirts printed that say "WHO DAT say we can't print Who Dat!" for widespread sale in commerce. Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me.


"Who Dat" was probably first heard in New Orleans minstrel shows well over 130 years ago. Much more recently, but before it was used in connection with the Saints, it was used as a rallying cry by St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. In the 1980s it was adopted by Saints fans in a completely spontaneous way. Only later did any legal persons, including the Saints and the NFL, try to claim it through registration.


Perhaps more significant than this history, "Who Dat" has become part of New Orleans and Louisiana popular culture. For the NFL to try to claim exclusive ownership of it would be like me registering and trying to claim exclusive ownership of the terms "lagniappe" and "laissez les bons temps rouler!?


Under Paul Tagliabue's leadership, the NFL was an unbelievable partner in helping us recover and rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Thank you again. We look forward to your dropping your "Who Dat" position so that this partnership can continue without strain or blemish.
Sincerely,

David Vitter
Junior Senator of Who Dat Nation



Suck on that Goodell. I'm pretty happy to see a senator step up like that for his constituents. He actually asks the NFL to sue him if they see fit - which I'm hoping jars the NFL into realizing that they've created a public relations shitstorm or the decade. Suing a US senator who is defending his state is probably not the right move for the league. I hope they come to the realization that they shouldn't be bullying into team markets and taking team's slogans for themsleves in the name of profit. Good on you, David Vitter, way to man up!