Give the NFL credit for this much. It doesn't let reason, fairness or logic stand in its way if there's an extra dollar to be made.

Remember the league that fought the state of Delaware's attempt to legalize sports betting? It is now the league that "partners" with state lotteries to separate hardworking citizens from their cash via NFL-themed scratch-off games. The Eagles announced their deal with New Jersey on Sunday - significant, because the weekend is usually a good time to slip potentially controversial news past people.

Remember the league that spent decades forcing season-ticket holders to purchase two "preseason" (never, ever "exhibition") games, at full price, as part of their package? It is now the league that cites concern about its fans when pitching the elimination of two preseason games in exchange for two more regular-season games.

OK, so you already knew NFL owners were breathtakingly greedy. So what's the point? Well, the point is that the league is relying on our short memories and outright ignorance as it runs these latest scams. Maybe we can't stop the current outrages, but calling the NFL out just might deter it from the next money-grubbing idea. Let this stuff slide without comment and eventually you'll have to pay a toll to get past Lincoln Financial Field on I-95.

The announcement about the new Eagles-themed lottery game in New Jersey stressed that revenues will benefit "schoolchildren, college students, and our state's veterans." That's clever, because it makes it seem being against such an endeavor means being against education and honorable treatment of our most deserving citizens. But the Eagles are involved in order to make some money for the Eagles.

(Why New Jersey and not Pennsylvania? Maybe Gus, the Second Most Famous Groundhog in Pennsylvania, is represented by Drew Rosenhaus. Next question.)

Plenty of NFL teams are doing this now. It is a new way to suck a few dollars out of a struggling economy. Better still, such revenues are not shared equally among all the teams, like TV and merchandise money. They go right into the bank.

It would just be another example of common greed if not for the galling hypocrisy. In Delaware, where the league would not get a slice of the profits, gambling was a blight on our society that led decent folk down the path toward moral ruin. Drive over the Commodore Barry Bridge and gambling is not only fun but virtuous. Buying an Eagles scratch ticket is practically your civic duty.

Give NFL commissioner Roger Goodell his due here. You think it's easy to hold two such contradictory ideas in your head without having it explode? It takes years of training.

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