No Billboard For You!

also, First.

… I’d do the same thing in their place.

What is odd is that they gave the money without that understanding to begin with. Having said that, they probably won’t get the money back (if I was representing the school I wouldn’t give it back to them). But perhaps their reasoning is that this pressure they are applying will get the school to bend the rules for them. Sounds reasonable and sensible to me. Why shouldn’t they do that? Their choices for the naming wasn’t entirely selfish, either.

The school should revise their policy for other reasons, namely that those kinds of things, rightly or wrongly, tend to encourage donations. So what if someone wants their name on something, if that induces them to cough up money? So much the better for the school.

I’d let them keep the money, but make it VERY clear that they won’t get another dime over this stupid school board policy. School boards are typically filled with wanna-be politicians, and crazy, over-concerned parents who want nothing more than to force schools and teachers to bend to their will. School boards….shudder….

…I don’t think it’s a slap in the face.

And yet, I think they are absolutely entitled to get their money back IF it was understood that they were giving the money in return for naming rights. They are trying to pay tribute to someone, and they had a way to get that done. If the school doesn’t want to be part of that tribute, that’s fine. However, they should fully expect that the Henderson’s will want their money back in order to find another place where they can see their friend’s name posted proudly for all to see and remember him by.

BTW I was tempted to select OTHER and not provide a reason so that I could have you show up at my door. I don’t often get a celebrity showing up at my door…much less celebrities carrying mallets. I thought it would be kind of cool.

that if they want the money back just because they can’t their names on the scoreboard, then it’s absolutely petty and disgusting. That would be a horrible thing to do.

If they’re doing it because they couldn’t name the stadium after the alumni who was killed and because they couldn’t get their names on the scoreboard due to the school boards rules about naming rights, then they’re completely justified. For me, it’s all about their intentions.

The Hendersons should have known the situation going into it. If they didn’t, that was their own mistake.

Major donors typically get naming rights in schools and other institutions all over the country. It’s the least the recipient can do as a way of showing their appreciation to the donor. That the school doesn’t want to do that, is fine. Perhaps the faculty will give up a significant portion of their paychecks instead, to cover the bill, without any recognition, if the issue is that important to them. No? Somehow I don’t think we’ll be hearing about that.

However, wanting to essentially provide a memorial to a fallen soldier who once played on that gridiron is an entirely worthy cause, and the school board is populated by douche-bags if they have an issue with it. Quite frankly, they’re douche-bags for not doing it themselves, when the man died for his country. Rules? Rules can be changed. Change them. Maybe then they’d get more donations.

As for the money… personally, if it were me, and I had the kind of lucre that the Hendersons are rolling with, I’d tell them to keep the cash and never darken my doorstep again. And I’d say it publically, in the Aberdeen local paper. But it’s the Henderson’s money and if they want to fight to get it back, that’s up to them. It’s just not how I’d play it.

Do they want “Henderson” on the scoreboard ?
Or do they want “Col Patrick Ryan Adel” on the scoreboard ?

If they want Henderson on the board, then the Hendersons would be selfish.
But if they want “Col. Patrick Ryan Adel” then the Hendersons are definitely in the right by wanting their money back.
Honoring the fallen soldier is the right thing to do, and I’m sure it would help bring some closure for the Adel family, and surrounding community.

I like the Henderson Bros and we had Erin visit our school and he was very nice, this doesn’t seem like him. When you think about it the school board is being stupid, they won’t let the school honor a fallen soldier or two NFL players who came from the school and they’re donating their own money and think about this, Erin was a undrafted free agent-not much money since this is his first year starting. EJ well mustve spent some money on his leg bills and probably won’t have a huge contract at the age of thirty. I say the Henderson Bro’s go for a plague or something.

It also sounds there was more to it than that. Egos on the board? Probably, they sound like they’re pretty tight assed

 Still, you can’t ask your high school for the money back, can you? That’s really egotistical. Makes them look bad, unless they somehow really personally insulted the Hendersons.

Didn’t it come up before they gave the money? If they told them they would do it, then backed out, I could see it, but other than those 2 things, forget it

If the school doesn’t want to put anybody’s name on something, fine. That’s what they want.

If the Hendersons don’t want to donate 20 large because they don’t want that massive donation to be anonymous, then that’s fine, too.

Both sides, by being stubborn, will get what they don’t want, in a way. So, whatever. Good for them.

And I’m not just talking about football either. They should read this article to see what real philanthropy is about.

He’s also since donated a blue field turf playing field to the Lovington Football program.