NFL Offers ‘Full Support’ for President Trump’s Prison Reform Bill

The National Football League has come out in full support of President Donald Trump’s prison reform bill.

Trump has been pushing his First Step Act, intended to decrease America’s jail population, an idea that the NFL apparently supports, Mediaite reported.

“The National Football League applauds the leadership of the President and bipartisan Members of Congress on criminal justice reform,” NFL VP of Communications Jocelyn Moore said in a statement on Wednesday. “We offer our full support for the revised First Step Act and urge passage this year.”

While some have expressed opposition to the bill, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he intends to bring the bill championed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to the floor of the U.S. Senate before the end of the year.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), one of the main opponents of the bill, has said he is concerned the First Step Act may offer early release from prison to many violent criminals and convicts, which he and other opponents say put the country’s safety and security at risk.

An updated version of the bill began making the rounds in Washington on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s support for the president by the NFL is not the first recent appreciation Trump has earned from the league.

Early in October, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell thanked the president for his trade deals with Canada.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell offered a sincere thank you to President Trump, for helping the league solve a broadcast rights issue with Canadian television.

“We greatly appreciate President Trump’s leadership and determination in bringing about a resolution to our intellectual property issue in Canada,” Goodell said in a statement.

Goodell offered his thanks because Trump’s trade deal with Canada helped the league resolve a problem it has had with Canadian broadcast TV over its airing of the Super Bowl. For some time, Canada’s CTV has demanded that the Super Bowl be aired in Canada straight from the U.S. with all the American commercials included. This ruling meant that the NFL could not sell ad spots to Canadian companies.

Trump was able to get the Canadian government to put an end to the ad ban meaning that the league can now make money off ads during the Super Bowl in Canada.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.