There have been plenty of ill-intentioned, greedy ploys to make money off of the name and intrepid, tragic life of former football star and United States Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Hell, we’ve documented a few of them on our blog.

But the following tribute idea by the National Football League’s own talking head Dave Dameshek from a month or so ago is, to be honest, not bad at all.

Sure, you could make the argument that ultimately the NFL is still making money somehow by using his identity (through one of their own teams, you’ll see) to mark their own product, but screw it. Because it could enshrine him forever and educate future generations on his sacrifice and, on a broader level, the sacrifice of each and every member of the U.S. military.

Here’s the simple proposition, via the NFL’s YouTube channel (to see the original clip, click here):

You know how there’s those four 40’s on every football field, well, how about this? The NFL [National Football League] turns one of those 40s on every gridiron red and white, the same colors Pat Tillman wore as an Arizona Cardinal. Little kids would ask “why is that 40 colored like that?” And their parents could tell them a story of a real American hero, who could argue with that?

40 yard line idea Tillman