PETA targets NFL.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has at least one very useful skill: they know how to protest. And they protest as often as the Pittsburgh Pirates lose. Now, in the wake of the Michael Vick indictment, the NFL finds itself facing the brunt of the group’s anger.

PETA has targeted sports in the past, in 2003 asking NBA players to reject the Rookie of the Year award because it is sponsored by the dairy industry’s “Got Milk?” ads.

“PETA points out in the letters that in addition to the intense suffering of mother cows and their calves at the hands of the dairy and veal industries, as many as 75 percent of [LeBron] James? and [Carmelo] Anthony?s fellow African-Americans are lactose-intolerant, meaning that drinking milk can translate into excruciating cramps and other painful side effects.”

This year, PETA targeted the NBA again, after players objected to the new synthetic basketball and had them replaced with the previously used leather balls.

“This has been tough for us sports fans at PETA, because while we were delighted with the NBA’s decision to use nonleather balls (as the NCAA has for years), we’re also well aware of just how sensitive the hands of some NBA players are?much softer than college players’ hands?and we’d hate for Nash, Shaq, or LeBron to ruin their manicures.”

Unlike the PETA protests of the NBA, which were confined essentially to press releases and articles, the situation in the NFL is much more serious. Beyond sponsorships and leather balls, the league is dealing with the black eye of the Vick dogfighting indictment, and the animal cruelty involved. In other words, PETA will not settle for a strongly worded comment.

Displeased by the NFL’s failure to suspend Vick, PETA has announced its intention to protest outside of the NFL offices in New York.

“Starting tomorrow, we will be holding demonstrations calling for Vick’s suspension from the league, so I’ll keep you posted with details, and if you want to let Goodell know that he’s made the wrong decision, you can contact him about the issue here.”

Certainly, having PETA demonstrate outside NFL offices is among the last things Roger Goodell would ever want, just ahead of having Pacman Jones lead his team to the Superbowl in 2008. Still, do not expect the league to cave into any demands the group has; while the NFL is dealing with terrible PR in regards to animal cruelty, that does not translate into making decisions based on what PETA has to say — no matter how vociferous the protests may be.