GM Awards MVP Car on the Sly

The MVP of the Super Bowl traditionally receives the Cadillac of their choice. It's a grand, post-game spectacle, really, because General Motors loves the attention and PR.

This year, however, there was no such pomp for Santonio Holmes. Was it because the car company needed several billion dollars from taxpayers to stay afloat and decided giving away free cars to rich athletes was a bad idea? Or was it because the company simply didn't want anyone to know that's exactly how they were spending their money?

Holmes picked out Cadillac's most expensive model Monday as his reward for winning the MVP: the Escalade Hybrid Platinum with an $85,200 sticker price, according to Cadillac spokeswoman Joanne Krell.

There was no mention of Cadillac or of Holmes winning the car at the news conference. It was at the request of Cadillac, commissioner Roger Goodell told the Daily News Monday. When asked if Cadillac asked not to be mentioned, he said, "Yes."

Wow. It certainly comes off as a little awkward. After all, no portion of the taxpayers' nearly $10 billion should be going directly into Holmes' garage. It is worth noting, however, that Cadillac and GMC purposely stayed away, citing the decision not to "actively participate" based on the current economic climate.

Additionally, Krell mentioned that the company had to "live up to the contract we negotiated," implying that they were still required to give the MVP a car, even though it makes horrible fiscal sense. That being said, it's kind of hard to imagine Cadillac breaking the contract with the NFL -- any legal tit-for-tat that ensued would end up costing everyone way more than $83,000.

The good news is that apparently GM at least learned to stop flaunting their expenses to the public. And that, um, it's a hybrid.

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