Morning briefing

So, are these guys chicken?

NFL officials are clucking about an offer by fast-food chain KFC to donate $260,000 to charity in the name of any player who celebrates a Super Bowl touchdown with a chicken dance.

The Boston Herald reported that players who cross the line could face fines or suspensions.

“KFC is not affiliated with the NFL in any fashion, so this is a textbook case of ambush marketing 101,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the paper.

KFC spokesman Rick Maynard told the paper that agents of several players have contacted the company about the promotion, but the NFL warned those players to be careful.

“If a player acted in a way that was a reflection of a corporate message, then we’d have to take a look at it,” McCarthy said.

Trivia time

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is trying to win his fourth Super Bowl, which would tie him with Chuck Noll for most all time. Which two coaches other than Belichick also have won three?

Got to be the shoes

Patrick Christopher has a shoe fetish -- make that a sneaker fetish.

Christopher, a guard at California, has about 50 pairs of Nike Air Force 1s and another couple of dozen pairs of Air Jordans he uses for games.

“A lot of them are from different eras,” he said. “The sneaker business is beautiful.”

Christopher, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from Compton, received his first pair of Air Jordans for his fifth birthday and has donated them regularly to needy children at his church as he grew out of them.

Now, he donates them when they get dirty.

“I wear the all-white ones a few times and give them away to someone at church,” he said.

Non-partisan fan

Former President Clinton wavered when asked who he’d be pulling for in the upcoming Super Bowl because “New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are Hillary’s three best states.”

But eventually, he gave in and said he’d root for the New York Giants to upset the New England Patriots.

“They’re the underdog and they’re my home team,” he said.

But once a politician, always a politician.

“But I’m glad the Patriots are undefeated,” he continued.

Tangled website

Missouri alum Rich Lozano has been threatened with a lawsuit demanding that he give up the use of the website MissouriTigers.com, which he registered seven years ago, according to the Kansas City Star.

The Missouri athletic department, which declined an offer to purchase the domain name from Lozano for $50, is most concerned about Lozano’s sale of merchandise bearing a picture of a cat, even though the merchandise features no logos registered or trademarked by the school.

Besides, Lozano told the Columbia Tribune, “I sold one thing in the last two years.”

Trivia answer

Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, and Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins.

And finally

Miller Lite is offering to send former NFL stars Barry Sanders and Terrell Davis to a Super Bowl party of the winning bidder of an EBay auction.

The bidding began at $2,000 and has gone up to $10,000. The proceeds will benefit the V Foundation.

And if you’re concerned that Sanders and Davis will eat all your snacks, don’t worry: Refreshments for 25-30 people are included in the auction.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com