NFL's Eric Holder Attorney General

Eric Holder Covington & Burling lawfirm partner and frequent employee of the NFL has been named Attorney General. Pres Elect Barrack Obama is assembling a branch of jock sniffers who are waiting to do the bidding of their professional sports idols and celebrities. In what amounts to another qid pro quo Obama made a deal with Holder to name him Attorney General if Holder could deliver Pittsburgh Steeler's owner Dan Rooney's endorsment and financial backing. Holder delivered Rooney through his NFL connection through his Covington & Burling ties. But there is more since Aon Consulting/Aon Corporation owner by Chicago Bears owners Patrick Ryan and Andrew McKenna are in danger of being prosecuted for conflicts of interest for also being actuary through Aon for being their employees NFL Player Retirement Plan's costing those employees $100 of millions of dollars with cooked actuarial anaylisis that lowered their own and the other NFL owners employer contributions to that plan.

Retired NFL players complaints about this illegal cooked employer employee retirement plan relationship to the DOJ and the DOL have been stone walled by Bush appointees with both those federal agencies. President Bush's first cousin Jim Pierce is Managing Director of Aon Corporation. Holder's lawfirm Covington & Burling has already been retained and are implimenting this Holder, Attorney General circumvention of federal law white collar crime defense of Aon. Coincidentally Holder's specialty at Covington & Burling is defending high profile white collar criminals like Merck or Chiquita Banana or the NFL or Aon Corporation.

It is no accident that Aon Corporation showed up at the Congessional bailout hearings to get their piece of the trillion dollar theft pie presenting their complex, always complex plans to insure the mortgage losses or some variation thereof. Aon is still in the process of paying off $190 million of restitution to three states NY, CN, and IL and writing a letter of apology from Patrick Ryan to their customers in those states for "cheating them." Aon was also ordered to delete "conflicts of interest" from their business model. Aon ignored that court order and continued their NFL conflicts of interest in all three of those states.

Obama promised to "return the rule of law to the Department of Justice" naming Holder the NFL, specialist defender of white collar criminals Attorney General is a Hell of a way to do it. Looks like Aon Corporation, Patrick Ryan more dirty Chicago politics. Where is Bush's 1st cousin in all of this?

Control of what the media says about it is in the hands of Sandy Montag agent for CNN's Anderson Cooper, HBO's Bob Costas, John Madden, Kieth Obberman, ESPN Chris Mortenson, and others keep the NFL and NFLPA's propaganda on the front burner at all times.

Naive and Vain NFLPA Exec Committee Members Are Over their Heads

Exclusively for Executive Committee members, not for the Player Reps
DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE PAYING UPSHAW OVER

$10.4 MILLION PLUS DEFERRED COMPENSATION OF

$10 MILLION FOR A TOTAL OF $20,400,000 UNLESS YOU FIRE HIM FOR JUST CAUSE

I disagree with Forbes average NFL player salary figure of $1.6 million. I believe it is in fact less than $1 million. The owners are pulling Upshaw’s puppet strings and you brilliant executives are paying him an outrageous $10.4+million a year for being in the owner’s pocket. ESPN’s Chris Mortenson lied again this week about Upshaw’s compensation saying he makes $4 million a year. Mortenson, in his role as another ESPN owners shill, is trying to save their puppets rear to hold the cabal together. Is ESPN Mortenson a Tom Condon-CAA client? Is Robert Smith a Condon-CAA client? Trace Armstrong is and so is Matt Stover so is Upshaw. NFLPA agent/financial planner Tom Condon is the Tony Soprono, Upshaw the underboss that ESPN-Kansas City Star writer Jason Whitlock said he was last year. CAA represents Katie Curic wouldn’t it be interesting if CAA represents Goodell’s TV announcer wife Jane Skinner? (still checking CAA client lists)

Upshaw et al plays you Executive Committee members for adolescent fools.

From your NFLPA 2007 LM2 Report on the last page 800+ it says: “During the year ended February 28, 2007, the NFLPA and Players Inc entered into a new employment contracts with the Executive Director and Chairman, respectively, that employs him for the period of January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2010. The employment agreements stipulate bonuses of $3,600,000 and $2,400,000 from the NFLPA to the Executive Director and from Players Inc to the (Upshaw’s) Grantor Trust, respectively, described below during the year ended February 28, 2007. The bonus amount paid during the year ended February 28, 2007 from the NFLPA is included in Schedule 11, Column (D). The employment contract with Players Inc established a Grantor Trust, which will be funded on an annual basis with the Players Inc salary and bonus amounts. The Grantor Trust assets are included in investments on Schedule 5 and the liability is included in deferred compensation on Schedule 5 and the liability is included in deferred compensation on Schedule 10, Other Liabilities. Upshaw’s compensation is $4,405,241 plus $3,600,000 plus $2,400,000 equals $10,405,241 for 2007. Do you know you Executives are paying Upshaw $10,405,241 plus whatever Troy Vincent gave him in “secret sideletters” plus whatever Upshaw has coming out of the $14,501,843 of NFLPA deferred compensation? Doug Allen and his wife were paid over $1,900,000 of deferred compensation while Upshaw has always been compensated at approximately 5+ times what Doug Allen was paid therefore applying that ratio Upshaw has another $10,000,000 coming out of the $14,501,843. So it is reasonable to assume that Upshaw was screwing you brilliant business Executives for at least $20,405,241 for 2008.”

Can Kevin Mawae the new President of NFLPA read a balance sheet? Any balance sheet? No, well that fits the Executive Committee profile. Have you ten Executive Committee members ever hired a CPA firm to audit a company? Any company? How about 32 companies who don’t really want you to know what is in their books? Have any of you ever written a million dollar check to pay a bill? Has Mawae or any of the ten members of the Executive Committee ever run a business or had any employees? I doubt that any of you Executives could run a lemon aide stand let alone a $200,000,000+ union and I doubt any of you could build 6 hotels a shopping center and 2 dormitories a medical building and Air Force office’rs quarters buildings and a sewage treatment plant for the government at one time. I have stated several times that I have had over 3,000 construction employees actually I’ve employed over 9,000 employees. I sent out over 1,920 W2 forms in one year. You Executive pretenders have more in common with the laborers I employed than the cost estimators, engineers or project managers who worked with me, yes I said worked “with me” in my company not “for me.” The difference between you guys and the laborers is the laborers have enough guts to strike. You guys are drinking Upshaw’s Kool Aide mixed especially for you by Upshaw’s star agent/financial advisor Tom Condon while Upshaw’s baby sitter Jeffery Kessler and the owners laugh all the way to the bank.

Tell them 60%, 60%, 60% they’ll believe you just say it over and over and get ESPN’s Chris Mortenson to repeat it a few dozen times and you’ll have everybody fooled.

Since you Executives hired this guy, to play with the unions money and all our retired players family’s retirement plan’s money and according to his own reports he has caused a $480,000,000 asset loss from 93% funding to 51.2% of $1.2 billion then each of you have cost us at least $48,000,000 each plus other losses. One strategy that has been suggested is to sue you Executive Committee members individually for the damages you have caused with your hiring practices plus punitive damages and do it one Executive Committee member at a time starting with the biggest contract, ability to pay or perhaps the biggest Upshaw advocate, biggest whatever… first.

All the new Goodell/Upshaw theatrics, saber rattling over an owner lockout, with Goodell saying “the CBA isn’t working” Upshaw says there will be a strike or lockout or a union desertification, the sky is falling, the sky is falling, keep me employed at $10.4+million a year…is nothing more than orchestrated PR melodrama, to scare you heroes to keep you in line, like the mushroom cloud if you don’t vote for Bush; and the owners are pushing to get Congress to look at the shiny object in this hand while they use Upshaw et al to help pick everyone’s pockets with the other hand, again. Congress is not going to go for it again. Upshaw’s luau is nearly over regardless of the Matt Stover (another Condon client) Vincent, Chris Mortenson con job to try to keep the union controlled by Condon-Upshaw Mafia and the owners in order to keep a Marvin Miller type from becoming the leader of the players union.

Doesn’t Groom Law Group’s website say the CBA is the basis of the NFL’s success since 1993, now Goodell says its “not working”?

The biggest problem you bright guys have now is that the Giants won the Super Bowl with the lowest payroll in the league, the lowest. That means the rest of you turkeys are overpaid, but of course if you stick with Upshaw none of the owners will notice. Run that fact around your brilliant little business minds see what you come up with. None of the Executive Committee members have ever seen a completed NFLPA LM2 union report or a Retirement Plan form 5500 or an NFL Tax form 990.
Ads by Google

This entry was posted on April 16, 2008 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The Justice Retired Players Demand

Subject: The justice retired players want and are battling to obtain.

Guys: I sent this to you a month or so ago and I sent it to many congressional staffers, Representatives, and Senators. I am about to send it again so if you have anything to add or change let me know.Guys: If I haven't expressed our thoughts in a way you agree with let me know or the Congressional staff members.I understand you folks (the Congressional Committee staffers) are asking "around" again about what the retired NFL players want other than justice.

Here is what we want:

1A: Retired players do not want to be represented in any way by Gene Upshaw or the NFLPA. Upshaw states it is illegal for the NFLPA to represent retire players in collective bargaining then violates the law he cites by representing retired players to their detriment like making a "best effort" increase of $1.63 per day pension benefit increase. We want Upshaw and the NFL owners prosecuted by the Dept of Labor and Dept of Justice for violating the labor law that Upshaw and the owners flaunt while making their collective "best effort" benefit increase of $1.63 per day in his dictatorial role empowered by the owners promotion of the scam that includes giving Upshaw a $10,000 per day increase in compensation. So there is no misunderstanding the retired players simply want nothing to do with Upshaw or the NFLPA.

1) Adjust the Bert Bell Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan to match Major League Baseball's retirement plan. [In addition fix the benefits of the 350 players, who on the bad and misleading advice of the NFLPA, took their pensions early.]

2) Re-write completely the disability plan using the input of retired players and the attorneys who have represented them against the Groom Law Group. Our industry is unique having unique problems and the solutions should meet those unique problems especially those that deal with the injuries sustained by the players who play the game extending into the problems those injuries cause throughout player's lives.

3) Establish a means for the retired players to protect their interests and control their own retirement Plan now and in the future so future corrupt union leaders cannot exploit the active player, retired player's divergent interests. One option is to give the retired players a vote in the union, which gives active players a vote for life in the union, both on a one man one vote basis. A unique industry must have unique solutions. Another solution is to form and operate an independent retired players “organization” without any ties or involvement with the NFLPA or its leadership or the active players.

4) A GAO audit of the retirement plan finances and operations, as well as the union’s financial operations, and the operation of the league office and all its legal entities. And a GAO audit that shows the true income and the true percentages of the benefits and compensation that goes to the active players, the retired players, and the owners. This is needed for several reasons including to establish a base line from which to operate in the future.

5) Award the retired player’s retribution in retirement benefits and disability benefits owed them as a result of the leadership of the NFLPA acting in collusion with the NFL office and owners. Sever all ties between retired players and Gene Upshaw and the active players and their union as well as give the retired players control over their own Bert Bell Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan which owns the disability plan. We want no relationship whatever with Groom Law Group or any of those who have administered any part of the fiasco of a retirement or disability plan in the past. Retired players were far better off before NFLPA’s Gene Upshaw arrogantly broke the law after recognizing it and unilaterally began representing retired players in collective bargaining when nobody asked or wanted him to except the owners.

6) The owners opting out of the CBA means nothing to correcting these problems because any solutions, changes that involve the CBA can be made using the NFLPA's infamous "side letter" agreements. But the changes can be legislated and need not have anything to do with the CBA since its illegal to collectively bargain for retired players anyway.7) A sports Commission or Commissioner to oversee the antitrust abuses by NFL franchise owners of the players and the public from employment to stadium construction, TV contracts, and franchise location issues seems obvious.

Bernie Parrish 202-386-6400

A SUGGESTED CHECK LIST FOR CONGRESS

A SUGGESTED CHECK LIST FOR CONGRESS AND THE C.R.S. WHO ARE LOOKING INTO THE NFL RETIRED AND DISABLED PLAYER ISSUES (C.R.S. IS THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE)

On January 16, 2006 NFLPA Exec. Dir. Gene Upshaw told Charlotte Observer writer Charles Chandler about retired players, "They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That's who pays my salary.”

I do have an opinion and several complaints. In that humble opinion the union has not represented me or the players or retired players in good faith as a union should. Here follows some of my opinions and complaints that Congress should know about:

Tuesday Dec 11, 2007 Goodell and Upshaw threw another handful of pebbles in their ocean of NFL PR diversion and deceit they want everyone to applaud the ripples as they disappear. Spending more Retirement Plan money, more retired player’s money, not the NFLPA money or NFL money on new beholding employees (Doctor shopping again) who can scurry around licking Upshaw and Goodell’s boots doesn’t fool many. It does not fool Congress as they investigate the NFLPA/NFL or the retired players or the public. It seems only to fool the sports writers and media announcers who use it to fill up space and time, except for a few like William Rhoden, Carl Prine, and Bryant Gumbel.

These consistent insulting quotes by Upshaw show his contempt for retired NFL players. On January 16, 2006 he called the retired players "ungrateful” because they were not satisfied with below poverty level retirement benefits averaging under $13,000 per tear, then he said “The bottom line is I don’t work for them, they don’t hire me and they can’t fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That’s who pays my salary.” A few months later he called us “dog food” not marketable while he was paying Maurice Clarett $49,591 for “Player Marketing” while Clarett has never played in the NFL and was in prison at the time, then Upshaw said he wasn’t going to improve the still sub-poverty level pension benefits for “any body who just walks up”, then says he will “break Joe Delamilures God Damn neck” for criticizing Upshaw for his abuse of retired and disabled players. He sent a messenger to threaten Bruce Laird telling Bruce that he has a “union target on your back.” Then he threatened all the Retired Player Chapter Presidents telling them they’ll be replaced and their chapter shut down if they criticize him or Troy Vincent about the pension benefits. Upshaw then told the 2007 retired players convention in Atlanta that ”there will be no future retirement plan benefit increases”, his cohort Troy Vincent told that same 2007 convention that “that ship (increased retirement benefits) has already sailed”, now Dec 11, 2007 Upshaw says he refuses to turn the disability plan into a “welfare state” as if that makes any rational sense. Only 317 by his count, out of 13,000 living former NFL players, also by his count receive disability but now in his consistently disconnected logic Upshaw is talking about the “disability plan” becoming a “welfare state”? Actually only 121 receive disability benefits not 317 (317-121= 196) the other 196 receive “retirement benefits” from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan because Groom Law Group and Upshaw and the owners have “cooked” the plan so a player cannot receive retirement and disability at the same time.

In Upshaw and the owners vindictive campaign against increasing retirement benefits to match MLB’s (and the NBA’s) he tries to intimidate retired players as he did again in 2006 when he said “They (retirees) say they don’t have anybody in the (bargaining) room. Well they don’t and they never will. I’m the only one in that room. They’re not in the bargaining unit. They don’t even have a vote.”

Congress can fix that.

In another bumbling example of Upshaw disjointed double speak in that January 2006 interview, he told the Charlotte Observer, “We in the union and the NFL have fought for retired players and have delivered on that promise.” What did he say? The “union and the NFL (the league)” fought who, what 3rd party did they fight for the retired players? In the rest of the world unions have fought the employers, in the NFL the owners are the employers, the owner’s league office Goodell, Henderson, Aiello, Curran, Jeffery Pash are the owners management representatives against the union, they defend against any increased benefits, they haven’t “fought for retired players” against their own employers the NFL owners. Then considering the part about “…for retired players and have delivered on that promise” What promise? We missed “that promise”. Didn’t Upshaw say it was illegal for the union to represent the retired players? However there was an amendment added to the CBA in March 2006, a legal obligation, promising a “best effort” in increasing retirement benefits for all retired players. The resulting 25% increase proved to be $1.63 per day increase average ($50 per month by 30.5 days per month = $1.63 per day) is a mockery of any “best effort” under any circumstance. Since there was no opposition, with the CBA having already been signed by both management and the union, Upshaw dictated $1.63 per day for the retired players and saved the “best effort” for himself, giving himself a $10,000+ per day increase in compensation for a 365 day work year. Upshaw does not work 365 days a week. Upshaw satisfied the owner’s ingrained vengeful hostility toward the retired players along with his on hatred. Giving Upshaw the benefit of the doubt you have to consider that he suffers from 16 years of repeated NFL concussions and he is 65 and several thousand blows to the head has undoubtedly taken its toll on him. Even though Upshaw is out of touch with reality; delusional perhaps suffering from PTSD, paying himself some unknown outrageous amount between $6.7+ million and $20 million a year is still unforgivable. You also have to wonder about the mental capacities of Troy Vincent (another 16 years of concussions) and the others who follow Upshaw around like puppies, drooling at the prospect of getting into Upshaw’s rich Executive Director’s job.

My information is the NFLPA Executive Committee did not give the required vote of approval to this insulting $1.63 per day pension increase.

The NFLPA Constitution says in Article IV Section (c), “The Executive Officers and the Executive Director shall constitute the Executive Committee. The Executive Director shall have a voice but no vote on the Executive Committee.” Section 5.08 of the NFLPA Constitution states, “The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President, (10) Vice-Presidents, and the Executive Director who shall have a voice but no vote in its deliberations and decisions.” So the Player Reps are not only “in on it” they had the only vote on raising the pre 1982 retired players retirement benefits by a measly $1.63 per day even though the CBA’s amendment called for a “best effort.” When Upshaw and Harold Henderson announced the $1.63 a day increase they never mention getting any vote of approval from the Executive Committee they only announced a “joint agreement” made between Upshaw and Henderson which is illegal.

Medical Advisory Physicians who have been “shopped” and thereafter required to take at least two one week seminars on how to be “good” NFL MAP’s. That MAP curriculum prepared by the NFLPA and the doctor’s notes from their participation in those indoctrinations in how to apply the NFL disability agenda to injured players should be requested (subpoenaed) immediately by the CRS for the Congressional Committee’s research on how the disability plan works meaning how the goal is to ultimately protect the owners from having to make disability payments to retired players under any circumstances. MAP Dr. Alfred Tria was fired by Groom Law Firm for approving a disabled player and advising him honestly on the options he should be making in that players best interests. Groom lawyers told Dr. Tria he had no business advising a player which disability category he was qualified for, or advising players in their best interests. Dr Tria’s run in with the NFLPA Groom Law Group lawyers is documented in an ESPN interview.

Here, try to follow a few of Upshaw’s quotes, the quotes he originates not the ones prepared for him by Lanny Davis or Richard Berthelson, or Doug Ell and you will see a long trail of unmatched nonsensical utterances. In compiling and studying a short list of Upshaw quotes I began with “I have not took my pension yet.” “…I have not took my…?” Then he said “The owner advisors have always been a delaying tactic to slow the process down.” What owner advisors, a tactic, a what? “It was almost totally impossible to testify before Congress…” “almost totally impossible…” what did he say? “Facts and truth is something they can’t stand.” Who the Hell is they? Facts and truth is, is? “My silence on this will say it all” – Gene Upshaw. On August 27, 2006 "Bernie Parrish is a bald-faced liar with every statement he makes," Upshaw said. "When he got off the conference call we had, he lied about everything that was discussed. He's making statements that I operate the union as a goon squad." Roger Staubach and Jim Brown were both in that conference call perhaps they can tell anyone interested what Upshaw was talking about, but I tried to lie “with every statement I make” several days but the truth just kept slipping out. I stand by any statement I made that Upshaw operates “the union as a goon squad” because I believe he does. Upshaw told the Associated Press that the agents “work at his beck and call” and they do, he approves or disapproves of players agents or the agents don’t work in the NFL. Not only does he keep the players misinformed he has the agents telling their naive clients what to believe. If they cross him he suspends them like he did agents Carl Poston and Steve Wienberg. Upshaw also endorses one agent Tom Condon by using Condon as his own agent and endorsing him saying Condon is the best agent he wants to be represented by the best agent.

Shortly I’ll have another essay about Upshaw’s many nonsensical contradictory quotes, it can’t just be ignorance, and they are very likely rooted in too many blows to the head. Sixteen years butting defensive tackles and taking head slaps to the helmet ear hole every other play has got to take a significant toll on any NFL lineman’s brain but particularly when you start with an addled sense of reason from multiple blows to the head and a less than adequate IQ.

The amazing thing about the constant flush of Upshaw, Henderson, and Aiello’s obvious double talk is that 95% of the press simply let them get away with their BS then those writers get invited to Super Bowl party week. Commissioner Pete Rozelle said that Super Bowl week is the week the NFL says thank you to the press and the media with extravagant entertainment perks.

Did you know team doctors pay NFL clubs to be team doctors? Did you know the NFLPA’s Scandal Manager Lanny Davis is on a $55,000 a month retainer to fight off the retired players? Davis plants stories by calling and “rewarding” sports writers who publish his NFLPA/NFL PR BS. Lanny Davis’ job is to put lipstick on all of Upshaw’s pigs. Davis authored “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” so you know Upshaw is in appropriate hands. Did you know Upshaw spent $500,000 of the NFLPA’s (the union’s) money to put an article praising him in Ebony Magazine; making it look like Ebony initiated the article when it was nothing more than a paid advertisement.

Neither Upshaw nor Goodell have any right or authority to spend the assets of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan to hire doctors or anyone else to get themselves out of the trouble from the disability plan fiasco as it continues to come to light. The Retirement Board has not met in recent weeks and they could not have approved any expenditure for new hires so the question is who hired this new layer of Delay, Deny, and Hope They Die doctors and red tape administrators announced on Dec 12, 2007? I got a letter from Upshaw and Henderson about the smallest pebble they threw in their ocean of Alliance BS. The letter said it was announcing the creation of the NFL Player Joint Replacement Benefit Plan. The most interesting thing about the letter was the return address label that showed C/O Aon Consulting in Baltimore. Aon is a Chicago Bears owner’s company that is our retirement plan’s actuary in an obvious conflict of interest. Aon collects more fees from the NFL and NFLPA than any league contractor entity except Groom Law Group.

Calling a new layer of red tape faster and more efficient is more NFLPA/NFL absurdity. The NFLPA’s arrogant lawyer, the Groom Law Group’s Doug Ell blatantly testified to Congress about the NFL disability plan’s red tape problems blocking players from collecting benefits, “One man’s red tape is another man’s due process.” One of the duh… “improvements” announced by Upshaw on Dec 12, 2007 was “electronic voting” meaning having the Retirement Board start using “email” item #4 out of #5 equally lame pieces of PR garbage makes it sound like they must have fired Lanny Davis. Lanny couldn’t even be this ridiculous, could he? Anyone would assume they have already been doing all these mundane clerical tasks. They can’t be serious asking you to "applaud because we are going to start using email" that is as bad as their previous announcement when they said see how magnanimous we are we are going to establish a toll free phone line when in fact they have had 800-372-2000 for at least 15 years they have added 800-635-4625 or made Aon’s 800 number available. The problem has been that they just don't return phone calls.

Doctor shopping has been a problem for players forced to use the NFL’s disability scheme now they are hospital shopping trying to force retired players with joint replacement problems to use one of 14 NFL approved hospitals when there are over 100 qualified hospitals that can accommodate joint replacements and almost any other surgery or treatment required across the country. The reason is control the NFL wants to control the doctors you see and the hospitals who treat you. A discount doctor at a discount hospital sounds like a typical NFL/NFLPA 2nd rate solution for retired players, they always have an underhanded angle.

Nothing has changed except, the owners have ordered Paul Tagliabue back to cover his own tracks because Goodell is proving to be a bush league operator, incapable of scooping up all the droppings left from the Tagliabue’s stroll through the park with his leashed pet. An example of Goodell’s bush league mentality is a $500 political donation he made to Rep. John Conyers on June 26, 2007 instead of showing up on that date to testify as Conyers’ committee had requested.
$500, FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, five hundred dollars, five hundred dollars. I don’t think Rep. Conyers found it to be humorous, perhaps Goodell meant it to be the insult that it was. The idea that Goodell might compromise or influence as courageous and ethical a crusading Congressman as John Conyers shows what a bush league scoundrel the owners have chosen to be their “lead” cheerleader. Perhaps Goodell, whose father was a Congressman, was trying to poison the well, obviously it was an idiotic act. Goodell has disciplined a couple of ax murderers or equally obvious offenses against society, Packman and Vick because he was trapped into it, he couldn’t do anything else, so ESPN and the rest of the NFL PR Machine paint Goodell as defender of the “shield” the new sheriff in town. DEFENDER OF THE “TACKLE” FOOTBALL SHIELD.

Tagliabue is also back as the architect of the NFL’s pay TV network the first step in the owners plan to move most or all NFL games to pay TV. That pay TV plan is now under attack by the US Senate and Congress and so is the Tagliabue/Upshaw game plan to carry out the corrupt Tony Boyle union fiefdom model empowered by using an employee retirement plan to play the current active employees (players) off against the retired employees (players). Boyle was Executive Director/President of the mine workers union, who died in prison convicted of ordering the murder of his union rival and his family. That family was the family of NFLPA attorney Joseph Yablonski who has unbelievably switched to the dark side, the Upshaw/Boyle labor dictator side of union politics.

Upshaw has signed a deal to sell Super Bowl tickets in a partnership with the BET (Black Entertainment Network) network. It is part of the Upshaw/Vincent/Condon campaign to marry the NFLPA to the Gangsta Rap and Hip Hop industry. A marriage that sets up an unprecedented opportunity for money laundering from Washington DC-Baltimore drugs rings, thru Gangsta Rap, Hip Hop industry contacts thru the NFLPA and NFL players who are expected to throw around lots of cash. If two Indianapolis Colts players can get caught up in a Nigerian money laundering scheme in Indiana and an Atlanta Ponzi scheme, whose operators were approved Investment advisors by the NFLPA and the NFL, can scam $185 million including $20 million from NFL players and retired players, a close relationship with Gangsta Rap and the Hip Hop industry can hardly be a positive relationship for NFL players or their union. USA Today pointed out the NFLPA funded a Baltimore Hip Hop festival and I discovered the 2007 NFLPA LM2’s show a $37,500 payment to Doggy Style Music. USA Today missed the Washington Hip Hop festival paid for by the 2005 Player Assistance Trust run by Upshaw and his cronies. Upshaw is close to Rappers Snoop Dog and TI. TI is out of jail on $3 million bond for illegally purchasing silencers and machine guns.

Condon and Upshaw have saved Upshaw’s ass before playing the race card in the past in another desperate situation. An NFL Player Rep from the Cowboys who was there said it was the black player reps who were in the majority and voted Upshaw in when he unseated Caucasian Ed Garvey to become the Executive Director. At the time there was some tension over $1 million in misplaced strike fund money. The twist to this machination is that it is strategy instigated and directed by Upshaw’s white agent Tom Condon. Last April Condon had Troy Vincent tell the world through Sports Illustrated that Upshaw was underpaid at $3+ mil “because he is a man of color.” Vincent failed to note that those paying Upshaw are not the 100% white NFL owners, as he was implying, but are the 70% black players. So in point of fact Vincent was saying Upshaw’s employer, the 70% black current players are underpaying Upshaw because he is a man of color. This makes about as little sense as everything else Condon/Vincent/Upshaw are selling. When I pointed out how stupid Vincent’s argument was they called me a racist, Condon’s plan exactly. Their every PR maneuver including using the race card and “secret side letters” that trump the CBA are nothing more than a continuous stream of attempts to increase the money flowing into the Upshaw/Condon/Vincent cabal’s bank accounts. It has little to nothing to do with race and everything to do with greed.

Bill Parcels takes over the Miami Dolphins and says he doesn’t want any “thugs or hoodlums” on the team. “Thugs and hoodlums” are new terms used by a man with extensive NFL personnel experience. “Thugs or hoodlums” were terms I never heard used to describe NFL players when I was playing nor until recent years after the current NFLPA gang of “thugs and hoodlums” took over the union. I’m sure the Upshaw” Hip Hop/Gangsta Rap fraternity will keep Parcels busy sorting through a quality pool of dog fighting, gun toting, dui driving, strip club shooting, ass showing team, that only gambles on dog fights and don’t take steroids or HGH.

As I have indicated Tom Condon, Upshaw’s agent and Retirement Board member, is the brains of the outfit, race is the “tactic” one of the goals is to gain complete control of the $1.2 billion in our Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. Control of this $1.2 billion is why Upshaw asked the Senate Committee to remove the owners from the Retirement Plan Board and give his NFLPA complete control over the Plan’s $1.2 billion of assets in other words put the insatiable wolves in control of the hen house. Upshaw’s request has nothing to do with disability approvals since both the owners and Upshaw want as much cash as possible to be trapped in a bank where they control it and profit from it. Neither the owners nor Upshaw’s gang want the retirement assets paid out to retired players in benefits, although that is suppose to be the only reason those funds are accumulated and the pension documents state those assets are not to be “enjoyed” by any “employer or the league.” The retirement plan’s $1.2 billion has a financial foot print of $12 billion since the bank holding the $1.2 billion can borrow $12 billion from the Federal Reserve at prime to loan out a above prime to make a profit, a huge profit. Those who have the power to say where that $1.2 billion is placed are romanced by banks and investment companies behind the scenes with millions in favors and perks. Condon and Upshaw want to be in that position and that is the real reason why Condon had Upshaw ask the Senate to remove the owners from the retirement board not because of any disability approval issues. Control of that coveted $1.2 billion in cash is also politically powerful. Even though it is illegal the owners enjoy those $1.2 billion of player retirement plan assets as their disability insurance every day, without paying any premiums for that insurance.

According to Retirement Board Member since 1994, Jeff Van Note’s testimony to a DOL investigator “Van Note has never personally questioned any of the expenses paid by the Plan.” Never questioning any expense paid by the plan in 13 years while the plan spent $42,000 on a single occasion for Super Bowl tickets for unknown parties, they also paid huge legal fees and spent extravagant travel and Christmas party expenses is to say the least unbelievable. The Dept of Labor investigation report says simply “The Board unanimously approves plan expenses. The Plan accountant (Akin, Foster, Nole & Williams, P.A.) has told Van Note that the expenses of the Plan are in line with a plan of its size. Plan expenses are weighted heavily in the area of legal expenses primarily due to the litigation undertaken when former players that have denied disability benefits sue the Plan.” No other plan of the size of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan has legal expenses that are 6% of the 2006 legal bill $3,154,484 and 2005 $2,122,750 and 2004 $3,114,538. Major League Baseball’s retirement plan’s legal expenses average $154,863 per year and were $309,726 in (2003+2004). Some thing is obviously rotten in the NFL retirement plan and rotten in the DOL investigation when it knows and states in its own report the “expenses are weighted heavily in the area of legal expenses” but it pursues a much smaller side issue about $42,000 of Super Bowl tickets that mysteriously nobody on the Retirement Board knows who used them, not even today after the “investigation.” I would characterize this as a white wash on both the legal fees and the Super Bowl tickets. Did any politicians or government officials use any of those Super Bowl tickets? Were they part of a ticket scalping operation?

The union is supposed to protect and advocate for its members not make a small handful of profiteers rich. The story of union power corrupting is and old one. This story has produced its own set of “American Gangster” wannabes. The gangsters wannabes are leading a membership of growing gangster wannabes who are repeatedly involved in shootings, drug problems, dog fighting, hand gun violations, dui’s, probation violations, steroid and hgh abuse. Too many of today’s temporarily rich black players are blowing an unprecedented opportunity to do good but instead are making fools of themselves while hurting their industry. These players should take a good look at and listen to the demeanor of Warrick Dunn, and Mark Mallory the mayor of Cincinnati, Colin Powell, Juan Williams, Rep. John Conyers, Herb Adderley or all or any of my old Browns teammates Walter Beach, Ernie Green, Paul Warfield, Walter Roberts, Dave Raimey, Leroy Kelly, Clifton McNeil, John Wooten, Jim Brown, Charlie Scales, Jim Marshall, Willie Davis, Frank Clarke, Willie Davis, Sam Tidmore, or Ambassador Sidney Williams not only great football players but fine American citizens who all speak and present themselves as intelligent normal gentlemen. I probably have left several old teammates out, but there were none who talked like hoodlums or gangsterish drug culture hip hop promoting thugs as many of today’s players do.

The Atlanta Falcon’s player’s "FREE MICHAEL VICK" t-shirt stunt on Monday Night football was an endorsement of what? Vick’s smart alec, $100 million spoiled brat personal conduct that nearly emptied that stadium in Atlanta on that Monday night by half time. Claiming innocence then admitting putting nooses around dog’s necks was not taken well by the judge or the ticket buying public. It is time the current players take a good look up in the stands at who buys season tickets and at who rent the corporate boxes and whose throats they are trying to cram their Hip Hop gangsterism down led by Upshaw and the NFLPA. The ticket buying fans dropped Vick like a ton of bricks and left the Falcons stadium damn near empty by half time that Monday night and that can happen in every stadium in the league if the current players continue to follow the thuggish Gangsta Rap Hip Hop theme leadership of Upshaw/Vincent/Condon and Berthelsen.

Neither high profile Hot Shot former DOJ attorney Billy Martin nor former Attorney General Eric Holder hired by the NFLPA and the NFL to save Vick and control the Vick public relations damage, have earned their millions in NFL legal fees. Martin first said “Michael Vick is innocent and I can’t wait to prove his innocence in court.” Vick is already in prison and Martin has changed his tune to claiming Vick “has accepted responsibility from the beginning” while the judge has thrown the book at Vick because he did not come clean and did not tell the whole truth as he plea bargained to do. The excuse that poor Michael Vick is a victim of the “culture” he grew up in, is pure ESPN/NFL ass covering tripe. Bill Martin and Eric Holder’s real job is to cover up the gambling aspects involved in this scandal. My sources say there are a large number of current players involved in the gambling on dog fighting side of the scandal. It is a major problem and I don’t think they will be able to cover up this “gambling” scandal the way former DOJ employees William Hundley and Robert Pelequin working with Robert Straus at the Akin Gump Law firm covered up the Nesline D.C. grand jury gambling scandal a few years back.

Now Atlanta owner Arthur Blank is being called a racist for suggesting Vick not “eat too much fried chicken and gain too much weight” while he is in prison. Golfer Fuzzy Zollar was called a racist for his remarks about Tiger Wood and what he would select to eat probably “fried chicken” at a traditional Masters Tournament Dinner at Augusta National Country Club where the previous year’s Champion gets to pick the menu for the following year. Fuzzy’s remark was a bit more pointed than Blank’s. Is Blank a member at Augusta National? Oh, that’s right wasn’t there a court case over allowing Jewish and women members in Augusta National and other exclusive Country Clubs, how did that come out?

"I don't really believe we have a long way to go," Upshaw said. "This is a significant step.
It might not sound like much, but it is a lot. The criticism is what it is. It's just noise. We're
never going to turn the disability plan into a welfare state." “Welfare state”, well that measures right up there with “I have not took my pension yet.” “It might not sound like much, but it is a lot” believe me I'm Gene Upshaw “…it is a lot”, "Would I lie?" Drink the Kool Aid Player Reps and listen to Condon and Vincent and vote me more money, more money, more, more, more for me, me, me.

The NFLPA is Upshaw’s personal “welfare state” making $6.7+ Million per year for sure and
will collect an unknown portion of the $14.5 million of deferred NFLPA compensation. Since Upshaw’s assistant Doug Allen received over $1.9 million of deferred income when he left the NFLPA seemingly running from problems at Players Inc and since Upshaw makes about
6 to 8 times what Allen made from the NFLPA and Players Inc one can confidently assume Upshaw’s greed team will assure that he will get at least another $10 million of the $14.5 million in listed deferred compensation. That could easily be $16.7+million. We’ll know for sure soon since several lawsuits are going to depose Upshaw during their evidence gathering phases. No telling what amounts the secret Vincent/Upshaw side letters add to that total and the side letters will be exposed as well. Upshaw is the second longest reigning dictator in the Western World behind Fidel Castro.

AMERICAN GANGSTER NOT JUST A TV SERIES?

Upshaw is probably the highest paid individual in the NFL. Using his
Condon/Troy Vincent/Richard Berthelsen cabal Upshaw has clandestinely maneuvered himself into being paid more than any player in the NFL. “American Gangster,” “American Gangster” the TV series just keeps coming to mind; will we see the Gene Upshaw story on “American Gangster?” The current phony story circulated by Condon and Upshaw’s entourage headed by Troy Vincent is that most of Upshaw’s compensation is from “ancillary” income whatever that is supposed to be.

AON (an owners company) DICTATES TO UPSHAW, UPSHAW DOESN’T BARGAIN…

The bargaining Upshaw boasts about, and that the Player Reps blindly endorse, consists of his
accepting the Chicago Bears owners actuarial dish which becomes the “employer contribution.” The employer contribution is found on IRS Form 5500, page 2 column 3(b) 2004 $59,494,207 and 2005 $64,769,14.77 and 2006 $67,934,458 and having a secretary type it into the CBA is what the NFLPA calls “collective bargaining.” The Bear's owner an NFL employer, has a direct interest in minimizing the employer contribution, dictates to Upshaw the employer contribution amounts then Upshaw as Tagliabue’s leashed pet uses those cook actuarial amounts verbatim and then calls them a result of “bargaining” rather than results of an “illegal collusion” between Upshaw's union and the NFL owners.

Each year the NFLPA and the NFL file IRS form 5500s that say in Schedule C page 2, and other listings of Chicago Bears owner Patrick Ryan’s Aon Consulting (Corp) “(d) has no relationship to employer, employee organization, or person known to be a party-in-interest” their answer is always the same lie “NONE.” According to NFLPA attorney Yablonski this deliberate false answer denying a conflict of interest “is a crime punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000 and a prison term not to exceed 10 years under 29 U.S.C. # 1131.” At the beginning of 2005 Patrick Ryan owned over 20,000,000 shares of Aon Corporation that owns 100% of Aon Consulting and was paid $5,000,000 in compensation by Aon in 2006 as Aon’s Exec Vice President having stepped down as the companies CEO. How can anyone deny that this plan actuary and Chicago Bear’s owner is a “party-in-interest” to the NFL’s player pensions?

From another perspective of the difference between 2004 and 2005 “employer contributions”
is only $5 million while the increase in the employer contribution from 2005 to 2006 is only an increase $3 million dollars. These are miniscule increases that have no relation whatever to the progress of a booming industry growing at over a billion dollars a year. On top of that the pre 1982 players only receive 34% of these paltry increases based on their $250 per month per year share vs. the current players 66% resulting from their $470 per month per year share. The increase from $200 to $250 per month per year is in fact only a $1.63 per day increase (30.5 days x $1.63 = $50). These are miserable amounts imposed by vindictive people, vindictive NFL owner heirs who try to hide their own inherited vindictiveness behind the contempt of Upshaw/Tagliabue and Goodell who get paid to Delay, Deny, and Hope The Retired Players Die.

USING PERCENTAGES TO COVER UP MINISCULE DOLLAR AMOUNTS…

They try to use percentage comparisons to hide the actual sub-poverty level employer contributions to our pension, our retirement/disability plan while pocketing 60% of the $7.1 billion NFL gross income. No! The players do not get 60% of the gross that is another Upshaw NFLPA myth. It is easy to calculate 53 players per team x 32 teams x $1.4 million per player (according to Forbes Dec 2006) = $2.374 billion plus benefits of $15 million per team x 32 teams (March 2006 NFLPA newsletter) = $480,000,000 which after adding $2.374 billion + $0.480 billion = $2.854 billion and that is only 40% of $7.1 billion not 60% as claimed by Upshaw and the NFLPA and the owners. The missing 20% ($1.4 BILLION) is simply unaccounted for, hidden under the NFL owners fog of double talk created by their PR henchmen Upshaw/Henderson/Aiello/ Goodell/Tagliabue/Jack Kemp NFL/NFLPA lobbyist funded by NFL Youth Football Trust/Groom Law Group/Akin Gump Strauss Law firm NFL/NFLPA lobbyist funded by players retirement plan. Jack Kemp is not a registered lobbyist but he lobby’s for the NFL against the retired players as his recent call to Sen. Tom Coburn shows.

All of the retired player retirement plan issues and contentions add up to less than 0.03% of the NFL’s $7.1 billion gross.

The NFL’s 2007 Gross is $7.1 billion:

1% = $ 71,000,000
2% = $142,000,000
3% = $213,000,000
4% = $284,000,000
5% = $355,000,000

Obviously the total 2006 employer contribution $67,934,458 to the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle
NFL Player Retirement Plan is less than 0.01% of the gross income of the 2007 NFL. Employer contributions being less than 0.01% illustrates what irrationally cheap scoundrels the NFL owners really are. The reason for the owner’s irrational actions is because this is a vendetta situation where today’s owners are trying to get revenge on the early retired players who kicked their father’s butts and tore the pension plan out of their tight fisted monopolistic hides in the 1959 to 1962 era. Now we are in the process of kicking the asses of the heirs of Charles Bidwill, Paul Brown, Wellington Mara, George Halas, the Rooney’s and their new partners.

Upshaw the owners “leashed pet” and the majority of Kool Aid drinking Player Reps who back the owner’s leashed pet have proven they are not competent to manage a union, any union, or any other organization. In fact the current and retired players and everyone else involved would be better off if the NFLPA’s existence was terminated and the baseball, basketball or hockey or
even the ticket takers union or vendor’s delivery union took over representing the NFL players
and retired players and all club employees other than management. Putting the union into a
one or two year Federal Trusteeship could straighten the mess out. Trusteeships have been used when other unions that have acted in bad faith and is another way to reform it. Marvin Miller, the baseball players brilliant pioneering union leader would be an ideal candidate for trustee or advisor to a trustee if he would come out of retirement briefly to do it.

UPSHAW DOES NO BARGAINING, NOT EVEN FOR HIS OWN WAGES

An open question is what actual bargaining does Upshaw do? 1) He doesn’t negotiate the “employer contribution” to the Retirement plan the Bear’s owner’s company Aon dictates that number to him, 2) he doesn’t negotiate players salaries agents do that, 3) he doesn’t represent the retired players (although he falsely claims there are 6,126 union members and he includes a phony number of 3,700 retired players in violation of 29 U.S.C.#1131 because 3,700 retired players did not pay dues and join the NFLPA in 2005 or 2006), 4) Upshaw doesn’t even negotiate his own employment contract, his agent Tom Condon and Troy Vincent the union President do that for him, 5) the union constitution says he has no vote, all he can legally do is recommend, 6) add to this weird NFLPA mess the fact that their President Troy Vincent told CNN's audience that he wants to be on the other side of the bargaining table, he wants to be an NFL employer/owner (when he grows up).

On the other hand 1) Upshaw says he bargains the salary cap, yes that is it he agrees to a cap on players salaries, the upper limit on what players can make. All of this idiocy is legitimized by a complicit segment of the press and media who function in half truths and rarely ever question obvious lies or contradictions fed to them by NFLPA and NFL sources.

On 8/2/2007 the Upshaw’s NFLPA propagandists told Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun that “From April 2006 to March of 2007 the active players gave up about $96.5 million to fund former players’ retirement benefits according to the NFLPA.” On July 27, 2006 Upshaw and Harold Henderson made a press release that claimed they had agreed to a $120 million 2006 contribution that brought the total benefits to $700 million. NFL VP Dennis Curran testified to Congress in writing on 6/26/2007,” the (NFL) Clubs, contributed $126 million to the Retirement Plan. Over the next six years the Clubs obligation will be in excess of $700 million. Last year the plans (he said plans plural) distributed more than $55 million in pensions (NOT IN DISABILITY AND PENSIONS BUT CURRAN TESTFIES $55 million IN PENSIONS) to former players, and approximately $20 million in disability payments.” Of course $55 million plus $20 million = $75 million total, Curran is a lawyer, at what point does a misrepresentation become an attorney’s lie to the congressional committee. Is $10 million enough of a lie or does it take more if you work for the NFL. Curran said the Clubs contributions to the Plan would be $700 million over the next six years. ($700 million divided by 6 years = $116.6 million a year) A threatening letter to me from the NFLPA’s lawyer Joseph Yablonski on 8/29/2006 says on page 2 paragraph 4 “This year the NFLPA negotiated for an additional $250 million on improving retired player’s benefits as part of the 2006 extension of the CBA. This amount includes increases in retired players’ pensions (25% in your case), disability benefits and the new “88” plan.” Upshaw also has made news releases saying that “…active players’ write a check for $82,000 each to fund retired players benefits.” (53 players x 32 teams = 1,696 players x $82,000 = $139,072,000) that is $139 million. In summary that is $96 million, $116.6 million, $120 million, $126 million, and $139 million and $250 million but Upshaw has also said the amount for retired players’ benefits is “$147 million” and “$170 million” all for 2006. Obviously Upshaw and his cabal don’t mind lying about the amount that goes from the leagues $7.1 billion gross to the pre 1982 retired players which is in fact 34% of the $53.3 million paid in 2006 benefits from the $67.9 million employer contribution minus $10 million that goes to disability instead of retirement payments. The result is 34% of $43.3 million that goes to pre 1982 players that is only $14.7 million to the pre 1982 players who fought for and won the retirement plan and gifted it to the current players and all future generations of players. You active players who receive 66% of those benefits are welcome. That again is only $14.7 million out of $7.1 billion that is 0.0005% calling it miniscule is an exaggeration on the upside $14.7 mil divided by 32 clubs= $718,000 less than a million dollars.

“THERE IS ENOUGH MONEY!” UPSHAW

Only $14.7 million for 2006 to pre 1982 retired players is 0.0005% of the NFL’s $7.1 billion gross. Some one needs to tell current (16 year veteran) Player Rep Matt Stover that $14.7 million x 10 doesn’t even come close to adding up to or approaching Stover’s repeated (NFLPA PR line) estimate of costing “billions” to bring benefits up to today’s standards. Upshaw said in January 2006 the league “could not afford” an increase in retired player benefits then in response to a question from Bob Costas in a Sept 2007 HBO interview asked Upshaw, “Is there enough money to fix the problems?” (meaning the pension and disability problems) Upshaw “There is enough money.” Then in his usual disjointed double speak he added “But you can’t just write a check to anybody who walks up.” In other words “there is enough money to fix the problems” but “(you whoever you is) is not going to fix the problems. Like the thousands of us who played the game, including those who won the pension plan between 1959 and 1963 long before Upshaw showed up in the league we are “… anybody who walks up?” In a rare personally authored Upshaw email Feb 6, 2007 he wrote “We are never going to give players pensions they think they should have.” The question is why not? And who is “We” who will never give players pensions they think they should have? I thought he was supposed to be advocating for players not denying and criticizing them. The retired players think their pension should match MLB and the NBA, which is not unreasonable at all. MLB $4.3 billion and NBA $3.6 billion (source Forbes) incomes are lower than the NFL’s $7.1 billion while the MLB and NBA have higher expenses than the NFL. Then referencing the funding of the retirement plan Upshaw says “Don’t forget this money did not come from the owners, it came directly from the active players.” That is an often repeated Upshaw lie told to persuade the active players to support the Upshaw cabal’s tactic of playing active players off against retired players. NFL VP Dennis Curran exposed Upshaw’s lie again on June 26, 2007 saying in his written testimony to Congress “In 2006 alone, the Clubs contributed $126 million to the Retirement Plan.” That was also a lie the employer contribution from the Clubs was $67.9 million in 2006 not $126 million. In verbal testimony to the Congressional Committee June 26, 2007 the NFL’s staff pension expert VP for 20 years, attorney Dennis Curran told the committee that “all of the funding that goes into this plan comes from the NFL Clubs, we put in $126 million in the pension last year and $700 million more over the next 6 years that is $826 million is committed and we (the Clubs) are happy to do that.” Then less than an hour later NFLPA & Retirement Plan attorney Doug Ell testified that “…the money for all these benefits comes out of the active players, I think that is what the law currently recognizes,” a total absolute lie, in fact two lies. Committee Chairwoman Rep. Linda Sanchez told Curran and Ell when opening the hearing that even though they were not under oath the witnesses would be under the same legal penalties to tell the truth as if they were under oath. Obviously either Curran or Ell was lying to the committee, but they were probably both lying Curran about the amounts and Ell about who is funding the retirement plan. Both Curran and Ell are lawyers and should be disciplined as they would in any other legal proceeding, disbarring them would seem appropriate. Their combined testimony displayed the NFL’s utter contempt for the committee, for the congress, and for the laws of the United States of America.

The Retirement Plan’s IRS Form 5500s since 1963 show there have never been any “employee contributions,” that means no money is “coming directly from active players” going into the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan retirement plan and Upshaw’s Feb 6, 2007 statement is another absolute lie.

HOW MANY RETIRED NFL PLAYERS ARE THERE?
• On August 2, 2007 Upshaw told Baltimore Sun sportswriter Jeff Barker that he believes he “still has the backing of most of the 2,700 to 3,000 retired players who are union members.” Carl Francis NFLPA PR spokesman then told the Washington DC press in December 2007 that there are 4,000 retired player union members, which is one more lie. That would be a 30% increase in membership in three months during a period when the retired players are slamming the NFLPA and Upshaw with one complaint of operating a corrupt union after another. Today January 8, 2008 on the NFLPA Web Site they say:
• What does the NFLPA do?
• The NFL Players Association is a union devoted to helping players past, present and future. The NFLPA serves over 1800 active players, 2700 former players, and regulates 800 agents. (The NFLPA now says it is legal for the union to “serve” but it is not legal to represent former players, what ridiculous double talk.)
So today January 8, 2008 the NFLPA says there are 1,800 active players not 2,100 and there are 2,700 former players not 4,000. Even current active players like Kyle Turley and Matt Birk have joined the fight against Upshaw and his cathonic cabal.
And here is another package of lies passed out by Upshaw and his gang: He told Congress that there are 7,900 former players, and the Congressional Research Service used it in the third item in their inquiry letter to the NFLPA dated Oct 11, 2007. The Summary Annual Report of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan say in its March 15, 2007 report that “A total of 9,560 persons were participants in or beneficiaries of the plan at the end of the plan year.” The NFLPA’s 2007 “Truth Squad” white paper said there were only 4,950 players vested in the retirement plan. In a sworn statement to a Federal Court “under penalty of perjury” dated May 16, 2007 Upshaw said there are “13,000 retired NFL players alive today.” In December the NFLPA’s Richard Berthelson told Pittsburgh Times writer Carl Prine that the 13,000 included 2,100 players still playing that leaves a new December 2007 NFLPA count of “10,900”. Staying in character the NFLPA lies when the truth will do, the 13,000 does not include any current NFL players. Doug Ell Upshaw’s NFLPA and Retirement Plan attorney told Congress on June 26, 2007 that there are “8,000 retired players covered by the plan.” NFLPA’s PR shill Carl Francis told the press that ”…severely injured temporarily paralyzed Buffalo Bills player Kevin Everett is only a 2 year player and not vested in the retirement plan” thereby not covered by the NFL Retirement Plan/Disability Plan. Everett was still in the hospital fighting paralysis when Francis made his statement as part of the NFL continuous campaign undercutting retired disabled players rights and was already setting him up to deny him disability benefits though the plans jungle of red tape and loop holes that set up a technical denial as soon as Everett can walk well enough to work as the greeter at a WalMart. Which is it 4,950 or 7,900 or 8,000 or 9,560 or 10,900 or 13,000 or some other number? It is probably under some other pile of Cabal lies.

THE UNFUNDED LIABILITIES SCAM, UPSHAW’S GREAT FLIP FLOP…

Upshaw’s “unfunded liabilities scam” works this way, Upshaw jumps over on the owners side of the “bargaining” table and advocates for the employers against his own union members. Instead of demanding more funding from the owners for future liabilities to cover any unfunded liabilities, he tries to con the players telling them it isn’t “prudent” for the owners to fund those unfunded liabilities. Following that logic it would be even more “prudent” for the owners not to fund any pension plan at all. The job of the union is to use it members collective strength to force the owners to fund our pension plan including increased benefits when they are affordable, as they are now including any unfunded future liabilities. Upshaw’s “prudent” for the union to hold down the owners funding of future liabilities is as disjointed as all Upshaw’s other arguments, making no sense at all. Unions fight for their members to increase retirement benefits except for the NFL players union when its leaders side with the NFL owners, refusing to push the owners to provide increased funding so that retirement benefits will be higher for all retired players. Upshaw instead flip flops over to the employer’s side and argues to his own members that it is “prudent” to hold down employer contributions without admitting that working to lower employer contributions means he is working for the owners against those members, the members to keep benefits below poverty levels. Gee isn’t that the same thing the Bears owner, Patrick Ryan, Aon’s former CEO, Exec VP 22,000,000 share shareholder in 2005 recipient of $5 million a year compensation from Aon, wants to do too. Ryan’s share of the $67.9 million employer contribution to the Retirement Plan is only ($67.9 divided by 32 teams = $2.12 million) $2,121,000 for 2006 he collected $1.9 million from a single NFL Insurance scheme. That is barely $2 million per NFL Club how cheap and vindictive can “they” be? And 66% of that measly amount goes to the current players based on the Tagliabue/Upshaw concocted $470 per month per years vs. the $250 per month per year for pre 1982 players which is only 34% that is (34% x $2,121,000= $718,000) goes to pre 1982 players.

PARTIAL LIST OF NFLPA/UPSHAW SCANDALS

This incomplete simple list of scandals and scandalous incidents that have occurred under Gene Upshaw’s watch shows his interests and an uncanny ability to spawn scandals from turning down Mike Webster in a shameless “abuse of discretion” to a series of Retirement Boards abuses of discretion in scandalous disability denials of Mercury Morris, Brent Boyd, Dave Pear, Wayne Hawkins, Conrad Dobler, Dennis Byrd, Johnny Unitas, Brian Demarco, Curt Marsh, Victor Washington, Delvin Williams, Andre Waters, Night Train Lane, Ralph Heywood, Doug Betters, Lloyd Mumphord, Chris Goetz, Mike Montler, Mike Utley, Daryl Johnson, Mel Renfro, Willie Wood, Charlie Hennegan, Bake Turner, Don Buroughs, Joe Perry, Valerie Thomas fired and persecuted and the NFLPA worked with Sig Hyman to sell the players bad choices on pension plan. The bad choices were concocted by NFL insurance and pension consultant Sig Hyman, then sold to the retired players based on their trust of the NFLPA and the NFL to be acting in their best interests, obviously some thing was amiss in this deal too and a full investigation of the NFLPA/Hyman campaign is warranted:

(This list of scandals is only partially complete hardly begun) Houston Super Bowl Party, NFLPA stiffs a lady for $35,000, controlled arbitration process a kangaroo court the NFLPA pays the arbitrators and provides extravagant perks to arbitrators like Roger Kaplan who rule over 92% in favor of the NFLPA but like the Retirement Board voting record the results are jealously guarded, hidden from the public, the government, the players and the public.

23. Agent Tank Black went to prison for scamming Player Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard and other players out of $13+ million NFLPA used this case to get control of the agents then uses the agents to control the players.
24. Upshaw gives himself an illegal $100,000 loan former Dept of Justice employees William Hundley and Robert Peloquin enlist labor CPA firm Thomas Havey LLP’s star CPA Frank Massey to argue the $100,000 was severance pay Upshaw took without being fired, the DOL and IRS accepted the absurd argument because of the Thomas Havey reputation
25. As a reward for saving him from criminal charges over that illegal $100,000 union loan, the limit is $2000, Upshaw hired Thomas Havey LLP to be NFLPA’s accountants
26. NFLPA’s accounting firm was Thomas Havey LLP until 2003 when Frank Massey and Grappalo were convicted of aiding an AFL-CIO iron workers union leader of hiding over $1 million of personal expenses in union expenses and helping embezzle funds from that union the Havey DC office closed Upshaw was forced to fire Havey as our NFLPA accountants
27. In 2006 in-house NFLPA lawyer Tom Depaso told Bruce Laird that in house accountant William Garner keeps two sets of books
28. Upshaw hires former Thomas Havey accountant Charles Ross in 2007 to replace NFLPA in house accountant William Garner who resigned in the LM2 mutiny to go to work for Rep Denny Hoyer.
29. An impending scandal is the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan Audit by Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams PA who’s deceptive audits 2004, 2005, and 2006 never include the number of beneficiaries and classes of beneficiaries covered by the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan which makes the Audit another NFL sham.
30. Upshaw crony agent Sean Jones churned player clients stock accounts for six figure losses. The NASD caught up with him and Upshaw was forced to suspend his “buddy” as an NFLPA approved agent
31. Sean Jones also managed NFLPA investments for Upshaw for $60,000 a year until he became another Upshaw crony embarrassment
32. Sean Jones has in 2007 been indicted for defrauding mortgage companies out of $40+ millions (charges were dropped without explaination); the question remains does Jones have anything to do with the NFLPA office building deals? Did Jones advised Upshaw on NFLPA mortgage deals on its Washington, DC office building machinations?
33. An Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player NFL Health insurance scheme failed Upshaw said he is "making too much money and can’t rock the boat" to get Kenyan Rasheed hospital bills paid by the NFL. Rasheed threatened to sue the NFL/the league and Upshaw/NFLPA paid him off.
34. Conflicts of interest are standard procedure for the NFL Player Retirement Plan with NFL Super Agent Tom Condon and Atlanta Falcon’s announcer Jeff Van Note and crony totally unqualified recently fired from Notre Dame Board for domestic violence legal problems and is suffering through business bankruptcy and foreclosure problems Dave Duerson functioning as Board Members and a Chicago Bears owner Patrick Ryan is controlling the employer contribution as the Retirement Plan actuary.
35. ULLICO is a stock scandal involving the heads of almost all AFL-CIO unions tied to Global Crossing stock scam
36. ULLICO pays Upshaw director payments and stock options, caught in the scandal Upshaw did not exercise his stock options or that is what was reported
37. ULLICO gives multimillion dollar life insurance policies to Upshaw and others involved in the scandal
38. Aon Corp was ordered to pay $190 million restitution to states of NY, IL, and CN for cheating customers while Aon was and remains our NFL retirement plan actuary in an egregious conflict of interest that Upshaw knows about and covers up
39. Aon Corp is our Player’s NFL Pension actuary owned by Chicago Bears owner a top executive of Aon is Pres George Bush’s 1st cousin Jim Pierce while Patrick Ryan Aon former CEO and Exec Vice Pres one of Bush’s largest fundraisers Aon is protected by Bushies with the DOL and DOJ
40. NFLPA and NFL endorse and listed on the NFLPA website Kirk Wright and partner as reliable investment advisors for players to do business with.
41. DOJ tipped off Tagliabue and Upshaw so they could get out of the country to Europe to be unavailable while the FBI arrested Kirk Wright in Miami for running a $185 million Ponzi operation approved by NFLPA and NFL as an investment advisor
42. Kirk Wright and NFLPA and NFL have been sued by Blaine Bishop, Steve Atwater and several other NFL players for various roles those players being embezzled for over $20 million from those NFL players.
43. Callan Associates our NFLPA current pension Investment Manager, was sued by San Diego Public Employees Union pension trust for using a kick back scheme but Callan remains our pension's trusts investment manager today even though our strange Retirement Plan Financial Statement shows an unexplained $138,000,000 investment loss between 2004 to 2005
44. A Mass exodus occurred in 2006 in Players Inc because of new LM2 DOL reports expanded from 60 pages to 770 pages plus of information; Doug and Pat Allen, Howard Skall, William Gaines, Clay Walker, Dave Meggysey, resigned after a decade employed by the NFLPA even Brig Owen long time Upshaw crony resigned from a committee
45. NFL player’s Agents work at Upshaw’s “beck and call” according to a 2007 press quote of Upshaw by the AP
46. Upshaw made an "unprecedented" attempt according to Goodell to give $800 million of players salary cap back to owners to help build a new stadium in New York/New Jersey.
47. Mike Webster "abuse of discretion" by Retirement Board Members case embarrassed the NFLPA and the NFL who said in unison they would abuse future players as they had abused Webster and his family if any of them bring a similar case up in the future.
48. Players Inc/Upshaw pays Maurice Clarett $49,519 for “Player Marketing” in 2006 when Clarett never played in the NFL and was in prison for parole violations when the check was issued
49. Active player LaVar Arrington said the NFLPA operates like the Mafia prior to his testimony before a Congressional committee.
50. The owners pay Upshaw over $1 million a year in an illegal two step maneuver running the money through an owner’s corporation named NFL Ventures Inc to Players Inc to Upshaw’s bank account. Goodell is the CEO of NFL Ventures.
51. The disgraceful denial and abuse of retired disabled players such as Brent Boyd and Dave Pear and Brian Demarco begins with Upshaw’s NFLPA appointees to the retirement board, Tom Condon and Jeff Van Note.
52. A Doug Allen email admits that only 358 retired players out of 13,000 living retired players on Players Inc's records (Upshaw has given a sworn statement on 13,000 living retired players) receive any payments from Players Inc promotions and Player marketing. Upshaw’s explanation is that 12,642 retired players are “dog food” that he can’t market.
53. Hires Dave Duerson to be a players representative on the Retirement Board immediately after Duerson was fired from a Board at Notre Dame University for domestic violence problems following Duerson’s business bankruptcies and foreclosure on his million dollar home.
54. NFLPA attorney Doug Ell knowing of Duerson’s problems from newspaper articles in the weeks preceding the hearings, sold Duerson to the House sub-committee as the model of Retirement Board trustee members as a “successful” businessman with exceptional credentials to be a Retirement Board Member
55. Upshaw hires Scandal Manager Lanny Davis for a retainer of $55,000 per month to put lipstick on all the pigs Upshaw has created running his dictatorship
56. Lanny Davis job includes calls to sportswriters planting pro-NFLPA/Upshaw to try to counter retired player critics articles and emails and quotes in the 170+ newspaper articles over 400 pages of pro-retired player anti-NFLPA/NFL stories in every major newspaper in America along with HBO and ESPN TV exposé’s and countless talk radio shows across the USA.
57. Upshaw pays Ebony magazine $500,000 for an advertisement that looks like a regular Ebony feature article pumping him up. Did the Executive Committee approve spending NFLPA money on this political advertisement on Upshaw’s behalf? Why Ebony why not Sports Illustrated or ESPN magazine?
58. Upshaw and Vincent guided by agent Tom Condon try to make the criticism of Upshaw and Vincent, Condon, and Berthelson a racial issue, a desperate maneuver by a desperate gang trying to save their own greedy hides.
59. On July 27, 2006 Harold Henderson and Upshaw announced “…the recently extended NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and will cost approximately $120 million per year, bringing the annual cost of NFL player benefits to $700 million per year” while announcing a 25% increase he didn’t mention that only amounts to $1.63 per day increase. He forgot to check his story out with NFL VP Dennis Curran before he made his announcement.
Henderson also told these typical twisting lies in the press release. "We are proud to
have the most extensive benefits package in professional sports, (FOR CURRENT NOT RETIRED PLAYERS AND NOT A SINGLE SPORTS WRITER ASK WHAT THE HELL DOES MOST EXTENSIVE MEAN? DOES IT EFFECT PRE 1982 OR JUST CURRENT PLAYERS?) " said HAROLD HENDERSON, NFL executive vice president of labor relations/chairman of the NFL Management Council. "These improvements are consistent with our commitment in every negotiation to address post-career issues and improve the benefits of retired players (HE MEANS CURRENT PLAYERS AFTER THEY RETIRE NOT PRE 1982 ALREADY RETIRED PLAYERS). No other industry reaches back like this to take care of former employees."

February 6, 2007 Upshaw agreed with Henderson, as usual saying in an email “When I left the game in 1982 it was worth $50,000. Why is it now worth 125, because of the improvements we have made in the plan. No other industry does this. None.”

Really…“No other industry reaches back…None” What about GE that is part of several more important industries than football and the following November 14, 2007 Pension Rights Center news release puts their often repeated Harold Henderson-Greg Aiello- NFL Office/NFLPA Upshaw lie in perspective.

Pension Rights Center
November 14, 2007
General Electric Announces Increase to Pensions of 130,000 Retirees
Thanks to the hard work of many activists, including Helen Quirini, Kevin Mahar, and Bill Freeda, GE retirees will receive a pension increase beginning in December. According to a press release, many retirees will receive a 10 to 20 percent increase that will most benefit those who have been retired from the company for 15 years or more. Still, the retirees say this increase isn't enough. This is only the eighth increase the company has made to retiree pensions since 1980, and the company has not instituted annual cost-of-living increases that would adjust retiree pensions for inflation.
Obviously GE reaches back and so do numerous other unions which shows the lack of credibility of Upshaw and the NFL spokesman Harold Henderson and Greg Aiello.

Here is another secret NFL/NFLPA plan waiting in the wings for the right moment to be implemented. ARTICLE XLVIII-E NFL PLAYER BENEFITS COMMITTEE
Section 1. Establishment: The parties agree to consider and, if feasible, jointly establish, as soon as
administratively feasible, a labor-management committee as described in the Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978 that is exempt from Section 302 of the LMRA pursuant to Section 302(c)(9) of the LMRA. If established, the labor-management committee will be known as “NFL Player Benefits.” The NFLPA and the Management Council will have the right to appoint an equal number of voting members of NFL Player Benefits. Prior to the first meeting of NFL Player Benefits, the advisors to NFL Player Benefits will be the same as the advisors to the NFL Player Second Career Savings Plan.

The $17 million dollar so called Alliance has employed the disgraced Dr. Elliot Pellman as the Director of its strange 14 hospital Joint Replacement scheme. Pellman was exposed by the NY Times as a fraud who falsified his resume to make himself appear to be an expert on brain injuries/concussions. In 1993 Tagliabue hired Pellman as a brain injury expert and appointed him to be the Director of the NFL "Mild" Trauma Committee. Dr. William Barr a well know and real brain injury expert resigned over one of Pellman's 13 flawed studies since 1993. Those flawed biased studies that had players suffering concussions returning to play at the convenience of the teams without regard for the well being of the players. Pellman was totally unqualified for the position that Tagliabue put him in. Attorney and former Director of the NY Brain Injury Association Michael Kaplan is another expert on the Pellman Brain Trauma Committee fiasco as is best selling author Chris Nowinski who's book and activism brought the fraudulent aspects of the NFL Pellman concussion era to light.

Pellman is now being paid out of the announce $17 million dollars. In addition Goodell claims his Alliance hired an outside expert to set up their "new" structure and procedures like using an 800 number, and having the retirement board use "email". That outside expert Goodell hired is Aon Consulting our retirement Plan actuary that is already in an egregious conflict of interest being Chicago Bears owner Patrick Ryan's company. Ryan/Aon is paying $190 million in restitution to NY, IL, & CN and was forced by Elliot Spitzer to write a letter apologizing to Aon's customers for "cheating them", Ryan was also ordered to end Aon's conflict of interest business practices but that did not move Aon enough to have them end their conflict of interest operations in the NFL. Aon Consulting owned by Aon Corporation already collected millions of dollars in fees from our Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. In fact Aon where Ryan collected $5 million in compensation as Exec VP in 2005 after stepping down as CEO, as well as owning 20,000,000+ shares of Aon collects more fees from the NFL including our retirement plan than any other entity except for the Groom Law Group who has collected over $20 million in fees since 1993. Now Aon working with Goodell and Upshaw and their Alliance will be milking millions more from this new Alliance PR scam.

A hint about how Upshaw operates was given when in 1988 acclaimed investigative writer Dan Moldea ask Upshaw about his relationship to Mafia front financier Allen Glick. Moldea wrote in his book Interference page 257 last paragraph that Upshaw told him "I knew Allen Glick, but I never invested any money with him. There were no documents signed." That's comforting to know "There were no documents signed." That seems to be the current Upshaw NFL/NFLPA standard of operation. If you can hide it or cover it up give them five different numbers keep it complicated and confused you can get away with anything and make money at it.

Section 2. Function: NFL Player Benefits, through an entity to be called NFL Player Benefits Administration, if established, will provide the services now provided by the Plan Office in Baltimore and such other services as the parties may direct it to perform. NFL Player Benefits Administration, if established, will also pay directly the expenses of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, the NFL Player Second Career Savings Plan, the NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan, the NFL Player Annuity Program, the 88 Plan, and the Health Reimbursement Plan, including investment, legal, actuarial, consulting, audit, and other expenses, except expenses that cannot be so paid by law, to the extent deemed appropriate by NFL Player Benefits.

The question is why?

This Oped by Bernie Parrish, NFL retired player’s advocate. 202-386-6400

Upshaw History

3 STRIKES FOR UPSHAW?
Remains of Upshaw's ex-wife found
AFTON, Okla. -- A skeleton found last month under a fence on rural property was identified as the ex-wife of Gene Upshaw.
The cause of Jimmye Lee Hill-Upshaw's death is under investigation, said Kym Koch, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
It does not appear the 59-year-old woman was the victim of foul play, Koch said.
Hill-Upshaw married Gene Upshaw in 1967 and later divorced. They had one son, Eugene Upshaw III. Gene Upshaw is the executive director of the NFL Players Association.
The woman did not have a known permanent address, which made it difficult to identify her, Koch said. Authorities believe she visited Grand Lake Mental Health Clinic in Afton earlier this year.
An Afton family member found the skeletal remains Sept. 23.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2002, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

MUR 4210
Respondents: Hoyer for Congress,
William I. Garner, Jr., treasurer (MD)
Complainant: FEC initiated (RAD)
Subject: Failure to file 48 hour
reports
Disposition: $15,000 civil penalty
Note: William Garner is the name of the in-house accountant who recently left the NFLPA, within some close proximity of the new Dept of Labor-IRS 2006 LM2’s vastly more extensive reporting system and references to two sets of Players Inc books have emerged. I feel sure it is the same William Garner.

AN ODD WAY TO MIND YOUR BUSINESS
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: April 8, 1990 Page: 42 Section: SPORTS
In 1985, Gene Upshaw, then in his second year as executive director of the National Football League Players' Association, was in financial trouble.
According to court documents filed under penalty of perjury by his first wife, Jimmye, and obtained by the Globe, Upshaw owed the Internal Revenue Service $150,000 in back taxes, was in default to banks in the Oakland area on his home and wife's car and, as stated in records, owed more than he was earning. Jimmye Upshaw told the court in her pre-divorce statement that for four consecutive years the banks threatened to foreclose on their primary home because her husband was in arrears on mortgage payments, that her husband failed to report $300,000 of income from the Los Angeles Raiders and that he had reached an agreement on the "unreported" income to pay it back in equal installments over a six-year period. Mrs. Upshaw also claimed that her husband was making $70,324 in net income in 1985 but owe d $26,600 in annual payments on properties in California and Virginia .
Included in the divorce filings was an NFLPA financial statement through Dec. 20, 1985, which says Upshaw made $109,285 from the NFLPA. But in the latest financial filings with the Department of Labor, the NFLPA lists Upshaw's income for its 1985 fiscal year stretching from March 1, 1985, to Feb. 28, 1986, as more than $207,000, a difference of nearly $100,000. So what was Upshaw earning in the course of 12 months?
In September 1988, this reporter wrote a story in the Globe that said the Department of Labor was investigating alleged inconsistencies in the NFLPA's annual financial returns, and that the focus was on Upshaw. It also stated the reports said the matter could be passed on to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
For two days prior to publishing that story, this writer tried to contact Upshaw and/or anyone connected to the union who would talk on the record. Frank Woschitz, public relations director for the NFLPA, said he did not know Upshaw's whereabouts. This reporter told Woschitz the story would be delayed another day until someone came forward from the NFLPA hierarchy to discuss the charges. The next day, six phone calls to union officials went unanswered.
After the story appeared, Upshaw offered a statement saying there was no investigation, just a routine audit of the union, and it had nothing to do with him. Five months later, Upshaw called a press conference at the union's Washington headquarters to say he had been exonerated, calling the process a "review" and not an investigation.
Subsequent inquiries by the Globe to the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice showed there was an "investigation" of Upshaw, and that the Department of Labor passed its findings on to the Department of Justice, which, after three months of investigation, decided not to proceed.
At the time, Plato Cacheris, a top Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw, said the matter involved $100,000 listed "incorrectly" in the NFLPA's financial books as a "loan" when Upshaw was actually owed the money by the union as back pay and vacation pay. Under law, no union can loan an officer $2,000 or more without fines and penalty. The man who filed the financial reports for the union, Bill Garner, has worked for the NFLPA for years. Did Garner not know it was illegal to make a $100,000 loan? Did it take three years for the union to discover the mistake, with the help of the Department of Labor?
In the past year, the NFLPA has filed amended reports for 1985, 1986 and 1987. It filed in June 1989 for those three years. It filed another set for those three years in September 1989, and now it says it will refile for the same years this month. That will place on the record four reports each for the years 1985, 1986 and 1987. Which ones are correct? By law, intentionally filing an incorrect financial report (called an LM-2), could subject the unions to fines and possible jail time for those responsible.
When the Globe story ran in 1988 concerning the possible investigation of Upshaw and union funds, Upshaw said his contract was for five years and called for a $125,000 annual salary starting in 1985. Upshaw said the agreement gave him 10 percent annual increases.
Yet the NFLPA financial statements regarding Upshaw's pay, given to the court in California under pain of perjury, list his salary at $109,285, or $9,083 per month.
The same financial statement says Upshaw was owed $140 in vacation pay and $143 in sick leave. It mentioned no other money owed to Upshaw. The financial statement is supposed to contain all money due Upshaw, so the judge, in assessing the settlement of the divorce, has all income figures at hand. Cacheris said in 1989 that Upshaw was owed the money in deferred salary by the NFLPA. The NFLPA statement given to the California court does not list $100,000 owed to the union executive director.Upshaw's contract was done.
"I was a go-between," Condon explained. "I did not really negotiate the contract. I went back and forth between the executive committee and Gene trying to get something that was fair. I called the other unions to see what their guys executive directors were getting paid. As I remember it, we gave Gene a $5,000 bonus, then $120,000 for that year, making it $125,000 for that year, then 10 percent a year after that."
Condon was then asked specifically, "Were there any other bonus arrangements in the contract?" He answered then, "No, the other stuff was about severance, insurance and things like that."
However, when the Globe interviewed Upshaw and assistant executive director Doug Allen in the union's Washington office three weeks ago, Upshaw said he got a $40,000 bonus, the difference between his one-year contract that had expired (it called for him to be paid $85,000) and the new contract calling for $125,000. When he was asked to show the contract, Upshaw refused. When he was asked to show the work papers between Upshaw and the Departments of Labor and Justice, Upshaw again refused.
The following week, when the Globe contacted Condon about the $40,000 bonus Upshaw received in 1984, he said there was such a bonus, and in fact, he said he had a copy of the contract in his office. Upshaw and Allen both said the week before there was no "contract," just letters of agreement. Condon said he would produce the contract. After several calls, he said he was having trouble finding the contract.
The questions I have include: Why should Upshaw get a $40,000 bonus when he was already getting a $35,000 raise? Why would the union give him a $5,000 bonus when it was already giving him a $40,000 bonus? Why wasn't this agreement put in writing? Why would Upshaw fail to show his contract when one of the primary functions of the NFLPA is to give contracts to agents and players so they can compare salaries of other players, to be used in negotiations against the owners?
In trying to decipher the LM-2 financial returns of the NFLPA, the Globe hired Gary Edwards of Hanover, a certified public accountant with 16 years of government service before he entered private practice. The last five years he worked for the government, Edwards' area of expertise was union LM-2s. In studying the returns of the NFLPA, Edwards said they were the worst he had ever seen, and that there were easily 100 inconsistencies in the reporting from one year to another.
Under the direction of Upshaw and Allen, the NFLPA led the players into a 24-day strike in 1987. During that period, the NFLPA told the players everyone had to tighten their financial belts and be prepared to take some losses. Each player lost four game checks, or 25 percent of his income -- on average, about $60,000 per player. Top players like Joe Montana and Dan Marino lost in the area of $200,000 each. Union workers who talked to the Globe said the office help was told they, too, had to take less.
Yet, according to the LM-2s on file by the NFLPA, both Upshaw and Allen received substantial increases in 1987 over the year before and, during the same period, the union purchased three new cars worth a total of $69,000 for its officials.
After the strike of 1987 ended poorly for the players, the union leadership pursued their cause in courts. A court decision last year went against the union in its attempt to get unrestricted free agency. In November, Upshaw announced that the union was going to decertify and, in effect, become a trade association.
Last week, the NFL owners went to court to try to get a judge to decide whether the NFLPA is a union or a trade association.
At the time of the strike, the players were paying in excess of $2,000 annual dues. Between the dues and royalties received from NFL Properties, the union has been averaging in the area of $4 million a year in income. The record shows that during the last two years, with a total income in the area of $8 million, the union gave $400 in charitable contributions.
As part of a trade association, the players, according to statements made by the NFLPA, will be asked to contribute $1,000 per man next season. As a trade association, the NFLPA will not have to give a public accounting, as unions must to the Department of Labor.
In early 1988, George Martin of the New York Giants and Mike Davis of the Los Angeles Raiders interviewed some people at NFLPA headquarters in Washington to get a better handle on how Upshaw and Allen were running the union day to day. Martin was president of the union. Davis was a vice president and a former teammate of Upshaw.
According to the workers, they believed their comments to Martin and Davis would be kept confidential. Two women, Rita Raymond and Valerie Thomas, both shop stewards in the union office, cooperated. Neither was a disgruntled employee. Both enjoyed working with the NFLPA, liked Upshaw personally, and had no idea that helping Martin and Davis would lead to their being fired.
Thomas and Raymond were told they were being laid off as a reduction in force. Weeks later, they were informed they were fired for slandering the union and that they would not receive any benefits. Thomas and Raymond went to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled that they should be restored to their previous employment status with full benefits and back pay. The union to this day refuses to put them back on the payroll, and Thomas has since filed a $5 million lawsuit against the NFLPA and another local union.
Given all of the above facts and things told to the Globe by former union workers and former players, it looks to me as though Upshaw ran the union as if it were his own business, he was often not at the office, and Allen ran the show for him.
These people say they are afraid to speak on the record, that they do not want to get involved.
"These people Upshaw and Allen always seem to get it their way," said one former union employee. "Like during the strike, they had those NLRB people National Labor Relations Board employees in our office running around like they were conducting the strike. Sometimes they even helped dictate some of the press releases we sent out. Gene is big in Washington . Don't kid yourself.
From: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1996/mar96.pdf

NFL UNION HIT BY SUIT FIRED WORKERS SEEK $7.5M
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: May 23, 1989 Page: 65 Section: SPORTS
Two former employees of the National Football League Players Association have sued executive director Gene Upshaw and the union for $7.5 million, charging abusive discharge and defamation.
"We are also going to amend the complaint to include racial and sex discrimination charges," said John Fauntleroy, a Washington , D.C. , attorney who represents Valerie Thomas, a former NFLPA personnel analyst and the plaintiff in the suit along with Rita Raymond. We didn't want it to come to this," said Ron Thomas, Valerie Thomas' husband, who is acting as her co-counsel. "The union does not leave us any other choice. Valerie has already gone to arbitration and won her case. She was supposed to be reinstated with back pay, but the union refuses to do it."
According to Ron Thomas, his wife was let go in March 1988 even though she had seniority.
"Gene Upshaw told her he was letting her and some of the other women in the office go due to cutbacks following the player strike of 1987," Ron Thomas explained. "Then a month later, he sent Valerie another letter saying she was let go for just cause. It was at this point that Valerie decided not to just sit there and take it."
Reportedly, the union let go six women, five of whom were black. Three to date have reached out-of-court settlements. Thomas and Raymond went to arbitration and won their case, which sought reinstatement and back pay.
"Then the union refused to take them back," said Ron Thomas, "so now we have taken the case to federal court." Thomas says his wife has also filed race- and sex-discrimination charges against the union and Upshaw with the Equal Employment Opportunity office in Washington .
"Almost everyone let go was a woman and black," says Thomas. "It didn't matter that they were in a union and had a collective bargaining agreement. My wife is a shop steward, and within six months after the strike, all three women that were shop stewards were let go.
"Gene Upshaw is a powerful man in Washington . He sits on the AFL-CIO national board, yet he didn't pay any attention to the rights of my wife and the other women."
In 1987, under Upshaw's leadership, the players in the National Football League went on strike for 24 days. When the season ended, many of the players were disgruntled and stopped paying dues. Others said too much money was being spent in the union office, compared with other professional sports unions.
Cutbacks came at the NFLPA office in March, but Thomas and Raymond maintain that the white management people were protected, and the black office workers were let go, despite protection afforded them in their collective bargaining agreement with the union.
"There is a clear pattern in what happened," said Ron Thomas, "and when this case gets to court, we will show what really happened.

QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED NFLPA CASE MAY BE CLOSED, BUT DETAILS OF EVENTS BEG FOR EXPLANATION
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: February 19, 1989 Page: 56 Section: SPORTS
There are still many questions about the audit/review/inquiry/investigation of Gene Upshaw and the National Football League Players Association, but unfortunately, it appears the answers won't be forthcoming now that the case is closed.
This is nothing new with the NFLPA, certainly in regard to getting at the truth or the right answers. This reporter wrote a story last Sept. 11 saying the union, and Upshaw in particular, was under investigation by the US Department of Labor. The story, quoting unidentified Washington sources, said the investigation was probing possible misuse of union funds by Upshaw. The story also speculated that the matter could be turned over to the Department of Justice.
Last week Upshaw called a press conference in Washington to announce he had been exonerated by the US Attorney's office, and said his problems were the fault of the Boston Globe and Fort Wayne ( Ind. ) Sentinel, who were "trying me by headlines." The Globe had only one story about Upshaw and his problems with union funds. It was half the length of a normal news/sports story.
On Sept. 9, two days before the story ran, this reporter called Upshaw at his Washington office and gave the information to NFLPA public relations director Frank Woschitz. Woschitz was asked to get Upshaw or any other officer in the union to respond. Woschitz said he would try. This reporter told Woschitz that he would hold the story for 24 hours, waiting for a reply. More than a dozen phone calls were placed to Upshaw, union headquarters and Woschitz over the next 24 hours, and none were returned. To this day, they haven't been returned.
The day after the story, Upshaw initially said there was no truth to it. Later he acknowledged the union was undergoing "a routine audit" and that he was not the focus.
In December, the Fort Wayne paper ran a story saying that Upshaw was about to be indicted on tax evasion charges. Early in January, TV reporter Tony Martinez of ABC's Washington affiliate aired a three-part series on Upshaw and his troubles with union money.
Last week Martinez wanted to be assigned to the press conference at which Upshaw announced he had been "exonerated," but wasn't invited. "Doug Allen union vice president called my station and said if I was at the press conference, Gene would refuse to speak," said Martinez .
Martinez was not assigned, but it was a smart play by the union, because if he had been there, Martinez would have known enough to ask Upshaw the following:
Is it not a fact that it was more than a routine audit by the Department of Labor? Is it not a fact that the Department of Labor found enough questions to forward the case to the US Attorney's office in Washington ? Didn't the US Attorney's office conduct an investigation that lasted from October to February? Didn't the investigation focus on $100,000 of union money that went to Upshaw in 1987? Didn't Upshaw initially tell the Department of Labor investigators the money was a loan? Didn't Upshaw later switch his story to say that it was not a loan but deferred compensation owed him? Didn't the Department of Labor investigators tell Upshaw it was illegal for a union official to take an interest-free loan? Isn't it true that Upshaw did not pay tax es on the $100,000 until it became part of a settlement with the US Attorney's office?
Interesting questions. Still claiming it was a routine audit, Upshaw hired Plato Cacheris, one of Washington 's most prominent attorneys. Cacheris' clients have included Spiro Agnew and Fawn Hall.
Last week Cacheris said the investigation focused on the $100,000 of union money, and that when the union adjusted its LM2 forms (annual financial reports to the Department of Labor) to change the loan to deferred compensation, the US Attorney's office closed the investigation, considering the reporting error by the union an "honest mistake."
At an NFLPA press conference three days before the Super Bowl in Miami , union counsel Dick Berthelsen said the organization's officers, including Upshaw, did not take any pay during the 24-day player strike of 1987. Under Upshaw's direction, the striking players lost four paychecks, or one-fourth of their salaries, an average of more than $50,000 per man.
The amended annual NFLPA financial report indicates that Upshaw not only took all of his salary in 1987, but received a raise from $157,500 to $164,500, not counting the $100,000 in deferred compensation.
According to the most recent NFLPA statements, Upshaw's total compensation from the NFLPA in the strike year of 1987 was $264,500, compared to $157,000 the previous year. According to the LM2 report, Allen, Upshaw's righthand man, received $43,640 in 1986 and $67,350 in 1987.
Perhaps, as they claim, the union officers did not receive any pay during the strike, but their financial reports indicate they more than made up for it during the course of the year.

UPSHAW FOCUS OF INQUIRY
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: September 11, 1988 Page: 57 Section: SPORTS
The National Football League Players Association reportedly is being investigated by the US Department of Labor for possible wrongdoing.
Washington sources say the focus of the investigation is union executive director Gene Upshaw. The sources claim Upshaw illegally misused union funds and tried to conceal his actions. One source familiar with the investigation said Upshaw, reportedly with the knowledge of union board members, received an increase in salary but never revealed it and reportedly didn't pay taxes on the raise. Sources say the Labor Dept. is completing its investigation and will decide whether to place the matter in the hands of the Justice Dept., the Internal Revenue Service, or both.
Upshaw, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, has headed the union for six years. Last year he led the players in a 24-day strike. At present, there is no collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players, and the union is trying to pursue a remedy through the courts.
The Globe contacted NFLPA headquarters Friday and asked for a response to the reports from Upshaw or any union official. NFLPA director of public relations Frank Woschitz said he would try to contact Upshaw and get a response. Yesterday there was no response from Upshaw or any other union official.
TAX EVASION CHARGES AGAINST NFLPA'S UPSHAW?
Author(s): Associated Press Date: January 13, 1989 Page: 76 Section: SPORTS
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, faces possible tax evasion charges, according to a published report yesterday.
The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, citing a congressional source familiar with a Labor Department investigation of the union's financial records, reported that the Justice Department is considering criminal charges against Upshaw. The newspaper said a Justice Department internal memo "strongly suggests" that there is sufficient evidence to indict the former player.
The Boston Globe reported on Sept. 11 that the Labor Department was investigating Upshaw for possible misuse of union funds. That story quoted sources saying the Labor Department was considering turning the matter over to the Justice Department.
Upshaw was not available for comment, but a union source called the story "old hat."
A Washington television station, WJLA, reported Wednesday night that the Labor Department concluded its year-long audit of NFLPA records and passed some of the information to the Justice Department.
At issue, the source said, is a "six-figure loan" to Upshaw from the NFLPA. "There is some discrepancy about whether the money was a loan, salary, compensation or whatever."
The source also said it is likely the Justice Department will recommend that the Labor Department proceed with a determination on possible civil charges against the NFLPA. Union officials last year confirmed that the association was being audited, but referred to it at various times as "routine" and "random."
"We've been fully cooperating with a routine audit by the Department of Labor for nearly a year and we are confident that when the process is completed, the NFLPA will be found to be in compliance with all applicable law," Doug Allen, the union's assistant executive director, told the Associated Press yesterday.
Frank Woschitz, director of public relations for the NFLPA, told The News- Sentinel its information was "just rehashing a lot of the stuff the media started bringing up a few months ago.
UPSHAW FOCUS OF INQUIRY
Author(s): Will McDonough, Globe Staff Date: September 11, 1988 Page: 57 Section: SPORTS
The National Football League Players Association reportedly is being investigated by the US Department of Labor for possible wrongdoing.
Washington sources say the focus of the investigation is union executive director Gene Upshaw. The sources claim Upshaw illegally misused union funds and tried to conceal his actions. One source familiar with the investigation said Upshaw, reportedly with the knowledge of union board members, received an increase in salary but never revealed it and reportedly didn't pay taxes on the raise. Sources say the Labor Dept. is completing its investigation and will decide whether to place the matter in the hands of the Justice Dept., the Internal Revenue Service, or both.
Upshaw, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, has headed the union for six years. Last year he led the players in a 24-day strike. At present, there is no collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players, and the union is trying to pursue a remedy through the courts.
The Globe contacted NFLPA headquarters Friday and asked for a response to the reports from Upshaw or any union official. NFLPA director of public relations Frank Woschitz said he would try to contact Upshaw and get a response. Yesterday there was no response from Upshaw or any other union official.

AN AWKWARD MOMENT
Author(s): Mark Blaudschun Date: September 13, 1988 Page: 78 Section: SPORTS
FOXBOROUGH -- Sometimes timing is everything. Just ask NFL Players Association assistant executive director Doug Allen.
A day after a report in the Sunday Globe stated that NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw and the union were being investigated by the US Department of Labor, Allen made a trip to Sullivan Stadium to talk to the Patriots about paying their union dues. Allen's reception was mixed, with several veterans, including linebacker Andre Tippett, running back Craig James and guard Ron Wooten skipping his meeting entirely.
The Patriots have hardly worn the union label since last year's strike. Tight end Lin Dawson, the team's player representative, has been trying to give the job to someone else. We need a union," said one player. "But not these guys who are running it."
Coach Raymond Berry said the hamstring injury suffered by tight end Russ Francis might not be as serious as first thought. The Patriots feared that Francis, who pulled the muscle in the first half of Sunday's 36-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, might be sidelined for several weeks. "It really doesn't feel that bad," said Francis yesterday. "I hope I might be back ready to go in a week against Houston ." Berry said Willie Scott will start in Francis' spot this week against Buffalo . There is also a possibility that rookie tackle Tom Rehder could be moved to tight end as insurance for Scott and rookie Steve Johnson.
General manager Patrick Sullivan says he is hopeful that the final details of the transfer of ownership to Victor Kiam and Fran Murray can be completed this week. "There are a few things dangling," said Sullivan. "But I hope we can get things wrapped up." . . . After looking at films of the Viking game, Berry said he felt the difference between the two teams was not that great. "We're very much capable of beating them," said Berry . "If we played them next week, we'd be right there.
Tampa Bay coach Ray Perkins reportedly had a little chat with players' union chief Gene Upshaw regarding some unkind remarks about quarterback Vinny Testaverde last week. Upshaw, in essence, said Testaverde was no genius and questioned if he could play in the NFL. Upshaw admitted he never had talked to Testaverde, and had met him once just long enough to shake hands. He was apologetic.
At the time, Plato Cacheris, a “well connected” Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw, said the matter involved $100,000 listed "incorrectly" in the NFLPA's financial books as a "loan" when Upshaw was actually owed the money by the union as back pay and vacation pay. Under law, no union can loan an officer $2,000 or more without fines and penalty. The man who filed the financial reports for the union, Bill Garner, has worked for the NFLPA for years. Did Garner not know it was illegal to make a $100,000 loan? Did it take three years for the union to discover the mistake, with the help of the Department of Labor?
These two names Plato Cacheris, a top Washington criminal attorney hired by Upshaw and Bill Garner figure in to Upshaw’s 2006 and 2007 difficulties. Plato Cacheris was William Hundley’s law partner. Bill Hundley was the Department of Justice’s gambling sell out to the NFL the guy who used his considerable influence within the Dept of Justice to protect the NFL from gambling prosecutions by the Dept of Justice. Hundley took $2,000,000 from Resorts International to form Intertel a gambling security company whose only two clients were the NFL and Resorts International a gambling company who owned casino’s in the Bahamas.
“…Hundley and his former subordinate at Justice, Robert D. Peloquin, then Hundley’s partner with NFL Security, sent Rozelle a confidential memorandum about the Redskins matter. The memorandum was signed by Peloquin and included in the confidential Senate report.
Peloquin wrote that he learned that the grand-jury investigation was going to begin in four days and would primarily concentrate on McCaleb and McGowan, whose houses had been raided by IRS agents in early January. He added that both gamblers were represented by Washington attorney Edward Bennett Williams, then president of the Washington Redskins. According to Peloquin, Williams dropped the case “when he learned of the potential conflict in interests.”
Replacing Williams as counsel was Plato Cacheris, a former chief assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia, who later became Hundley’s law partner. Peloquin wrote that Cacheris “will do his best not to embarrass the league.”
Subsequently, Peloquin and Hundley met with Henry Peterson, Hundley’s successor as the chief Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, who assured them “no NFL players would be called before the grand jury without (the NFL) being advised beforehand,” according to the Senate report, Petersen became an associate in Hundley & Cacheris when he left government service.
Hundley told (author Dan Moldea, who wrote Interference, How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football ) that he and Peloquin had simply gone to Petersen to find out whether anyone involved in professional football was a target of the grand jury investigation. “I simply told him that if the department needed anything, I would supply it. If they needed information from anyone, I would deliver them.”
The NFL, IRS, and the Justice Department investigations stopped dead right there.
What we’ve got here,” another IRS agent who was also involved in the NFL gambling probe says, “…are connections among Cosa Nostra, the federal government, the big attorneys in the D.C. area, sports figures, and the television news media. And it is still going on. We were getting close to the people at the top. Nesline was being protected by people within the Justice Department.”
Brian Gettings, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted (Gil) Beckley (Pete Rozelle’s bookie consultant who mysteriously disappeared), confirms that NFL Security intervened in Alexandria, VA on behalf of the Redskins players and “prevailed upon the prosecutor not to subject them to the embarrassment of the grand jury process.”
Three bookmakers were convicted and sentenced to prison on racketeering charges in this investigation named “National 125 Baltimore” by the IRS. Neither Nesline nor any Redskins player was charged.
“Nesline was D.C. crime boss Joseph “the Possum” Nesline…affiliated with infamous syndicate members, including…Meyer Lansky…Nesline can be characterized as a major force behind illicit gambling in the Washington Metropolitan Area with ties to virtually all the city’s major gambling figures.”
It is my belief (Parrish’s) that Plato Cacheris, and his DOJ friends saved Gene Upshaw from criminal prosecution by the IRS and Dept of Justice and from that point forward the NFL owners have had Upshaw on the leash that Bryant Gumbel referred to in his recent comments.

I also believe Upshaw’s criminal defense attorney Plato Cacheris’ brother is James Cacheris the Virginia judge who ruled against NFL agent Carl Poston in favor of Upshaw and the NFLPA on the issue of whether or not Roger Kaplan is a biased NFLPA arbitrator. Wouldn't you think he would have recused himself from Poston's NFLPA/Upshaw case?

Another issue: Why does attorney Steve Saxon of the Groom Law Group get to buy $6,600 worth of Super Bowl tickets from the NFLPA? Is that an abuse of his position and an abuse of discretion on the part of whoever in the NFLPA approved selling him those Super Bowl tickets? Can anyone just call up and buy $6,600 worth of Super Bowl tickets from the NFLPA? NFLPA attorney's get special privileges? Who else gets special privileges? Did Upshaw approve this abuse of power transaction?

Bizarre Gene Upshaw Email

This is Gene's email response to my (Jeff Nixon) email verbatim @ 9:45 am ET today, Tuesday, February 6, 2007: Jeff Nixon ask Gene Upshaw about our pension plan.

Gene Upshaw wrote: "I'll give you one because I do not have to get permission to use it. I have not took my pension. It is worth 125,000 per year. When I left the game in 1982 it was worth 50,000. Why is it now worth 125, because of the improvements we have made in the plan. No other industry does this. None. Not even baseball. There is a group of baseball and basketball players that don't have a pension. In basketball it is the pre 1965ers.
Another example:
We pay out 60,000,000 a year in retirements and disability.
The contribution went from 67,000,000 a year ago to 127,000,000 this year because of the new CBA. $51,000,000 will be paid out this year in improvements. We tripled the widows and surviving children benefits.
Gave everyone pre 1982 a 25% increase and everyone else got 10%. The $50.00 that is discussed and mischaracterized is because there were players that took a pension at 45 and now are getting $70-$100 per month and 25% would not yield $50 so I made it a $50.00 minimum for those players. The minimum monthly went from $200.00 per month to $250.00 per month. ($50.00 increase) People don't want facts, they want more money. We are not going to allow this pension plan to be under funded and that's what would happen if all of the wishes are granted.
We have a liability of over $600,000,000 of benefits that we owe to players who have not drawn their pension. What do you tell them when they decide to take a pension or required by to take a pension, regardless if they need it or not. The ERISA laws say they have to take it.
We are never going to give players pensions they think they should have.
There is no industry that you leave at age 30-35 and get a pension and never work again. Surely not one that allows that to happen at age 45.
I will continue on, because I know the course we have to take. Don't forget this money did not come from the owners, it came directly from the active players. To say the active players don't is BS. They are the ones paying the freight. Until 1993, did any other group of players ever go back and improve the pension plan, reduce the vesting, create several new disability benefits, bring the pre 59er in the plan. Facts and truth is something they can't stand. My silence on this will say it all." ~ Gene

Is bizarre or disjointed the more accurate description of Upshaw’s self authored email? This is one that the Groom Law Group did not write for him.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is paying off Gene Upshaw. It would be too obvious if NFL Commissioner Goodell just wrote a check for $1,017,381 to union Exec Director Gene Upshaw. In that case the Dept of Labor and the Dept of Justice, the press, the courts, and the world would acknowledge Goodell the employer’s representative was paying off their employee’s union representative. This would be illegal for both Goodell and Upshaw.

In my opinion it is also illegal for Roger Goodell acting as the CEO of the employer’s (NFL owners) wholly owned corporation, NFL Ventures Inc. to have Goodell issue an NFL Ventures Inc check to Players Inc then Players Inc issue a $1,017,381 check to union representative Gene Upshaw who then he puts the employer’s money in his bank account. Create a cover of corporations and we can get away with it. I don’t think so.

Here is another payoff situation the retired and active players should be aware of.
NFLPA President Troy Vincent, a 15 year defensive back is also being paid off with a 3 year contract extension from the Washington Redskins so he will help Upshaw fleece the active players for another $50 million or so in a new contract extension through 2010. Vincent is the President of NFLPA and the person “negotiating” Upshaw’s employment contract. Dan Snyder through Upshaw is pursuing a vendetta against agent Carl Poston over the $6 million LaVar Arrington contract dispute which is why Snyder is giving the aged defensive back Vincent the 3 year contract extension for Upshaw so Vincent can give Upshaw an absurd $50 million contract with the NFLPA in return and Upshaw will have his personal arbitrator Roger P. Kaplan lynch suspended agent Poston for NFL owner Dan Snyder. This three way deal also benefits Upshaw’s own agent Tom Condon who is, because his stable of clients has grown to 140 NFL players since agents Steve Weinberg and Carl Poston have been suspended and their player clients and potential player clients have to look for new representation.

Troy Vincent said he wished retired players would talk to active players but he invited me to meet with him then stood me up. Maybe that is when he decided he was tired of talking to retired players who want their poverty level benefits improved. Vincent has also tried to brush off and frustrate the congressional sub-committee investigating the NFLPA and Upshaw’s dictatorial operation of the NFLPA, but he isn’t going to get away with that either.

The last contract snow job Upshaw used to fleece the active players resulted in Upshaw’s current contract that was “negotiated” by Upshaw’s agent Tom Condon with then NFLPA President Trace Armstong, whose agent was also Tom Condon, getting the picture? Condon negotiated with Condon for Upshaw’s contract or Condon negotiated with Upshaw for Upshaw’s contract, a sleazy Upshaw, Condon deal.

Commissioner Roger Goodell is hiding Dr. Elliot Pellman and the New England Patriots trainer from the press. Dr. Pellman has told writers he has been told by the NFL not to give any statements to the press, so has the New England Patriots trainer been gagged by the NFL from talking about Ted Johnston former Patriot with typical concussion problems.

Upshaw’s email misrepresented his own personal pension…Upshaw’s pension is funded by $1,017,381+ $116,886 = $1,134,267 contributions that would otherwise be paid to retired and active players. But this is not the pension he is prevaricating about. Upshaw says his pension increased from $50,000 in 1982 to $125,000 now. He is saying it increase by 150%. If Upshaw’s pension increased by 150% from 1982 til 2006 everyone’s who hadn’t taken their pension should have increased in that same proportion. Mine didn’t increase by 150% between 1982 and 2006. I waited over 30 years to take my pension. Upshaw can’t even figure out his own pension plan benefits.

The NFL Retirement Plan is funded by contributions from the member clubs not by the active players (page 9 Article “D” Contributions, March 31, 2005 Financial Statement). Upshaw claims the active players are the ones who make the contributions that fund the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and that is a deliberate misrepresentation. He makes this misrepresentation to get the active player to be against the retired Players.

The retirement Plan Document Article 4.1 Contributions: says “Commencing within the Plan Year ending September 25, 1964, and in each subsequent Plan Year, the League, on behalf of the Employers therein, agrees to pay to the Trustee of this Plan, as an annual contribution thereto, the following amounts:”

When the Retirement Plan was late paying one year and the NFLPA sued the owners for the contribution. The NFLPA didn’t sue the individual active players to get the contribution they sued the league, the owners and they coughed it up. Upshaw is again misrepresenting the facts and truth, probably with the advice and consent of NFLPA General Counsel Richard Berthelson to play the active players off against the retired players. The active players are beginning to realizing they will be retired players too in just 3.5 years. Berthelson continues to practice law in DC without a license.

Upshaw claims MLB does not improve their pension benefits, that is untrue they made a new increase in October 2006. Basketball will announce an increase in the next few weeks. GE increases their plan often and Congress increase their pensions every year. The NFL is not a floundering industry like the automobile or airline industry Upshaw and friends like to try to bring into some equation of comparison. Upshaw wouldn’t be making what he is making if he were head of the auto or airline unions.

MLB’s current liabilities are $2.3 billion and pay average benefits of $36,700 a year whereas our plans current liabilities are $1.04 million and our average benefits paid are a miserable $12,165 a year. Upshaw is telling baseball players they are in danger of their retirement plan going broke and not being able to pay them in the future. Baseball players didn’t know their Plan is going under because Upshaw says it is not operating “prudently.” If higher current liabilities mean 3 times as much in benefits to the retired players I am all for higher current liabilities.

Upshaw is not acting “prudently” he is acting in the interests of the NFL owners who are financially responsible for the Plan’s current liabilities. Only 1% on NFL industry income is spent on player benefits. 5% would upgrade the Retirement Plan and do the right thing for the players who built the game and created the Retirement Plan that is being ruined by Upshaw’s collusion with the owners and their Commissioner.

Upshaw’s diatribe about the Retirement Plan funding doesn’t mention that the plan would be over-funded if it were not for the “Pay to Play” investment scheme loses his “administration” inflicted on our Plan in 2005. Our NFL Player Retirement Plan suffered a $138,007,594 loss from investments under the Upshaw/Condon/Callan watch in 2005, which is the only reason the Plan is not funded over 100%.

“Pay to Play” are schemes that both Callan Associates and plan actuary Aon Corporation/Consulting use. “Pay to Play” has also been described as a “kick back” scheme.

That is another crony situation that needs to be investigated along with the cronyism of Upshaw’s, friend and supporter when he was an NFLPA President, Mike Davis, who a reliable source tells me received special disability qualification treatment when he applied for NFL disability benefits.

“Facts and truth is something they can’t stand.” Who the Hell is they? Facts and truth is, is?
“My silence on this will say it all” – Gene What did he say?...?
“I have not took my pension.” What? Huh?

$30,000,000 of Upshaw’s $51 million is in a new medical savings plan for current players. It is little more than another Groom Law Group/Aon Corporation/Tagliabue scheme to get players to pay for their own disability and to churn up some more legal, investment, consulting, and management fees. They are ever milking our Retirement Plan, their cash cow.

Widow’s benefits are tripled but only if you die before you begin drawing your retirement benefits, that could be by age 45 average and dead by age 55 for sure.

Upshaw says it will take $800 million to bring everyone’s benefits up to the current players benefits but on the other hand he rebated $800 million back to the owners in an “unprecedented” move said Goodell, to help pay for the NY stadium. The owners had it financed with a lot of taxpayer money before Upshaw made his grand stand “unprecedented” offer. $800 million stadium salary rebate…duh, $800 million to fix the retirement plan…duh. Actuary Tom Lowman projected that it would take $750 million over 15 years to bring ALL retired players up to today’s level of $467 per month per year. Lowman was hire by one of Upshaw’s entourage. So these numbers although they are too high come from Upshaw’s side of the issues.

Remember neither Gene Upshaw nor Jesse Jackson represent the Retired NFL Players so no agreement between them or them and Goodell will mean nothing. Expect a “bone” tossed out to help for a few most needy, perhaps all those whoever played left guard or some other “creative” solution for another 25% insult or some other ass covering maneuver. Ignore it, it won’t mean a thing.

Upshaw is trying to provoke the retired players into suing the active players. That idea must have come from Richard Berthelson, Tom Condon, or Doug Ell, of the (running the show) Groom Law Group. Upshaw is not that “intellectual” as writer Jason Whitlock described him, but that was after Whitlock had described him as “Tony Soprano” and Tom Condon as his “under-boss” while making the point that the active players didn’t have a clue as to what Upshaw and Condon were doing. They still don’t.

We are just warming up for the kick off.

NFLPA Worse Than We Thought

NFLPA WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT
Summary by Bernie Parrish

The following lays out the issues that face the National Football League players and retired players in relation to:

1. Groom Law Group drafted the 1993 NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which they turned into a self serving cash cow that the Groom Law Group has been milking ever since. After the disability insurance companies told the NFL owners they didn’t want their business because there are too many disabling injuries and the premiums would be too high for the NFL’s business to be feasible; in a bizarre solution the owners then turned the NFL Player Retirement Plan into the owner’s disability insurance policy. The Groom Law Group remained the NFLPA’s attorneys and then also went to work for NFL Players Retirement Plan in 1994 altering and amending it to make qualifying for disability near impossible, then using those complex alterations to frustrate and defeat injured disabled Plan beneficiaries claims in court, these complex Plan amendments in turn pumped up their outrageous multi-million dollar legal fees while Groom charged those fees to those same injured beneficiaries own retirement plan. A complex cynical and perverse $15+ million scheme accommodated by Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA legal staff.
2. The mismanagement (waste and abuse of discretion) of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan includes creation of 4 or 5 “complex financial and insurance schemes” generating legal, consulting, and management fees while using these new plans to diabolically excluding pre 1982 retired players; abusing their power by using pension funds to buy $42,414 of Super Bowl tickets then claiming none of the Plan fiduciaries know who used the tickets; Board Members never questioned any expenses while unanimously approving outrageous travel and entertainment expenses; there also is the matter of the totally unexplained $138 million loss of investment income in the 2004 to 2005 audit of the Player Retirement Plan and there is the ULLICO scandal that Upshaw was caught in, which left the NFLPA as the proud owner of 100,000 shares of ULLICO stock with a Fair Market Value of $1 a share which could have cost the NFLPA as much as $146 a share but there is no explanation of that Upshaw deal either.
3. The manipulation of the Retirement Plan to the benefit of a small group of National Football Players Association (NFLPA) leaders and their allies at the expense of the Plan beneficiaries is malfeasance that includes discrimination issues, collusion, and violations of their own Collective Bargaining Agreement and ERISA and union labor laws;
4. The allies of the NFLPA insiders benefiting from these manipulations are, among others, Aon Corporation Controlled by Exec. Chairman Patrick Ryan and Andrew McKenna, Chicago Bear Owners and Directors;
5. Having Aon Corporation as NFL Player Retirement Plan Actuary is a conflict of interest that violates the Plan terms, ERISA, and other laws. Aon is already paying $190 million of restitution to the NY, IL, and Conn for corruption, and “conflicts of interest” that cheated customers and Patrick Ryan must at NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s demand write a letter of apology to Aon customers;
6. Using the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, as the NFL owners disability insurance policy, is an example of a collusive Tagliabue/Goodell/Upshaw arrangement, using the player retirement Plan funds to pay upwards of $12,669,114 (2000-2005) of outrageously high legal fees to the Groom Law Group to defeat retired player beneficiaries disability claims while risking depleting all of those same beneficiaries retirement fund assets; Groom Law Group’s duplicity includes a sneak trip to the Supreme Court to diminish disabled players, especially retired players rights in Black and Decker vs Kenneth Noar case 02-469; the plan paid Groom $6,700 per page to prepare this brief.
7. The Disability Plan is a fiasco that denies claims of disabled retired players by setting benchmarks for qualification so high that they can only be met by extreme cases, only 1% qualify while 50% leave the game because of football injuries, over $12,669,114 of retirement Plan assets have been wrongfully wasted on Groom Law Group legal fees to diminish player’s rights and impose “abuse of discretion” decisions, by an owner biased conflict of interest compromised Retirement Board, on injured players families, like Mike Webster’s while Groom Law Group drag out litigation time and costs until players die as Mike Webster and Johnny Unitas died or their families run out of money;
8. Players Inc, intended to benefit 1,800 current and 3,500 former players through endorsements and licensing, has been used to pay enormous salaries and benefits to NFLPA insiders while operating behind a veil of secrecy and calculated public relations confusion with payments going to high profile retired players doled out as part of an agenda to control media commentary about Upshaw and the NFLPA while excluding the 3,200 of the 3,500 retired players they claim to represent; Upshaw is paid $1,017,350 for his retirement benefits by Players Inc while Players Inc keeps $60 million of its $106 million income and 21% of the $60 million goes to the thus far undisclosed unknown 21% owner(s) of Players Inc stock;
9. $24 million of payments were made by NFL Ventures to Players, Inc whose top officers are also union officers while NFL Ventures is an NFL owner’s company run by CEO Roger Goodell NFL Commissioner. Players Inc is controlled by Gene Upshaw and other union representatives of its NFLPA members. I am not a lawyer but this in my opinion is a violation of S 302 of the Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. S 186. Violations of S 302 constitute predicate acts of racketeering under [RICO] 18 U.S.C. S 1961(1)(C) (defining as a `racketeering activity' any act indictable under 29 U.S.C. S 186). Section 302 prohibits employers, employer associations, and their agents from paying money or any other `thing of value' to employee representatives, and prohibits employee representatives from accepting any such payment. 29 U.S.C. S 186(a), (b).
10. The harm done the retired players by Upshaw/Tagliabue and his long time assistant Roger Goodell and the NFL owners is not an oversight or uncontrolled circumstance. The harm done is the result of diabolical schemes planned and carried out by high priced politically connected law firms paid to deny the retired players a fair share of the industry they built at the expense of their own health and well being. When a union representative is paid by the employers of it members in any way shape or form it is criminal whether the money is put through several corporations on its trip from employer to the paid off employees union representative. This complaint has been filed with Gerald Toner Assistant Chief for Labor-Management Racketeering the Department of Justice. From the owners NFL Ventures to Players Inc to Upshaw's bank account is a pretty direct trip for $1,017,350 a year, “I ‘m making too much money. I can’t rock the boat”.
11. Player agents have been treated in an arbitrary and capricious fashion because of being subjected to Gene Upshaw’s absolute control working “at the beck and call” of the NFLPA’s Upshaw who acts as a recruiter for his own agent and crony Tom Condon, the more agents Upshaw suspends the more player clients his agent Tom Condon can recruit; with Upshaw’s agent suspensions and endorsement of Condon, Condon’s stable is up to 140 active players far more than any other NFL agent; Condon is also a Retirement Board Member who voted against Mike Webster; did he vote against Webster because Upshaw wanted him to vote that way, or out of fear of the damage Upshaw could do him as an agent? Upshaw was clearly against Mike Webster’s family, with such issues hanging in the balance Condon should never be a Retirement Board Member, as he has been for nearly 20 years in a clear conflict of interest denied in writing by the Groom Law Group; Tom Condon nominated Upshaw to be Executive Director of the NFLPA when Upshaw first became NFLPA Executive Director. Then NFLPA President Trace Armstrong negotiated Upshaw’s with Tom Condon, Upshaw’s agent, while Condon was also Armstrong’s agent another NFLPA conflict of interest that has made millions of dollars for Upshaw and Condon and a pot of gold that current NFLPA President Troy Vincent is planning to get his hands on next.
12. Current player safety, including that of football players at all levels are influenced by the NFL example; college, high school, and youth football have been jeopardized by the failure of the NFLPA leadership to hold to account the NFL for its manipulation of medical studies, and medical practices, to cover up the effects of football injuries, particularly in relation to concussions and brain injuries with the outrageous continued employment of Dr. Elliot Pellman as the Chairman of the NFL's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee after being exposed by the NY Times and other publications along with both medical and legal brain injury experts as unqualified in the field of brain injuries; had the union, had Gene Upshaw met its responsibility and forced Dr. Pellman’s removal and exposure of his flawed medical studies and surveys on brain injuries Andre Waters may have recognized his depression brought on by numerous brain concussions an gotten treatment for it and still be alive today. Upshaw’s partnership with Tagliabue who appointed Dr. Pellman have failed the players he is supposed to represent and all College, High School, and Youth football players in America who follow the NFL lead. In my opinion Water’s death is a direct result of Upshaw’s illicit collusion with Tagliabue and the owners protecting their brain injury scheme run by Dr. Pellman for them just as they want it run. Upshaw was advised to back Tagliabue’s Dr. Pellman by NFLPA staff attorney Richard Berthelson, who has no license to practice law in Washington DC or Virginia and by the Groom Law Group, the NFLPA’s attorneys who lost the Webster case as the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan’s attorneys. How can Groom Law Group represent both the NFLPA and the Retirement Plan at the same time, it is another conflict of interest in a house filled with conflicts of interest. Groom Law boast of their victorious record against disabled retired players who Groom Law is supposed to be representing as retired player Retirement Plan beneficiaries.
13. Upshaw et al are using the tools of labor racketeering by organized crime as described by the DOL Inspector General on his website, diverting available player benefit plan funds to “complex financial schemes” that generate fees for the Groom Law Group, Aon Corporation, Callan Associates, Joseph Yablonski, Dewey Ballentine, Akin Gump, Calibre CPA Group schemes (legal, management, and consulting fees) using an NFL owner owned actuary Aon Corporation with obvious conflicting interests, reduces the benefits that retired NFL players receive to less than one-third of those of retired Major League Baseball players, when they should be at least on a par or exceeding them. An annual $6 billion NFL gross vs. $4.3 billion Major League Baseball make the 1/3 benefits a highly likely indication of collusion confirmed by the “unprecedented” $800 million voluntary rebate of salary cap by Upshaw to the NFL owners made in December 2006. This $800 million Grandstand Play is part of Upshaw’s campaign to get himself a new $30 million contract enabling him to fleece his current flock of active players. The NFL Commissioner’s PR promotion of his leashed pet is in high gear with their Greg Aiello making all sorts of deliberately confusing PR announcements like “we pay nearly $60 million in benefits a year” neglecting to add that MLB pays nearly $90 million a year to fewer players.
14. Retirees sued the UAW and won in January 2006 for a situation similar to the NFLPA’s relationship with the retired NFL players. Upshaw and the league office’s Greg Aiello work together on PR damage control for the league having taken the “We” position against Mike Webster’s in his case and “we are studying the problem” defense on the concussion depression caused suicide issue. Upshaw and Aiello’s boss Roger Goodell are hiding their NFL brain injury expert Dr. Elliot Pellman from the media and others who are calling for the truth about their scheme to cover up the disabling effects of repeated concussions on NFL Players. Pellman has conducted 13 NFL studies that true medical experts on brain injuries such as NYU’s Dr. William Barr and attorney Michael V. Kaplen, President of the Brain Injury Association of NY State call flawed and biased toward justifying what the league wants the studies to show and not the truth about the effects of concussions and brain injuries on football players, and the general public.
15. An economist professor Steve Walters from Loyola College in Maryland says that the NFL spends barely 1% of its income on player retirement and disability benefits, the owners not only dupe and blackmail the taxpayers (threatening to move franchises) into paying for their stadiums, their money factories, then they dump their employee disability costs on the taxpayers by making qualifying for the NFL’s Disability so difficult to qualify for that disabled players qualify for Social Security disability but not the NFL’s deliberately concocted fiasco of a disability plan. As the Baltimore Examiner said it is not just the NFL retired players getting stiffed by the NFL union and NFL owners cabal it is the American taxpayer as well.
16. Gene Upshaw promises a “best effort” to retired players in the CBA only to get control over the representation and affairs of the retired players then stabs the retired players in the back with and insulting 25% benefits increase; it is in my opinion immoral and probably criminal immoral while his “best efforts” on his own behalf gives him a new $5 million a year salary and an annual $1,017,381 benefit contribution from owner payoff money paid to Players Inc plus a $116,886 benefit contribution from the NFLPA which will give him an outrageous undeserved Pension while he calls the retired players he has represented as active players “ungrateful” for not being satisfied with below poverty level retirement Plan benefits. I believe this is part of a Machiavellian plan by the owners using Tagliabue/Goodell who keep Upshaw their “I make too much money. I can’t rock the boat” boy in power.
























NFLPA Worse than We Thought


(Updated 12/01/06 based on new MLB IRS Form 5500 for 2004) This report is still in progress a very few numbers are still being verified. This is not the final draft but Congresspersons may use any of this material that they choose to question any one or any organization connected in any way with the NFLPA or the NFL the NFL Player Retirement Plan. These issues are raised to get at the truth that is now being concealed by those in control.

The Comparison of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan to Major League Baseball‚s (MLB) these numbers are from BEFORE the new MLB collective bargaining agreement was made last month in October of 2006 which will improve the MLB retirement Plan and make the differences in the superiority of the MLB pension even greater than in this comparison

The following MLB vs. NFL Pension comparison counters the NFLPA insiders and the NFL office‚s usual self-serving statements about the performance of the two pension plans. Their statements are designed to confuse NFL players, both active and retired, and the public. Their usual response when asked about this comparison is “We pay out nearly $5 million a month in benefits,” they don’t point out that “MLB pays out nearly $7 million a month in benefits,” and, too often, the NFL footmen of the press just accept their Super Bowl Week invitations and print it. Another myth that adequate benefits are paid to NFL player retirees was brandished on July 27, 2006, when NFL Management Council negotiator Harold Henderson stated, “we offer the most extensive benefits package in professional sports.” Both the NFLPA and the NFL point proudly to a retirement plan that provides inadequate benefits, destroys disability claimants, and rewards insiders, the NFLPA leaders (especially Gene Upshaw) and their allied lawyers (the Groom Law Group) and consultants (Aon Corporation) with huge payoffs.

The following provides the full MLB vs. NFL Pension comparison again. Other than the MLB 2004 IRS report update there have been no substantial corrections necessary since I first published it in April 2006.

1) Total Pay out annual benefits MLB $88.9 Mil vs. NFL $50.58 Mil
2) Average annual benefit MLB $36,700 vs. NFL $12,165
3) Monthly benefits paid (nearly) MLB $7 Mil vs. NFL $5 Mil
4) 10 yr player at 62 gets MLB $175,000 vs. NFL $32,000
5) Percent total salaries of benefits MLB 5.5% vs. NFL 2.2%
6) Participants included (21% diff.) MLB 7,540 vs. NFL 9,560
7) Active players covered MLB 1,200 vs. NFL 1,800
8) Investment income MLB $92.1 Mil vs. NFL $54.7 Mil
9) Assets available for benefits MLB $1.4 Bill vs. NFL $1.2 Bill ***
10) Current liabilities MLB $2.3 Bill vs. NFL $1.04 Bill
11) Ave player salary MLB $2.8 Mil vs. NFL $1.25 Mil
12) Median salary MLB $1.1 Mil ** vs. NFL $631,675
13) Exec. Director Pay MLB $1 Mil vs. NFL $3.5 Mil
14) Plan actuary fee MLB $538,733 vs. NFL $492,951
15) Two year legal fees (2003+2004) MLB $309,726 vs. NFL $5.6 Mil
16) Number monthly benefits checks MLB 2,419 vs. NFL 3,500
17) Employer contributions MLB $109.6 Mil vs. NFL $64.7 Mil
18) Both Plans meet the minimum funding requirements of ERISA.
19) Both plans are defined benefit plans despite the misinformation given out by the NFLPA. Both Plans mark form 5500 page 2 item 8(a) Characteristics Code, as 1B and 1G exactly the same.
• *If the NFL paid out $88.9 Mil as MLB does the average annual benefit would be $25,400 instead of the sub-poverty level benefit of $12,165.
• **Florida Marlins median salary $1.1 Mil, Yankees median salary $5.8 Mil.
• ***Upshaw stated in a May 16, 2006 telephone conference call that the “net assets available for benefits” had grown from the $841,761,127 in the financial statement to over $1.2 billion now.
• **** MLB's investment income appears to be more than NFL's.
• NFL pays their Exec Director 3 times as much and gets back less than half as much as MLB. Donald Fehr was paid $1,002,064 in 2004.
• Pension plans too numerous to list here (including MLB, GE & Congress) improve their benefits after beneficiaries start drawing benefits for cost of living and other adjustments debunking another NFLPA-NFL pension myth.
• MLB goes back and improves their benefits regularly too.
• The MLB numbers are now from 2004 and the NFL’s from 2005 so the comparison is still even worse than it appears here.
The NFL Commissioner’s office’s Greg Aeillo periodically announces to his footmen of the press that the NFL pays out nearly $60 million a year in benefits. He does not however announce that MLB pays out nearly $90 million a year to fewer recipients and they do not include disability payments as the NFL does. The comparison should actually be made reducing the NFL’s claimed $60 million by Aeillo and Harold Henderson’s claimed $16 million of annual disability benefits making the true comparative number $44 million in retirement benefits vs. $90 million in retirement benefits paid by MLB.

Grooms Cash Cow: Huge Legal Fees and Groom Law Group conflicts of Interest

Legal fees deserve special attention. MLB’s legal fees totaled only $170,000 (2003) and $139,726 (2004) while the NFL pension plan paid Groom Law Group $2,122,750 (2005) and $3,114,538 (2004) and over $10,146,361 for legal fees from (2000 to 2004) (Add $2.122,750 for 2005 fees). The sad fact is that, because of the perverse disability provision redrafted in 1993 into the collective bargaining agreement by Tagliabue, Upshaw, and Doug Allen which provided that the major portion of disability benefits “and all legal expenses” are to be paid out of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Fund. If either of the Plans should be paying disability at all it should be NFL Supplemental Disability Plan which should also be paying the huge legal fees. The $12,269,111 Groom legal fees were paid out almost exclusively to defeat retired player's disability claims from 2000 to 2005. $155,000 is about average per year for MLB legal fees because they don't pay lawyers millions upon millions of dollars to defend their pension plan against its own disabled player beneficiaries and neither should the NFL player pension plan. There are also legal fees of $1,379,787 to labor attorney Dewey Ballentine in 2005. So the union and pension legal fees exceed $13,569,111.

I ran my own commercial construction company for many years building in excess of $250,000,000 of housing, hotels, office, and medical buildings, Corps of Engineer projects at Kelly, Scott, Shepard, and Altus Air Force bases working in 9 states using over 3000 employees half union and half non-union and I carried "disability insurance." Normal American businesses carry disability insurance but NFL teams do not need to buy "disability insurance" because with the help of the player's own union leaders, the owners have shifted that disability insurance risk to their employees, to their Players Retirement Plan. This amounts to the players own union selling their members out.

Two of the brightest ladies in American politics Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) made these observations that the NFL disability plan was similar to the large industries strategy that “it will cost less to defend the wrongful death lawsuits than fix the faulty design problems” and the union is “working hand in glove with management” in other words in collusion with NFL owners.

The situation has gotten worse in recent years. The Retirement Plan has paid the Groom Law Group $10,146,361 in legal fees to diminish player’s rights and defeat retired player’s disability cases between 2000 and 2004. In addition in 2004 the NFLPA paid “Legal fees” to unnamed lawyers of $2,332,453 and in addition to that the NFLPA pays an in-house legal staff of 8 employees another $1,716,155 a year in salaries. These legal fees are outrageous; you’d think Groom and the NFLPA were defending organized crime not a retirement Plan and football players union. At least $12,269,111 of legal fees has been paid out of the player’s own retirement Plan for actions against active and retired players not for the benefit of those players. In addition there is $1,716,155 NFLPA legal payroll plus $3,114,538 Groom Law fees from the Player Retirement Plan plus $2,332,453 in other legal fees = $7,163,146 in 2004 legal fees plus there are legal fees to Akin-Gump $189,647, Lindquist & Vennum $111,771, Joseph Yablonski $140,481, Baach Robinson & Lewis $96,690, Weil Gotshal & Manges $141,012, Marvin Peterson $22,969, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough $21,304, Roger P. Kaplan (NFLPA arbitrator) $131,853, Groom Law Group another $113,610, and others fees we don't know about yet. And there are additional NFLPA fees to Groom Law, for a new Web page, for other cases, for new investment and insurance plans, and compliance services that unnecessarily compete for funds with the “Plan,” the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan where Groom in their ubiquitous conflicts of interest claims to represent all sides.

The deception is insidious and incessant. NFLPA attorney Joseph Yablonski wrote in a threatening letter to me on August 29, 2006 page 7, line 1 “Thirdly, The Groom Law Group's occasional legal defense of benefit denials by the Board in court cases has been totally consistent with the interests of the Plan and its beneficiaries, including yourself. In contrast to the NFLPA lawyer Joseph Yablonski’s self-conscious characterization of Groom’s role as occasional in NFL Retirement Plan litigation. The Dept of Labor report on an interview of Board Member Jeff Van Note states the obvious “Plan expenses are weighted heavily in the area of legal expenses primarily due to the litigation undertaken when former players that have been denied disability benefits sue the Plan.”

What is the truth about the $12,269,111 paid the Groom Law Group from 2000 to 2005? Is the $12.2 million of Groom booty “weighted heavily...legal expenses” against our plan or just fees for “occasional legal defense” as the NFLPA‚s other attorney‚s claim. This claim was made during an attempt to coerce me to stop looking into these outrageous legal fees and other questionable acts of the Retirement Board, the NFLPA, the NFL and Upshaw and his cabal. It is typically absurd for Upshaw’s attorney‚s to contend that these huge legal fees are occasional and totally consistent with the interests of the Plan and its beneficiaries, including me. I ask the Dept of Labor and Justice Dept now, which is it weighted heavily or occasional, the legal fees to Groom Law are without question at least $12,269,111 million of from 2000 to 2005?

There are ERISA laws forbidding the Plan Administrators and fiduciaries from trying to mislead or confuse or coerce or lie to beneficiaries. When ask to explain “Group” in Groom Law Group by DOL investigator, Doug Ell told him “OH, NO. They try to keep the number of attorney’s, like myself down to a absolute minimum.” What is most insane about this answer is the DOL investigator David Johnston accepted it, without challenging it. I believe the total legal fees including the $12,269,111 to Groom through 2005 will top $15,000,000 and I won’t be surprised if investigators discover that the legal fees top $20,000,000 spent by the NFL-NFLPA cabal to deny retirement and disability benefits to retired and disabled retired players.

Player Board Member Jeff Van Note says the plan accountant said that “the expenses of the Plan are in line with a plan of its size.” This is a deliberate lie either by Van Note or the plan accountant, whoever that is. No Plan of a similar size pays legal fees as large as our plan. Is the Plan accountant William Garner or Abram, Foster, Nole & Williams, P.A. CPA? DOL investigator David Johnston should have given Ell an illegal head slap for his ridiculous condescending remark instead of accepting an obvious misrepresentation in a Dept of Labor investigation. The DOL’s policy seems to be that it is OK to distort and hide the facts to government investigators as long as they are representing NFL interests. Who is the “they” Ell refers to and how do “they” “try to keep the number of attorney’s, like (Ell) down to a absolute minimum?” Do you think Mike Webster’s family would agree with Ell’s summation?

The ERISA laws on “False Statements or Concealment of Facts in Relation to documents Required by the ERISA (18 U.S.C. Section 1027) are criminal violations.” They need to be enforced, now.

The nebulous legal entity the “Plan” is the client whenever Groom justifies screwing the beneficiaries, the retired players, on disability or for whatever reason, the “Plan”, meaning the Retirement Board both the Owners Board Members and the Players Board Members even though Groom can not represent the interests of the Owners, and the Players (as defined in the Plan Document Article 1.28), and the NFLPA at the same time. Protecting “The Plan” in reality is Groom protecting the NFL owners from its own retired player beneficiaries. This is Groom Law and Upshaw's and the NFLPA's perverse mission. A mission given the union by NFL Commissioner Tagliabue and the owners in 1993. "The number of times the courts have agreed shows the quality of the leadership," says Mr. (Doug) Allen. "One of the things we want to make sure of is that the plan is kept safe so that the owners can have confidence that the bargain they made will be upheld." That bargain to be “upheld” is a sell out of the retired players by Allen and Upshaw to Tagliabue. Shifting the NFL owner’s employee disability liabilities to their employees own retirement Plan, then keeping the retirement plan benefits so low that the Plan assets will buffer the owners from their responsibilities to their injured employees who do win their claims.

The NFL disability payments come out of the player’s percentage of the gross. The owners take no financial responsibility for their employees disabling injuries as all other American employers do.

The secret sellouts of the players include Groom Law Group going to the Supreme Court to intervene in Black and Decker Disability Plan vs. Kenneth L. Nord case 02-469, to diminish players rights, to prevent players “treating physician,” that is a players doctor, who is treating a players injury, from having the deciding medical opinion on your disability case. In Groom’s anti-player position they argued the retirement plan’s hand picked and paid examining physicians known as Medical Advisory Physicians (MAP), who fear being fired for qualifying players and who know little about your injury will have the final say.

Groom Law argued against player’s doctors having the deciding opinion on your medical condition, even though Social Security Administration accepts it in its disability cases. They don’t want a player’s doctor who knows a player’s condition better than anyone, and who must ethically advocate for a player, his patient, being the determining factor in a player’s case. So in secret Groom amends the terms of the Plan documents so they protect the owner’s bank accounts by using the Players Retirement Plan assets as a shield for the owners as was the cabal’s plan from 1993 forward.

These Plan MAP selected physicians and the NFL Retirement Board have an established record where only 1% of the 7,561 players who have played since the 1960s draw any disability for football injuries. According to the Wall Street Journal, only 90 players got payments in 2005, down from 110 in 2003 and 106 in 2004. Groom and the Plan’s self proclaimed “Gang of Six” have confirmed “a perfect 22-0 record in defending itself (as of 12/9/03) against claims where disability benefits have been denied to participants”, that is injured retire players. Dr. Robert Nevaiser one of the retirement Board’s “Gang of Six” told retired player Chris Geotz that “...it is practically impossible for anyone to qualify for the benefit you are seeking. The NFL sets the benchmark for qualification so high that I have never given an impairment that would qualify someone for this benefit. The NFL doesn’t want to pay out a lot of money.” Dr. Nevaiser continued “Not even Dennis Byrd would qualify for Line of Duty Disability benefit based on the Board’s requirements but the NFL would give it to him anyway because they would not want the bad press.” (Dennis Byrd broke his neck during an NFL game which temporarily paralyzed him and ended his NFL career.) At that point I was dumbfounded and the conversation was concluded. I was then informed by the Board based on Dr. Nevaiser’s report I did not qualify for the benefits I was seeking.” Goetz appealed to NFLPA Director of Benefits Mickey Yaris-Davis but never heard back from her.

As of last week the Groom won loss record is 22 and 1: one huge loss with the appellant court’s decision in favor of Mike Webster’s family. It was a 16 year battle over denied “disability benefits.” The battle was lost by Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA, the Groom Law Group (whoever they really represent), and the NFL and it will result in new litigation against Upshaw his insiders (Tom Condon, Troy Vincent, Doug Allen, Richard Berthelson, Jeff Van Note, etc,) the NFLPA, and the NFL. Upshaw and Greg Aiello from the NFL Office, the union and the owners answered their defeat by the court in unison as you would expect from collusive RICO violating partners. Their sour grapes PR statements said in essence “We are still right because our appointed henchmen on the NFL Retirement Board voted unanimously against Webster and we will treat everyone, who has the temerity in the future to confront us, the same way we treated Mike Webster, we will “abuse our discretion” and cause as much suffering for as long a period of time as our NFLPA lawyers can string out their cases.”

Groom Law Group has been secretly amending the Bert Bell/ Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and Disability Plan documents, then conveniently referring to those changes as carved in stone terms of the Plan as if they had nothing to do with creating them. The ERISA amendment approval process has not been followed and requests for a summary showing all the changes and amendments to the Plan and the dates they were made and where in the Plan document they are located, since 1993 have been requested from the Plan Administrator well over 60 days ago. ERISA requires the “Plan” to notify the beneficiaries within 120 days of any amendment to the Plan. This notification of changes and amendments within 120 days has never been made by our Plan Administrator as required.

Groom Law Group change the Plan Documents, changes the terms of the Plan, then claims that Federal Law requires them to do whatever the Plan’s terms call for, the terms they just changed to make the Plan’s disability requirements so high they are nearly impossible to qualify for.

A Phoenix attorney representing Victor Washington’s disability case told the Wall Street Journal, "The NFL keeps changing the rules of the game while it's in play" to keep former players from collecting benefits, says Susan Martin, a lawyer at Martin & Bonnett in Phoenix, who is representing Mr. Washington. "And it drags these cases out so long that people give up, or die." With the Webster decision not even death will save Upshaw, Roger Goodell, the NFL owners and their perverse disability scheme from the truth.

The NFL (Groom Law Group) has filed an appeal of the Phoenix judge's decision on Washington’s case.

Playing Hurt Running the Gauntlet of the Disability Plan Fiasco

Now consider this for perspective of what retired players face. From Sports Illustrated June 2006: “They are the wincing, hobbling wounded; the men who played professional football, a notoriously joint-shearing, disk-popping, nerve-numbing exercise that has grown only more dangerous since Curt Marsh last crashed into a defensive lineman as a Los Angeles Raider.”

“If you go to a retired player’s convention, there are older retirees who walk around like Maryland crabs,” says Mickey Yaris-Davis, Director of Benefits for the NFLPA. “It’s an orthopedic surgeon‚s dream. I’m surprised the doctors aren’t standing outside the door handing out their cards. Hardly one (former player) you see doesn’t need a hip replacement. Everybody comes out of pro football with some injury. It’s only the degree that separates them.”

Curt Marsh described his NFL career this way, “When I came to my first NFL camp, it was like I was a tall, cold can of beer. They popped the top, and all that energy and desire and ability poured out. I gave of myself with the passion that I had in high school and college. When I was empty, when I had no more to give, they just crumpled me up and threw me on the garbage heap. Then they grabbed another new can and popped him open, and he flowed out until he was empty.”

Ironically Ms. Yaras-Davis who stated that “Everybody comes out of pro football with some injury. It is only the degree that separates them.” is also the person that the Disability Initial Claims Committee made up of two unqualified ladies (Ms Smith, appointed by Gene Upshaw and Ms Fleming, appointed by the NFL Management Council) confer with when they need advice on making rulings to disqualify disabled applicants or not. Neither Ms Chris Smith nor Ms Fleming has any medical or other qualifications to hold their positions on this medical Disability Committee.

Sarah Gaunt is another unqualified Upshaw appointee, who has been the Retirement Plan Administrator from 1989 to 1993 then she became Plan Director in 1993. Her qualifications are that she was an English major in college and she knew people in the NFL and the NFLPA. She wrote manuals for a psychiatric association but has no qualifications for the NFL Retirement Plan position she holds.

I believe the two person Disability Initial Claims Committee sub-committee is a violation of Taft Hartley provisions. If one of these two ladies decides the retired football player applicant is not qualified then he is denied disability benefits. However they do say that they occasionally go to Ms. Yaras-Davis for advice in deciding who is qualified as disabled and who is not when they have questions. Yaras-Davis is part of the disability approval rate of only 1% of those who have played in the NFL since the 1960’s. Ms. Yaras-Davis has been on the job, helping deny benefits for the NFLPA and the Retirement Board for over 20 years, that is helping to denying disability benefits to those who remind her of hobbling “Maryland Crabs,” those that make up “an orthopedic surgeon’s dream.”

7online.com and ABC New York affiliate carried the following article about the Appellant Court decision in favor of Mike Webster’s surviving family against the NFL and NFLPA. The article raised more questions than it answered. I take a look and try to explain the perverse arguments that the union and the owners offered to try to spin the courts decision to control the damage.

I congratulate Mike Webster’s family and the dedicated legal team Robert Fitzsimmons (Wheeling WV) and Cyril Smith (Baltimore) for carrying on Mike’s battle against Goliath, and never giving up. Mike was fighting for his family and all NFL players past and present. Mike has put his “face on those benefits” the face that Upshaw says doesn’t exist. Mike’s face is one that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his leashed pet Gene Upshaw will never forget. Mike’s fight for all the retired players will carry on. There are 3,500 retired players who are going to make damn sure Upshaw, Goodell and the NFL owners they represent never forget Mike’s face.

Q. Gene Upshaw refers to “We” when he tries to spin his comments to control the court’s damage to the owners the union and himself but who is he really referring to?
A. “We” is Upshaw, his union, Roger Goodell and the NFL owners together.

Q. Upshaw said, “He (Mike Webster and his family) wasn't denied benefits.”
A. A panel of three appelant court judges wrote that a six-member board representing the NFL's retirement plan "abused its discretion in denying Webster" the larger benefit.

Refusing to pay benefits for 16 years while paying Groom Law Group millions (over $12,269,111 just from 2000 to 2005) out of our NFL Player Retirement Plan dollars to appeal to a high court that ruled Upshaw et al’s wrongful actions were an “abuse of discretion” is in itself another abuse of discretion. Groom’s fees probably exceed $2,000,000 in Mike Websters case. This Upshaw, NFLPA, NFL defeat was inspite of the fact that Groom Law Group are the ones who constantly amend and rewrite the outrageous “terms” of the Retirement Plan, “terms” that they then refer to whenever it suits them as if they, Groom had nothing to do with creating those “terms” of the Plan. Grooms conflicts of interest are outrageous, representing the healthy retired player beneficiaries against the injured retired disabled player beneficiaries while at the same time representing the owners interests and the NFLPA’s interests.

Upshaw appoints three Reitrement Board members, one Disability Initial Claims Committee member and Mickey Yaris-Davis the Benefits Director. Upshaw controls the denial of disability benefits.

Upshaw arrogantly insulted the court saying “we” are going to do the same thing in all similar cases in the future. Upshaw should be held in contempt for his in-your-face statement meant to be intimidating to the court and to others who have been denied ligitimate disability claims. The court ruling proves Upshaw and his NFL owner “partner’s” position is not just wrong and unfair but another “abuse of discretion” and a blatant attempt to intimidate disabled players, and coerce Retirement Plan player beneficiaries. This certainly is a violation of ERISA retirement plan laws on coercion, conflicts of interest, deliberate attempts to confuse and misrepresentation.

Q. NFL office’s Greg Aiello says Webster’s issue was a “narrow issue”,
A. Aiello and his boss Roger Goodell hope that the issue is narrow. "The NFL shouldn't be able to define what disability is. This opens a huge door for players with problems."

Q. "All six trustees of the plan saw it differently," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said on Thursday, "but the judges decided to overrule the board's unanimous decision."
A. The six trustees are owner/Goodell/Upshaw henchmen. They are made up of three owners plus Gene Upshaw’s personal agent Tom Condon, and member of the Atlanta Falcons broadcast team Jeff Van Note and Upshaws personal political hack Len Teeuws now deceased. These six trustees also unannimously approved the Retirement Plan buying $42,414 of year 2000, Super Bowl tickets, now claiming that they don’t know who used the tickets. Caught by the Dept of Labor in 2005 the NFLPA and the NFL Management Coucil paid back the Plan but still answered no questions about who used the tickets and why the Plan trustees had approved this frivolous purchase, another “abuse of discreation” in the first place.

The Board’s conflicts of interest are obvious. If Upshaw doesn’t approve Tom Condon’s agent’s status each year he can’t make a living representing NFL players while Van Note needs the Atlanta Falcons good will and approval to work as a Falcons announcer and Len Teeuws before his death, voted any way Upshaw told him to vote, keeping a record string of NFLPA and Retirement Plan paid trips to resort destinations in tact. Upshaw and Condon are cronies. Upshaw suspends other agents for questionable reasons while publicly endorsing Condon which gives Condon an unfair advantage and allows Condon to solicit the suspended agent’s player clients to become his clients. Condon now represents 140 NFL players up by 80 clients since Upshaw has been pushing his wagon for him by suspending other agents like Steve Wienberg and Carl Poston.

The three so called “Player” Board Members do not really represent the players and they voted 3-0 against Mike Webster. These “Player” Board Members are Upshaw appointees and they have established a record of having turned down so many disability applicants that only 1% of the 7,561 players who have played since the 1960’s collect disability insurance when 50% of players end their careers because of football injuries. These three Player Trustees, Tom Condon, Jeff Van Note, and Len Teeuws should and probably will be sued for their consistent anti-player “abuse of discrecion” the same way they abused their discretion in Mike Websters case. The biggest questions are about paying exorbinant legal fees to the Groom Law Group to defeat retired disabled players while allowing obvious conflicts of interest like having a Chicago Bears owner’s company to be the players retirement plan actuary, insurance, and investment consultants along with other abuses of discretion that are costing players and retired players millions of dollars.

Van Note told the Dept of Labor’s rather coddling investigator David Johnston, that he never ask a question about Plan expenses and voted unanimously to approve all expenses for his 12 years as a Board Member trustee. Johnson made no comment about this strange seemingly impossible record of fiscal irresposibility.

“…there are a lot of players who go through similar circumstances," Upshaw told the New York Times. "But you just don't award a benefit to someone who is going through a tough time.” Upshaw says “…lots of players…” have the same problems refusing to acknowledge that if retirement benefits were as much as they should be “lots of players” would not be going through similar “tough times”. Upshaw has breached his CBA duty to make his “best effort” to increase benefits for ALL retired players. Upshaw’s best efforts go for inceasing his own salary, profiteering using his cabal of Tom Condon, Troy Vincent, and Richard Berthelson ($624,000). Troy Vincent, NFLPA President, a well worn 16 year defensive back, is the beneficiary of a odd new 3 year contract from the Washington Redskins, just in time for him to “negotiate” a new $20 million a year contract through 2010 with Gene Upshaw.

Upshaw is Vincent’s hero, Vincent is an Upshaw promoter, how can Vincent negotiate on behalf of his 1,800 union members when he is in bed with the person he is supposed to be negotiating with having said, Upshaw is “underpaid because he is a man of color” even though the people who pay him are 75% men of color themselves?

Vincent will be the only defensive back to play in the NFL for 19 years. A typical NFLPA mystery.

After I published the information that Upshaw’s agent Tom Condon had negotiated Upshaw’s last contract with Upshaw himself, Condon has dissappeared from the Upshaw/Condon generated publicity about Upshaw’s current negotiations with Vincent. In the last attempt an April 2006 ESPN article to increase Upshaw’s contract, Condon had their pawn Vincent play the race card saying Upshaw is underpaid because he is a man of color. It didn’t work. Upshaw and Condon are playing Vincent like a ping pong ball. Vincent has been convinced by Upshaw and Condon that he will succeed Upshaw when his Redskins contract is up. Changed his mind he wants more money Upshaw

If the Redskins are participating in some three way deal between Upshaw/Condon, the Redskins, and Vincent they are all risking RICO litigation.

Upshaw and Aiello’s joint effort attempt to minimize losing the Mike Webster case; exposes this union-owner damage control is further proof of Upshaw’s collusion with the NFL owners. It is as damning evidence as Upshaw’s “unprecedented” voluntary rebating $800 million of the player’s compensation to the owners. These actions clearly illustrate the hand in glove collusion between Upshaw and the NFL owners that has and continues to cost the players and retired players millions of dollars.

Upshaw uses the Bert Bell NFL Player Retirement Plan as a shield to hide a calculated sham of a disability system that protects the owners from having to pay for their employees disabilities like all the other employers in America.

Have the disability insurance companies refused to insure NFL clubs or quoted them premiums that made disability insurance too expensive to be feasible?

Because of Mike Webster’s families victory in appelant court, "There is now an avenue of redress to be properly compensated, just like any other workplace in this country. These players give their body and souls for this job. Now, there's some hope for people with these injuries and disabilities."

Thanks again Mike Webster you have inspired us at a crucial point in the battle. Your face will not be forgotten.

NFL Concussions are just “Dings” not brain injuries.

The NFL’s Dr. Pellman who was appointed by Tagliabue to head the NFL’s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee (MTBI) hired Dr. William Barr. The NY Times revealed that Dr. Pellman is a rheumatologist with a degree from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico not from SUNY Stony Brook as his resume once claimed. He has no neurological credentials to head a committee on brain injuries.

Tagliabue was obviously looking for another NFL “yes” man, not some one with medical expertise on brain injuries, when he appointed Dr. Pellman the head of his NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. After a short period Dr. Barr refused to go along with the NFL’s act and blew the whistle on the biased, fraudulent, and dangerous information being published by the NFL under Dr. Pellman on concussions. Dr. Barr and Brain Injury attorney Michael Kaplen both dispute Dr. Pellman’s and NFL’s fraudulent contentions on concussions and brain injuries and spoke up in the media to try to bring about Congressional Hearings to protect NFL players and to try to prevent the dangerous misinformation about concussions from trickling down to college, high school, and youth programs. Dr. Pellman remains the NFL’s expert on concussions and brain injuries in spite of his lack of training and credentials and the problem with his inaccurate resume. Both Commissioner’s Tagliabue and Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw know all about Dr. Pellman’s problems and the threat he poses to the health of NFL, college, high school, and the youth of the nation and incredibly they have done nothing about it.

Once Pellman became Tagliabue’s endorsed medical expert baseball felt safe hiring him to be a steroids expert. A NY Times reporter who witnessed his steroid testimony in baseball’s hearings, decided to find out who Dr. Pellman is and why he knew so little. Here is some of the watershed.
“Dr. Pellman did his undergraduate training at New York University (1971-75) and medical school at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (1975-79) and the SUNY Stony Brook's Fifth Pathway Program (1979-80). He is the National Football League Medical Liaison, a past President of the NFL's Physician Society, Chairman of the NFL Committee on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and a member of the NFL Injury and Safety Panel. He became the Medical Advisor for Major League Baseball in 2003.”

The New York Times followed up with some letters to the editor:

Baseball Should Bar Pellman for Deception
Published: April 3, 2005 New York Times
To the Sports Editor:

Dr. Elliot J. Pellman's attempt to brush off his false claim to have graduated from medical school at Stony Brook (“Medical Adviser Says He Regrets Résumé Errors,” March 31) is an outrage. In 1971, I was one of more than 2,000 unsuccessful applicants for the first class of 16 students at the school, and I understand it is as difficult to gain admission today. In contrast, the medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico, where Pellman actually completed his course work, requires little more than a college diploma and a hefty tuition fee.
He compounds his deception by claiming it is a minor error. Like the baseball players who will not own up to using steroids, Pellman is in denial. He should be barred from baseball.

Alan Blum, M.D.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Also from the NY Times April 2005: “Wherever American doctors come from, however, nothing is likely to alter the importance of a physician telling the truth about his or her background.

"If a patient can trust you with his life, he should certainly be able to trust you for an honest report of your credentials," said Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, the editor in chief of The Journal of the American Medical Association.”

So there is a credible cry for Tagliabue, Goodell, and Upshaw’s Dr. Yes to be barred from both the NFL and baseball.

Michael V. Kaplen, president of the Brain Injury Association of New York State, has called upon Congress to conduct hearings regarding the medical research on concussions relied upon by the National Football League in determining when players who suffered concussions can return to play.

Kaplan, an attorney who represents victims of concussions and traumatic brain injury, called for the hearings, citing recent stories in ESPN The Magazine, Outside the Lines and Sports Center that raised question about the qualifications of Elliot Pellman, the Jets' team physician who oversees NFL research on concussions, and the conclusions of several NFL studies on the long-range ramifications of concussions.

Pro football's powers-that-be (Tagliabue, Groom Law Group) began to study the subject formally in 1994. Following a rash of head injuries to stars such as Troy Aikman and Steve Young, then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue established the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) Committee. He named Elliot Pellman, M.D., its chairman.

1994 is year the Groom Law Group became the Retirement Plan‚s attorneys. Since then Tagliabue, Goodell, Groom Law, Upshaw, Mr. Pellman, Condon, Van Note, Bidwill, Ms. Smith & Ms. Fleming, Ms. Yaris-Davis, the NFLPA legal staff, the Management Council, the NFL PR staff are the NFL owner’s defensive team.

Pellman and his group have also stated repeatedly that their work shows "no evidence of worsening injury or chronic cumulative effects of multiple MTBI‚s in NFL players." But a 2003 report by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina found a link between multiple concussions and depression among former pro players with histories of concussions. A 2005 follow-up study at the Center showed a connection between concussions and both brain impairment and Alzheimer's disease among retired NFL players.

“Medical understanding of brain trauma has steadily improved in recent times. A general consensus exists that if you have one concussion, you're more likely to have a second, and each subsequent concussion is likely to increase in severity.
Specific research on football players fits in with this consensus. A 2003 study showed college football players with one concussion were more vulnerable to subsequent brain injuries. Other research confirms the vast toll taken by such injuries. A University of North Carolina study of nearly 2,500 former NFL players found that 61 percent had suffered concussions and about one in six believed that as a result they had suffered long-term brain damage, including depression, slurred speech and blurred vision. Other research links concussions and Alzheimer's.
Amazingly enough, this doesn't appear to matter much to the NFL's go-to guy on concussions; a New York rheumatologist (no kidding) named Elliot Pellman. He continues to argue that it is sometimes safe for a player with a concussion to quickly resume playing ˆ sometimes in the same game. Some NFL teams heed him instead of the universe of neurosurgeons and neuropsychologists who disagree.
Which is why “even though Polamalu suffered at least his sixth concussion last Sunday“ the Steelers may allow him to play again this Sunday. How can the NFL players union possibly tolerate this? How can league Commissioner Roger Goodell? The NFL's concussion policy isn't just blithe and oblivious. It's barbaric.”

“A recent Outside the Lines article on concussions in the NFL. Bob Ley reported on the NFL’s investigation into the long-term consequences of multiple concussions. A few years ago, the NFL appointed Dr. Elliott Pellman, a rheumatologist by training to head a study committee about the long-term effects of “mild traumatic brain injuries” essentially, concussions. OTL interviewed a neurologist, Dr. William Barr, head of neuro-psychology at New York University (NYU) who consulted the committee at one time but was eventually fired. Barr says he was fired for openly criticizing the league‚s findings, which have argued, in more than a dozen studies over the past three years, that there is no long-term damage due to repeat concussions. Barr told OTL that the methodology used by the study committee did not follow accepted scientific practices. He also pointed out that Pellman has no prior track record in the field of neurology and, unsurprisingly, Pellman was not allowed to speak to OTL. Barr observed that the NFL is a product that is studying itself and therefore, “there is an inherent bias in its studies” due to the fact that the NFL has a clear interest in one particular set of findings ˆ that there is no additional risk to its players from playing after repeat concussions.”

“Several of the country's preeminent neurosurgeons and neuropsychologists have grown increasingly concerned that the league is putting players at risk by following Pellman's lead. They've had their doubts since the early days of his appointment to lead the committee. For one thing, Pellman is a rheumatologist by training -- a specialist in the treatment of joints and muscles -- not a neurologist. For another, when he started out, he often professed ignorance about the subject in question. "I would hear him say things in speeches like, 'I don't know much about concussions, I learn from my players,' and, 'We as a field don't know much about concussions,' and it used to bother me," says one doctor. "We knew what to do about concussions, but he was acting like it was new ground." Their dismay has only increased since The New York Times revealed last year that Pellman attended medical school in Guadalajara , Mexico , and does not hold a medical degree from SUNY Stony Brook, as he once claimed. "When neuropsychologists sit around telling jokes, we call him 'Mr. Pellman,' " says a colleague.”

Mr. Pellman and the Groom Law Group will be Paul Tagliabue’s legacy.

A Ball State University study commissioned by the NFLPA showed that of those who played in the 70s and 80s nearly 50% reported that they retired because of injuries; up from 30% before 1959. Later studies show and even higher rate of injuries. If 50% retire because of injuries how can the true disability rate be 1% of the 7,561 players who have played in the NFL since the 1960’s. These are more NFL/NFLPA numbers that don’t make any sense.

One can make other interesting comparisons:

* MLB Plan legal fees average between $150,000 and $160,000 a year compared to average payments to beneficiaries of $36,700. NFL Plan legal fees are over $2,000,000 million a year, while average benefits are $12,126 a year.
* MLB’s Player Association Executive Director Donald Fehr is paid around $1 million a year. Gene Upshaw’s annual take is over three times that salary at $3.5 mil. Upshaw also holds a job as the Chairman of Players Inc., the corporation that exclusively manages royalties for 1,800 active players and 3,500 retired players for endorsements, appearances, etc., from which he draws over $1 million a year in personal “employee benefit plan contributions.”

The core problem is an old one. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Gene Upshaw worked with Paul Tagliabue for many years. Some, like Bryant Gumbel, viewed Upshaw as working for Tagliabue when he remarked that Upshaw was his leashed pet. If this was an apt description, it should have been added that this pet is one that is more pampered than any poodle owned by a Hollywood celebrity.

Upshaw is elected by the current NFL players, who are young men fresh out of college football. As he has reminded us on a number of occasions, the retired players don’t have a vote. Upshaw claims “I don’t represent them.” These young players face a life in the spotlight of only three and one-half years. Most are gone from the League by the time they are 25 years old. When they elect Upshaw, urged on by the likes of NFLPA President Troy Vincent, whose is kissing up to and angling for Upshaw’s job, and union approved Agents, who Upshaw told the AP work at his “...beck and call.” These young players are hardly thinking of how they will be treated as 55-year-old retirees. When they vote on Upshaw, they are probably sitting
around feeling invincible in a boring meeting that they cannot wait to end so that they can get back to what they are thinking about, playing football, making the team or fending off other players who want to replace them, buying a new car or house or whatever, while retirement plans and being disabled by football injuries are the furthest things from their minds.

We would prefer an advocate other than Upshaw, one we can trust since he spends much of his time attacking us and subverting our interests. His “best efforts” to improve retired players benefit credits have to date been non-existent. We believe the main characteristic of Upshaw‚s “1993 bargain” with Tagliabue is to keep the retired players, particularly those retired players with disabilities out of the owner‚s sight, and out of their bank accounts.

Upshaw has taken advantage of this unique situation and carved out an extraordinarily lucrative fiefdom for himself. Unfortunately, as the facts show, he is more committed to the riches and perks of office than the duties of service. He rides in charted jets with the NFL Commissioner, chauffeured limousines, while the average retired player struggles on $12,165 a year riding in the rear of the bus. Financial abuses like $42,414 worth of Super Bowl tickets used by people “unknown” to the Plan Administrator or Upshaw’s agent Retirement Board Member Tom Condon who conveniently has no records as to who used those tickets, $15,443.80 Dr Alfred Tria and $20,000+ Dr. Dr. Robert Nevaiser for two day week end meeting in Miami, for just two of their MAP’s (Medical Advisory Physicians) and $4,050 and $4,236 party meals at L’Academie De Cuisine are just the beginning of waste and abuse of power by Upshaw and the Retirement Board members. $12,269,111 in legal fees has been paid to Groom Law Group to defeat beneficiary retired player disability claims. The NFLPA has its own problems being sued over recommending an investment manager as a competent and honest investment manager who ran a $185 mil Ponzi scheme. Another investment manager, an Upshaw buddy, Sean Jones had to be removed as a $60,000 a year NFLPA Investment Manager, he was also an NFLPA approved Agent, but after being ruled against by the NASD for causing $500,000+ of losses to an NFL player client the NFLPA was forced to remove him.

Upshaw Pays Homage and Lip Service to retired players but diverts the Cash From the Basic Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan to other legal, management, and consulting fee generating side plans that exclude the 3500 retired players who built the NFL and won the Plan itself under extreme repressive anti-trust violating conditions.

Upshaw and his gang Groom Law and Aon Corporation seem bent on destroying the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan by diverting funds that would have gone into the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan into the NFL Player Second Career Savings Plan, 401k Plans, and the NFL Player Annuity Program, Medical Savings Plan, Professional Football Players Insurance Trust all cutting out the 3500 retired players who actually won the Plan in the first place and who hired Upshaw to begin with. This diversion of Employer Contribution funds increases legal fees to Groom Law Group and consultant and investment fees to Aon Corporation while drastically reducing the employer contribution to the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. This is a Tagliabue/Upshaw strategy of pitting the current players against the retired players who they are cutting out. When we won the Retirement Plan in 1959 and gifted it to all-future players, we intended for there to be one pension plan forever as baseball has done. These underhanded Tagliabue/Gene Upshaw/Doug Allen maneuvers diverting funds have greatly diminished the benefit payments to the 3500 retired vested players who played before 1982.

Former NY Giant great Sam Huff’s March 16, 2000 letter below is accurate. Sam and I were there when the Retirement Plan was won and put into existence. A gift to all future players.

March 16, 2000

Dear Gene:

Thank you for your correspondence of March 10, 2000 regarding the pension plan for former NFL players.

I was an original representative when this plan was introduced. Never did we intend for there to be separate pension plans negotiated. I do not have to tell you that the players of today are paid far more money than we could even imagine.

What I am saying is develop one pension plan for all, as has been done in baseball.

Guys like John Unitas and others made this game great and no one from the past will be happy until you make this right with them. Only you can do it!

Sincerely,

Sam Huff

Cc: John Unitas

Groom Law Group, Upshaw, and the Disability Plan treated Johnny Unitas grossly unfairly over his disability claim.

Last week Texas NFL sports agent Steve Wienberg filed a $36.7 mil suit against the NFLPA and Gene Upshaw for arbitrary and capricious “...beck and call” type treatment. The same type treatment Upshaw showed agent Carl Poston. Player agents have been treated in this arbitrary and capricious fashion because of being subject to the absolute control of the NFLPA leadership Upshaw who acts as a recruiter for his own agent and cohort Tom Condon, the more agents Upshaw suspends the more player clients his crony Condon can recruit.

Here are some telling observations by ESPN writer Jason Whitlock in a 3/3/2006 article: “Condon, the head of IMG, is the only agent with the intellect and credibility to usurp any of Upshaw‚s authority. But that won’t happen. Condon, a former guard with the Chiefs, is Upshaw’s underboss. Upshaw’s critics claim Condon is Tony Soprano and Upshaw is junior Soprano, meaning Upshaw carries the title but Condon wears the crown. Whatever the case, Upshaw and Condon have a strong alliance, and the NFLPA is infiltrated with IMG-trained lawyers and lieutenants.”

“While Tagliabue, (the NFL Commissioner now Roger Goodell), must build a consensus among a group of strong willed businessmen. Upshaw need only please himself, a small group of lawyers retained by the NFLPA and IMG super agent Tom Condon, Upshaw’s confidant. Upshaw‚s real bosses- the 1,500 players he represents-are in no way engaged in this process. The majority of Upshaw’s constituency has no idea what is going on right now.”

Players Inc another money puzzle signed a new $1 billion 4 year Contract with Madden EA Video Games. Questions it raises are who gets the $1 billion and why suddenly 4 out of the top 5 highly paid execs resign at Players Inc in November? And why did 20+ year insiders Dave Meggysey and Brig Owen resign from NFLPA posts in the past month?

Here follows a letter from NFLPA Assistant Executive Director Doug Allen to Retired NFL Players about Players, Inc. in December 2003. I have double-checked this re-typed letter for accuracy and it is accurate.

Several questions are raised by the 1994 date of Players Inc creation being thrust upon us in the following letter. There is Google available media coverage of Players Inc back to at least 1989 about marketing Fantasy Football. This raises the question in my mind of who got screwed, other than the retired players, in the 1994 re-organization and what role did Groom Law Group play in this 1994 subsidiary creation and did it deliver control of Players Inc to Gene Upshaw.

December 2003

Dear NFLPA Member:

In 1994 the NFLPA created a separate marketing and licensing subsidiary, Players Inc. Since then, Players Inc has marketed NFL players, active and retired, in a variety of ways: licensed products such as trading cards and videogames, television and radio programming, personal appearances, autograph signings, an all-player internet site (nflplayers.com) and at events such as the NFL Kick-Off and the Super Bowl.

Hundreds of retired NFL players have received payments from Players Inc for these activities but every retired NFL player has benefited from Players Inc‚s creation. How? Because 40% of Players, Inc‚s operating revenue is paid to the NFLPA as a royalty for the active player name and image rights secured by the NFLPA and licensed to Players Inc. This allows the NFLPA to provide extensive services and benefits to retired players in return for modest retired player dues of $50 per year. For example, the NFLPA Retired Players Department and Benefits Department serves almost 4000 NFLPA retired player members at an annual cost to the NFLPA of $1.5 million. Retired player dues offset less than $200,000 of that amount. The $1.3 million difference in the cost of retired player representation by the PA (Players Union) is paid for by active player licensing. Retired players deserve this kind of support because you built the game and the union. We live every day by the NFLPA‚s motto: “Past, Present and Future.”

We have the participation of almost every active NFL player in group licensing. And we need your support for the licensing program as well. You have signed the NFLPA Group Licensing Assignment (“GLA”) in the past but your GLA is about to expire. Please sign the enclosed GLA and return it today. This agreement is non-exclusive and will not interfere with any other licensing or endorsement opportunities you may have.

Join the thousands of retired NFL players who have provided their name and image rights to the NFLPA and Players Inc. You may get the opportunity to receive royalty payments or appearance fees. And, as explained above, Players Inc funds the NFLPA, giving the NFLPA the financial and staff resources to:

• negotiate better pension and disability benefits
• publicize a network of medical facilities that treat players without insurance
• organize 32 NFLPA local chapters
• hold a retired players convention
• endow the Players-Assistance Trust for retired players in need


Help us market retired NFL players and show your support for the NFLPA and Players Inc by signing and returning the enclosed GLA today!

If you have any questions about the GLA or retired players licensing, please call Beverly Halton at the NFLPA Retired Players Department (202-463-2213 or 800-372-2000).

Thanks for your prompt attention and for your help. Enjoy the rest of the 2003 NFL season!

Happy Holidays,

Douglas F Allen
Assistant Executive Director

This letter is replete with misrepresentations and inaccuracies by Allen. Players Inc has signed a $1 billion 4 year contact with Madden EA video games and will pay the 3500 retired players nothing, and nothing is scheduled to be paid to the NFL Retirement Plan. But Allen and Upshaw raised retired player’s dues to $100 a year and refuse to represent those retired players even though Players Inc pays Upshaw $1,017,351 dollars a year for his Retirement Plan. There is no network of medical facilities for the 3500 retired players as is promised or at least described above and the retirement benefits for the 3,500 will be increased by only $12.6 mil and there are no improved disability benefits as claimed. The Retired Player NFLPA local chapters are a method of controlling the complaints of retired players. A recent Washington, DC meeting (November 2006) of local chapter Presidents addressed by Upshaw did not produce a single question asked of Upshaw about increasing retirement benefits for retired players even though this is the number one issue today with every one of the 3500 retired NFL players. The local chapters have done nothing and accomplished nothing on behalf of retired NFL players. These Retired players Chapters act as a social club buffer between the retired players and the NFLPA and ultimately the NFL owners.

Suddenly in November Doug Allen took a pay cut and a job heading the Screen Actors Guild, his wife Pat and two other top Players, Inc. executives also resigned as new stricter reporting requirements were published and retired players began to organize an action to withdraw their participation in Players Inc and to sue Players Inc to find out what is going on behind their very private doors and to recover whatever amounts are owed the 3500 retired players that has been "withheld" from them utilizing the monopoly status of the NFLPA, NFL, Players Inc, NFL Properties, NFL Films, TV contractors, the Vendors and whoever else is involved.

The fact is the Groom Law Group was arguing to diminish the players disability rights before the Supreme Court and Groom was getting paid more than $500,000 to do it, out of our Retirement Plan funds while Doug Allen was writing the above letter in 2003. Groom was in fact helping the government formulate its position against the player’s rights. Not only did Groom Law Group act against their own clients the NFL Player Retirement Plan beneficiaries, Groom also helped the government draft their opposition to the Plan beneficiary’s rights in an outrageous contravention of the law.

The Player Board Members Condon, Van Note, and Teeuws voted with the owner Board Members for this Supreme Court intervention against the interests of the retired player beneficiaries they are supposed to represent, violating their trust, their fiduciary responsibility to those retired players and are personally liable for their reprehensible act. One law firm cannot represent both the Owner Board Members and the Player Board Members or the Owners and the Players at the same time when one side’s rights are being damaged.

The Representation Dilemma when are the Retired Players Represented

The 2003 Holiday Players Inc Doug Allen letter does not exactly square with Gene Upshaw‚s taunting of the retired players at the Hall of Fame saying "They (retirees) say they don't have anybody in the (bargaining) room. Well, they don't and they never will. I'm the only one in that room. They're not in the bargaining unit. They don't even have a vote."

The NFLPA constitution and By-Laws specifically exclude the Executive Director from voting on NFLPA business. The Executive Director Gene Upshaw has a voice but no vote.

Upshaw opened an NFLPA Frequently Asked Questions web page. The first thing he had to do was correct a “major error!” Upshaw claims it was an “Honest error...” Upshaw said in a rare personal email that an Amendment to the CBA made in Hawaii in March 2006, should read “Be it resolved the NFLPA shall use its best efforts in bargaining with the NFL to increase the benefit credit amounts for ALL retired Players” and should not read “for retired players who have credited seasons during the period from 1977 to 1991” as it appeared on his new FAQ web page.

Legal scholars agree that a union’s “best effort” culminates with a work stoppage, a strike, or successful litigation if negotiations fail. It is my understanding that Upshaw simply announced the 25% increase without any proposals or counter proposals, no best efforts at bargaining of any kind between Upshaw and Harold Henderson or the NFL Management Council about anything. Upshaw & Henderson simply issued a joint news release with Upshaw announcing the insulting 25% ($12.6 mil) increase proposal on July 27, 2006. The union membership or even the player reps took no vote on the 25% insult and under the NFLPA Constitution & By Laws Upshaw has no vote on any NFLPA issue. After Upshaw told retired players there was not enough money for more than a 25% increase he voluntarily rebated $800 million of salary back to the owners. Upshaw displays moments of insanity and is constantly making nonsensical statements that go unquestioned by the NFL press footmen.

From page 2 paragraph 4 line 7 a threatening letter to me from Upshaw and the NFLPA says “This year the NFLPA negotiated for and additional $250 million to be spent on improving retired player benefits as part of the 2006 extension of the CBA.” It only took $19.4 million in 2002 to increase benefits by $6,082 a year which doubled the benefits in 2002. In order to double the benefits again in 2006 it would cost $38.8 million well within the bounds of $250 million. Of course there is the usual NFLPA slimy double talk in the letter which says “This amount includes increases in retired players’ pensions (25% in your case), disability benefits and the new 88 Plan. These decisions were made without regard to racial make-up of the retired player population.”

Six years times $12.6 equals $75.6 million. $250 million minus $75.6 million leaves $174.4 million for the new 88 dementia program and disability payments. This division of assets is typically idiotic.

If you consider that Upshaw gifted back $800 million to the owners in salary cap it makes little sense for him to say there isn’t enough money to raise the retired players benefits 100% again. 100% would not make up for the abuse and anti trust exploitation of the early players.

The new CBA as amendment in March 2006 says Upshaw/NFLPA is legally obligated to make his “best effort in bargaining with the NFL to increase the benefit credit amounts for ALL retired Players” even though he has said he doesn’t represent retired players or bargain for them. If Upshaw doesn’t make his “best effort” the 3,500 retired players have legal recourse against him and the NFLPA and at this point we intend to exercise that option. Further if the Union doesn’t make it’s best effort to live up to its contractual obligations it is also responsible.

The Mike Webster decision comes just at the beginning of a first look, in the light of day at actions taken and expenses approved by Upshaw and/or the Retirement Board members that do not appear reasonable or necessary. Retirement Board members are fiduciaries personally responsible for their decisions. The Plan Documents clearly state that Board Members Tom Condon, Jeff Van Note, William Bidwill, Clark Hunt, and Eddie Jones have fiduciary responsibilities described in Article 8 (c) Pay all reasonable and necessary expenses of the Plan; (that means only reasonable and necessary expenses of the Plan)

The Doctor they paid $15,443.80 for the two day week end in Miami was later fired by the Groom Law Group because he advised a player that he qualified for certain disability benefits. A transcript from an ESPN interview describes this incident between Dr. Alfred Tria and “angry (NFL) attorneys” in some detail.

Inaccurate Reports are S.O.P. for NFLPA and Retirement Board

The NFLPA had not been concerned about making accurate reports that is not until the new regulations for more detailed, more transparent reports were issued earlier this year 2006. Consider that the IRS Forms filed by the NFLPA says Upshaw works 40 hours a week for the union, and the PAT reports say Upshaw works 20 hours a week for PAT (Players Assistance Trust), and Players Inc pays Upshaw $1,017,351 a year which indicates he works for Players Inc full time 40 hours a week as well. He also works for other legal entities I am not aware of yet like the NFLPA’s 2021 L Street Corporation real-estate speculation department. That is a certified 80 hours per week of extremely highly paid work, 20 hours of volunteer work, which is doubtful at best.

Most of the expenses discussed in this report are from only a few pages of records from a FOIA request to the Dept of Labor by Mercury Morris a retired disabled Miami Dolphin star running back. The Dept of Labor is holding many more pages of itemized expenses in secret in collusion with Groom Law Group. The question again is why? The Retirement Plan information Mercury is requesting is important to all retired players they should all have access to it and he is working hard on their behalf and will be making the information obtained available to all the retired players.

The Dept of Labor has been uncooperative at best.

As you fellows in our email community know I have been writing about the issues of the retired players and abuses by the NFLPA and Gene Upshaw and his cabal since March 2006.

After January 7, 2007 retired players and their spouses should write to Elizabeth Bond (Address below) and copy her boss Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor to demand that the Department of Labor release to Mr. Morris‚ under his FOIA request all the documents relevant to Morris‚ disability case and the operation of the Retirement Plan and the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council including all the expenses and any information from any and all investigations they have conducted regarding the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan and NFL Player Supplemental Plan. Mr. Morris will make this information available to all retired players.

Violations have gone virtually unpunished. The NFL and the NFLPA repaying the money for the $42,414 of Super Bowl tickets is an attempt to help the Board Members escape having to answer for their “abuse of discretion” and violation of their fiduciary duty. The act of violating the trust's fiduciary obligations to the retired player beneficiaries is ignored and the same Board Members have been left in power to continue to do it again. Now Ms Bond appears to be conducting a cover up refusing to produce over 100+ relevant pages of information under Morris‚ FOIA request. Ms. Bond and the Dept of Labor are also allowing the Retirement Board to cover up the identities of those who used the tickets which will probably be embarrassing to them and the politically connected people who used them.

Aon Corporation permeates the NFL as an actuary for many individual Club retirement plans and as an insurance advisor, which is representing both management and employees at the same time. Aon was paid $2,039,174 in 2002 and $1,929,509 in 2003 and I assume at least $2,000,000+ for 2004, 2005, and 2006 to be Contract Administrator for the Professional Football Players Insurance Trust as well as $492,951 from Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan as Plan actuary and in both cases the filing party claims NONE on IRS Form 5500 when asked if there is a (d) Relationship to employer, employee, or person known to be a party-in-interest. This question is asked to find out if there are any conflicts of interest, like being an employer plan participant like a Chicago Bears owner. Aon actually prepared the Insurance Trust 5500 form report for 2003 so the NONE answer was not from any 3rd party filling out the form; it came directly from the Chicago Bears owner’s company. A quick calculation approximately $2.5 million a year for 5 years shows approximately $12,500,000 to Aon Corporation from NFL players and retired players and this is just from research without the power of subpoena. That is a minimum of $25,000,000 to Groom Law Group and Aon Corporation from funds that would have gone to retired players in the last 5 years alone.

Department of Justice Tells Dept of Labor You Take It on November 8th after they saw the results of the mid term elections.

I received a 30 page email letter from the Criminal Division of the Dept of Justice dated November 7, 2006 Election Day, then it was not e-mailed to me until the next morning of November 8. Ms Bond is the same person who has been dancing Mercury Morris around over his FOIA request cherry picking what she sends to him after conferring with the NFLPA attorney Groom Law Group while withholding over 100+ relevant pages and appearing to withhold items to protect Groom and the Retirement Board. She did however send a few itemized billings that showed $6,121,348 of Groom Legal fees when added to the $5,000,000+ we already know about from 2003 & 2004 brings the total to over $10,146,361 of legal fees to litigate against (to beat up) plan beneficiary retired players who apply for disability benefits. Add the 2005 Groom Legal Fees and the total is $12,269,111. These anti-player legal fees are paid out of those same retired player beneficiaries‚s Retirement Plan.

At Doug Ell/Groom Law‚s 1994 contract rate of $265 per hour, then $10,146,361 divided by $265 is 38,288 hours or at 2000 hours per year that is delivering 19 years of legal services in 5 years from 2000 to 2004. Charging $140,000 for two briefs to intercede in a Supreme Court case to diminish the rights of retired disabled players, rights of the beneficiaries of the “Plan” that Groom claims to represent is outrageous. These briefs cost the retirement Plan, the player beneficiaries $6,700 per page to diminish their own rights.

The terms of the “Plan” say the “Plan Assets” “No assets will be used for any purpose other than to pay benefits to Players (or their families, beneficiaries or Dependents), or to pay the costs of administering the Retirement Plan.”

Hiding the information?

$42,414 was spent on Super Bowl tickets and again notes the Board members claim they don‚t know who used those tickets. The Board Member questioned by the DOL investigator was not under oath. Instead of forcing the Board Member fiduciaries to personally pay the pension back the $42,414, they allowed the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council to pay back the Plan for the Super Bowl tickets leaving the same fiduciaries on the Board where they can make other capricious expenditures such as $8,286 for 2 Christmas parties at one of DC‚s fanciest restaurants, and a Doctor $15,443 for a two day week end meeting in Miami, there is also $40,956 payment to NFL Management Council, and $39,820 to NFLPA which raises the question of whether or not these payments could have been part of a scheme where our Plan assets were used to fund the ticket payback deal with our Plan paying for the tickets twice; and there are many other suspect expenses like a $1,610 Super Bowl Game, $16,188 to the Miami Dolphins, $1,277 to Tom Condon‚s IMG-Football, and $8,563 to Baltimore Ravens probably for more tickets and other suspected unnecessary and unreasonable expenses. Out of 5 partial pages of expenses 4 pages have REDACTED stamped on them meaning at least half the information on the page has been withheld by the Dept of Labor‚s Elizabeth Bond so we can‚t see them. Makes you wonder what Ms Bond is hiding for the Cabal.

The question is why would any information regarding our NFL Player Retirement Plan be hidden by either the Plan fiduciaries or the government from the Plan participants and beneficiary’s? The obvious answer is that it might be damaging to those who are hiding it.

The Board member‚s claim that the Board doesn’t‚t know who used the $42,414 of Super Bowl tickets certainly seems to lend itself to a probable cover up of the embarrassing identities of those who might have used them. Since they are not known to the Board members who bought the tickets we are left to speculate, like perhaps the tickets were used by politicians, people with influence in government, perhaps labor or justice department big wigs, maybe who? I believe these people will be identified through congressional subpoenas despite the Dept of Labors participation in the Retirement Board‚s attempted cover up. Maybe the names of who used the Super Bowl tickets are in the Retirement Board minutes routinely recorded by a court recorded?

There are also bills for private investigator Tom Keating $38,935 for two months for services like trying to catch disabled retired players doing something that will allow the Board to disqualify the disabled players from their disability. This $38,935 investigator cost would not even be in the equation if our Retirement Plan had not “stupidly” or in a “collusive scheme” shifted the NFL owner’s liability for employee disabilities to our Player Retirement Plan. Maybe Tom Keating, Upshaw’s private eye can discover who used the Super Bowl tickets in 2000 that nobody can remember who used. New LM2 reports show Sutton Associates being paid $92,519 for “INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES.” The NFLPA was investigating Mike Webster’s family during their law suit.

A Dept of Labor investigator named David Johnston interviewing Board Member Jeff Van Note accepted answers like, 1. “Van Note has never personally questioned any of the expenses paid by the Plan.” 2. “The Board unanimously approves plan expenses.” Van Note has been a Board member for 12 years, Tom Condon for 26 years Len Teeuws for 33 years and the expenses have been unanimously approved forever.

There is one notation that indicates the DOL investigator might be awake during his investigation when he said “Plan expenses are weighted heavily in the area of legal expenses primarily due to the litigation undertaken when former players that have been denied disability benefits, sue the Plan.” That said these $10,146,361 of heavily weighted legal expenses were noted, then ignored by the DOL investigator, in favor of pursuing $42,414 of Super Bowl tickets that Van Note, nor Condon, nor Teeuws can remember who used those tickets or remember who ever raised any questions about any expenses or what any questions raised were about,” ever. The DOL investigator David Johnston made no attempt other than asking the question then accepting Van Note’s lame answer to find out who used those Super Bowl (year 2000 Ravens v Giants) tickets.

A court recorder takes the minutes of every Retirement Board meeting. They meet quarterly. One would think the investigator would have obtained and reviewed those minutes before questioning Van Note or Bidwill or Gaunt unless the investigator was trying to assume a deliberate position of ignorance to aid in a cover up for the Retirement Board, the NFLPA, and the NFL owners to the detriment of retired NFL players.

“When Van Note became a Board member in 1994, Teeuws and Condon told Van Note the unwritten guidelines to be followed by the NFLPA Board members. Condon reminded Van Note to be reasonable with Plan money because it was not his money, but was for the retirement and disability benefits of NFL players and their beneficiaries.” What an absurd way to run any business let alone a $1.6 billion retirement Plan built on trusting 7 people, the 6 Retirement Board members the NFL Commissioner and their herd of lawyers.

Terms of the Plan say under Article 8.2 Authority of the Retirement Board (c) Pay all reasonable and necessary expenses of the Plan;

ERISA law 404 states: “(a) (1) a fiduciary shall discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries and-(A) for the exclusive purpose of: (i) providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries; and (ii) defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan;”

The outrageous legal fees relate directly to the fact that the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan was turned into the NFL owner‚s disability insurance defense fund, whereby the assets of the plan can be depleted by paying legitimate player disability claims. DEPLETED! It seems unbelievable that our retirement plan can be DEPLETED by disability payments. Why? This terrible irrational consequence was raised and confirmed by Joseph Yablonski NFLPA attorney in an August 29, 2006 letter page 7 the 1st paragraph. 50% of the 7,561 players who have played since the 1960‚s ended their careers due to injuries, but only 1% of those injured retired players receive disability benefits today, a fact that makes no rational sense.

The Plan’s outrageously high legal fees are part of an ongoing assault on the 3,500 retired players who are drawing only $12,165 average annual benefits. That assault continues with the NFL Commissioner in the back ground moving his chess men through the NFL Management Council and PR staff, the NFLPA, Gene Upshaw and Players, Inc. Aon Corporation principals whose Aon subsidiaries are in my opinion and others with a more expert opinion, cooking the actuarial books to lower the owner contributions to the Plan and thereby lower retired player benefits. No Chicago Bear owner or any other NFL owner can legally be a contributing employer and also be their employee's retirement plan actuaries or investment advisors whose work determines the amount of their own NFL employer contributions to the Plan.

The “Pay to Play” Investment Manager Callan Associates is Our Plan Manager too

Another troubling issue has surfaced concerning the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan’s Investment Manager Callan Associates and their kick back scheme of operation called “Pay to Play” by Bloomberg’s reporters who describe the investment losses that Callan Associates “Pay to Play” has caused the city of San Diego’s pension plan. San Diego’s pension plan is suing Callan Associates.

How Much Did Callan Cost Its Pension Clients?: John F. Wasik
By John F. Wasik
Sept. 26 2006 (Bloomberg) -- If your pension-plan consultant was recommending awful money managers, wouldn't you smell something rotten?
Something sure stunk in San Diego, where Callan Associates Inc., one of the oldest and largest U.S. pension-consulting firms, allegedly monitored and approved money-losing managers for the city's under funded pension plan.
What 19,000 current and former city employees didn't know is how much Callan, a San Francisco-based firm with revenues of about $42 million last year, received in side payments from money managers for various services.
The conflicts were described in recent court documents from a lawsuit that the city of San Diego filed against Callan.
“The evidence reflected in these filings shows several shocking breaches of duty by Callan,” said Bryan Vess, a San Diego-based attorney hired to represent the city.
... Pay-to-Play
In addition to providing advice to pension funds by suggesting advisers and monitoring performance, Callan also receives fees from more than 200 investment managers “managing approximately 74 percent of total U.S. industry assets” with 30 percent of its income coming from investment manager clients, the firm states on its Web site.
A separate suit filed by the city attorney against Callan and two other companies alleges Callan recommended that the city “employ investment managers from whom Callan received under-the- table fees that were not disclosed to the city.”
In these arrangements, sometimes known as pay-to-play, managers allegedly were recommended for pension-fund management by Callan if they spend from $16,000 to $50,000 to attend “colleges” or “institutes” or buy marketing services offered by the firm.
“The average, or middle-of-the-road manager, outperformed the (Callan-recommended) manager in 11 of 12 quarters, resulting in an opportunity loss of approximately $8 million,” the suit claimed of one underperforming manager cited in the complaint.
(The rest of this Bloomberg article is available online.)

Our NFL Player Retirement Plan has suffered a $138,007,594 loss from investments under the Upshaw/Callan watch, which is the only reason the Plan is not 100% funded. Another crony situation that needs to be investigated along with cronism of Upshaw’s, friend and supporter as an NFLPA officer, Mike Davis who a reliable source tells me received special disability qualification treatment when he applied for NFL disability benefits.

Gene Upshaw, Troy Vincent, and Doug Allen are shilling for the Groom Law Group and Aon Corporation while shielding the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners from their responsibility to injured and all retired players. The NFL’s gated community does not include the 3500 retired players or the disabled players. Tagliabue built a wall, and a moat infested with vicious lawyers and pulled up the drawbridge protecting the owners inside, then he assigned Upshaw to mind the gate and keep the retired and disabled players out. The league office used its PR machine to promote Upshaw so the current active players will believe he is their savior. Upshaw knows if the 3500 retired (or disabled) players get in, he is gone.

When an NFL health insurance plan went belly up and former NY Giant Kenyon Rasheed went to Upshaw for help after his wife had given birth, and the insurance company wouldn’t pay the bills, Upshaw told him that “I ‘m making too much money. I can’t rock the boat.”
Matt Birk, a Harvard graduate, (a Minnesota Vikings player) “…When you go to those CBA meetings (NFLPA meetings with Upshaw), you always feel like you’re being sold something instead of being given the straight facts,” Birk told the newspaper.
Ethics Professor’s Opinion

Ethics is a major problem, the union acted against Jones because a Texas court upheld a National Association of Securities Dealers award of more than $500,000 against Jones. In that case, Jones' former teammate, Cris Dishman, alleged that Jones engaged in unauthorized trading and churning.” Ebenezer Ekuban’s credit was severely damaged by Upshaw’s buddy Sean Jones, Ekuban’s agent.

Upshaw was involved in the ULLICO/Global Crossing insider trading stock scheme and was caught. The following is from a Business Week On-Line story:

THE WORKPLACE
By Aaron Bernstein

“The profit-taking has attracted the interest of a Washington grand jury, which has subpoenaed ULLICO officials and others. It's not clear if there were illegal acts by the 30-plus union officials on ULLICO's board, including AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney and the heads of about 12 unions--among them the carpenters' Douglas J. McCarron, the football players' Eugene Upshaw, and the hotel workers' John W. Wilhelm. While some, including Sweeney and Wilhelm, took no profits, most voted for the scheme, ULLICO documents show.

If labor's leaders don't try to clean up the mess, the entire labor movement could be tarnished. Already, critics inside labor are pushing Sweeney and the other union presidents to kick out those responsible for setting up the complex stock plan. Their prime target: ULLICO CEO Robert A. Georgine, a former top AFL-CIO official for 26 years, who stood to make by far the most out of the transactions. Some are also insisting that the union leaders return much of their profit to the company. "Let's see them repay the money they ripped off," snaps one labor official who wasn't involved. "Unions shouldn't be doing this stuff, even if it was legal." ULLICO declined to comment, while Upshaw and Wilhelm didn't return phone calls.

To his credit, Sweeney knows labor's credibility as a critic of corporate greed is on the line. He has demanded a probe by an outsider, citing as a model the one William C. Powers, dean of the University of Texas law school, undertook at Enron Corp. On Mar. 21, Sweeney wrote to Georgine insisting on this after Georgine balked. One name floated: former Labor Secretary John T. Dunlop.

Labor must move fast to avoid big damage. If it doesn't, conservative groups could point fingers at unions as labor mounts campaigns in the fall congressional elections. Employers, too, could use the charges to campaign against unions in organizing drives at companies such as Honda Motor and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Already, the mess has undercut the AFL-CIO's clout. It was gearing up to push for corporate-governance reforms and had launched a campaign with the machinists' union to pressure Lockheed Martin Corp. not to renominate Enron director Frank Savage to its own board. The day the federation started getting media calls on ULLICO, though, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka pulled the plug, leaving machinists to lead the battle on their own. "He didn't want us to look like hypocrites," says one union official involved.

The chance for Georgine and others to profit arose because of the peculiar nature of ULLICO, the parent of Union Labor Life Insurance Co. The company, which sells insurance to union members, invested $7.6 million in seed money in Global Crossing in 1997. ULLICO sold about half its Global shares for a $335 million after-tax profit. But ULLICO is private, so its shares don't trade publicly. Instead, the company sets the price for the upcoming year every Dec. 31, based on its prior year's book value.

ULLICO directors gained handsomely from this procedure. On Dec. 17, 1999, Georgine offered to sell 4,000 shares to each of them at $54 apiece, the 1998 book value--even though ULLICO already knew its Global Crossing profits had lifted its stock value to $146. The union pension and general funds that own most of ULLICO's shares weren't given the same offer, or even told about it, officials say. Georgine himself went from holding 8,868 shares in 1998 to 52,868 in 1999, according to ULLICO's proxies.

In 2000, ULLICO directors again took advantage of the lagging stock-valuation system to cash out. Before the Dec. 31 price adjustment that year, ULLICO offered to repurchase shares, as it had done annually since 1997. The tender, at $146, was limited to 205,000 shares out of 7.9 million outstanding. All shareholders could sell a prorated amount based on their total holding. Yet those with fewer than 10,000 shares--mostly the directors--could sell all their stock.

The result: Georgine and other directors, knowing the price would be cut to $75, were able to sell at $146, while the pension funds with much larger stakes were restricted in how much they could sell. Overall, ULLICO's directors sold 73,000 of their 120,000 shares, AFL-CIO officials say, giving them combined profits of at least $6.7 million.

It's not clear if the grand jury will find anything illegal about all this. One question is whether ULLICO's union directors breached fiduciary responsibilities to their union's pension and general funds. Even those who took little or nothing could have a problem if they merely approved the moves, insiders say. Still, unions hire Wall Street firms to manage their ULLICO holdings, which may insulate labor leaders from liability, legal experts say.

Liable or not, ULLICO directors have damaged their credibility as union leaders. Nearly all of the insurer's capital comes from union members, which means these labor leaders have shortchanged the very people who voted them into office--at least politically.” Gene Upshaw was one of the ULLICO directors who have damaged his credibility as union leader and the NFLPA and the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, the 2nd Career Savings Plan, and the NFL Player 401k plans the NFL Players insurance Trust, the Player Assistance Trust should all be researched to see if any of them ever purchased ULLICO or Global Crossing stock. A NFLPA Congressional investigation should examine in detail Upshaw’s financial maneuvers in ULLICO, Global Crossing, Amaroq, Aon Consulting, and Callan Associates for other stock schemes like the ULLICO scheme. ULLICO is the only one Upshaw has been caught being involved in, the leopard doesn’t change his spots.

While the New York Times’ Dave Anderson describes Wednesday’s Giants practice as uneventful, and compared to the prior two weeks, perhaps it was. But he failed to acknowledge LB LaVar Arrington joining Matt Birk and Bryant Gumbel in attacking the NFLPA. From USA Today.
New York Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington equated the players union with organized crime Wednesday, 24 hours before he was scheduled to testify before Congress at a hearing involving his former agent.
Lawmakers will be looking into the NFL Players Association’s suspension of Arrington’s former agent, Carl Poston, stemming from his handling of a contract the linebacker signed with the Washington Redskins near the end of the 2003 season.
Arrington contends the union acted unfairly in taking away Poston’s livelihood.
“They suspended him without a hearing, the NFLPA,” Arrington said, sitting in front of his locker at Giants Stadium. “If you are educated and you pay attention to what is going on around you, they do a lot of foul stuff. It’s like organized crime, to be honest with you. They are bad.”

“You have a serious problem here," said George Brenkert, professor of business ethics at Georgetown University. "When the leaders or stars of any industry, be it Enron or the heads of the U.S. executive branch, are doing the types of things you are describing, there is something rotten in the state of the athlete agency business.

"When those people at the very top are found to have engaged in ethically questionable behavior, it's a sign there may be something wrong, not just with those individuals but with the system or institution in which they are operating."

New information supplied by the FOIA request claims that $16,000,000 a year is paid to 146 disabled retired players. Since the total amount paid by the NFL Player Supplemental Disability Plan is $7,958,761 to 106 disabled players then approximately $8,000,000 is paid in disability benefits out of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. This means that $8,000,000 of disability payments should be deducted from the total $50.58 million total retirement benefits paid reducing the retirement benefits total to $42.58 million total in retirement benefits divided by 3,500 recipients for and average benefit of only $12,165 not even as much as the sub-poverty level $14,451 average previously thought. Worse than embarrassing.

I am making a FOIA request for all work papers and correspondence, minutes of meetings, and research papers and notes used by Aon Corporation and any other actuary used in their NFL pension actuarial analysis in possession of the Dept of Labor that has been used to determine the owner’s employer contributions to the plan for the past 20 years.

Write to: Elizabeth Bond, District Director
Washington District Office
Employee Benefits Security Administration
United States Department of Labor
335 East-West Highway, Suite 200
Silver Spring , MD 20910
Tel 301-713-2000 Fax 301-713-2008

Her Boss: Mabel Capolongo, Regional Director at the same above address
and or
Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor
Francis Perkins Bldg,
200 Constitution Ave ,
NW, Washington , DC 20210
Tel 1-866-4-USA-DOL

If you don’t feel like writing a letter print this email out and send it to Ms. Bond, Ms. Capalongo, Ms. Chao and the NFL Commissioner Goodell and the New York Times and your local newspaper. Write your Congressman and send him this report.

This from an interested party in our issues from our email community: Bernie,

Here are the details you requested on Players Inc's top four executives, who have all either resigned or retired within the past few months.

Apparently, the Federal Government changed the reporting requirements for labor unions starting in 2006, and all four of these executives abandoned Players, Inc. just prior to this information, and the tax returns going public on or about November 1, 2006.

Coincidence? You make the call.

Don't forget that Players, Inc. is owned only 79% by the NFLPA, while the other 21% is owned by someone else. The same goes for 2021 L Street Corporation, which is the private company that owns the Washington, DC building housing the NFLPA. The NFLPA appears to have become a real estate speculator buying a medical building at 1133 20th Street, Washington, DC L Street for $48,060,288; just in time for a deflating real-estate market.

Now I’ve learned the owners, the shareholders of 2021 L Street Corporation whoever the shareholders are have sold the NFLPA office building as the new building was bought with a $26,462,588 mortgage on it. The question is who are the shareholders of 2021 L Street Corporation and other lesser known entities that may include shareholders hiding their identity. Does this deal and $11,025,755 of DEFFERED COMPENSATION have anything to do with Doug Allen leaving the NFLPA? ROYALTIES DUE TO PLAYERS $24,029,719, the question is which players and why? NFL Ventures owned and operated by the employers (the owners) paid Players Inc $24,647,576, close to what ROYALTIES DUE TO PLAYERS was. Employers are forbidden by labor RICO laws from giving or paying money to union leaders who represent their employee members. I’m still working on this situation but the Congressional Committee should look into this without waiting for me.

Good luck finding out who owns the other 21% of these two private corporations Players, Inc. and 1133 NW 20th Street and 2021 L Street Corporation Washington, DC. When you find out, please let me know. Real-estate deals are a good way to launder money and there is a great deal of cash swirling around the NFLPA real-estate wheeler dealers like Richard Berthelson who is involved in several real-estate deals in the Washington area and Hilton Head with one of the NFLPA’s printing contractors.

Remember, the biggest shock of all is going to be when this information is released to the active NFL players. These players have always believed (or assumed) that their union (the NFLPA) owns 100% of Players Inc. and that 100% of Players, Inc.'s profits went to the NFLPA. However, this apparently is NOT true. Won't those players be in for a big surprise when it is finally revealed who owns this other 21% of these two companies?


2005 - 2006 TOP EXECUTIVES @ PLAYERS, INC. (AND THEIR SALARIES LAST YEAR)


1. GENE UPSHAW, CHAIRMAN ($2,064,526) - STILL ACTIVE AT BOTH


2. DOUG ALLEN, PRESIDENT OF PLAYERS, INC.; ALSO HELD TITLE OF ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NFLPA ($469,695) -


3. PAT ALLEN, EXECUTIVE V.P., COO OF PLAYERS, INC. ($338,479)


4. CLAY WALKER, SENIOR V.P. OF PLAYERS, INC. ($203,334)


5. HOWARD SKALL, VICE PRESIDENT OF PLAYERS, INC. ($144,533)



NOTES ON THE ABOVE 4 INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE LEFT OR RESIGNED THIS YEAR:


1. HOWARD SKALL - RESIGNED ON OR ABOUT JULY 6, 2006.

SKALL'S RESIGNATION FROM HIS JOB WITH PLAYERS, INC. BECAME EFFECTIVE ON JULY 19, 2006. HIS RESIGNATION WAS ANNOUNCED BY LIZ MULLEN ON JULY 10, 2006. SKALL HAD WORKED FOR PLAYERS, INC. AND THE NFLPA SINCE 1991 (FOR A TOTAL OF 15 YEARS).

NOTE: SKALL ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD BE JOINING TOM CONDON'S NEW COMPANY, CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY (CAA)


2. CLAY WALKER - RESIGNED ON OR ABOUT AUGUST 31, 2006.

WALKER'S RESIGNATION FROM HIS JOB WITH PLAYERS, INC. WAS SOMETIME IN LATE AUGUST, 2006. WALKER'S RESIGNATION WAS ANNOUNCED BY LIZ MULLEN ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2006. WALKER HAD WORKED FOR PLAYERS, INC. AND THE NFLPA SINCE 1993 (A TOTAL OF 13 YEARS).

NOTE: PLAYERS, INC. SPOKESMEN REFUSED TO SAY WHY WALKER LEFT.

IN ADDITION, UPSHAW, BERTHELSEN AND DOUG ALLEN ALL REFUSED TO SAY WHY WALKER LEFT PLAYERS, INC.

Note: Why does Richard Berthelsen give inside NFLPA information to reporter Liz Mullen?

3. PAT ALLEN - ANNOUNCED RETIRMENT ON OR ABOUT SEPTEMBER 14, 2006.

PAT ALLEN'S RETIREMENT WAS TO BE EFFECTIVE ON OCTOBER 15, 2006. HER RETIREMENT WAS ANNOUNCED BY LIZ MULLEN ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2006. PAT ALLEN HAD WORKED FOR PLAYERS, INC. AND THE NFLPA SINCE 1973 (A TOTAL OF 33 YEARS).

NOTE: PAT ALLEN IS DOUG ALLEN'S WIFE.


4. DOUG ALLEN - ANNOUNCED RESIGNATION ON OR ABOUT OCTOBER 26, 2006.

DOUG ALLEN STATED THAT HE WOULD BEGIN HIS NEW JOB ON JANUARY 8, 2007.

PREVIOUSLY, WHEN HIS WIFE ANNOUNCED HER RETIREMENT, DOUG ALLEN SAID HE HAD NO SIMILAR PLANS TO LEAVE EITHER PLAYERS, INC. OR THE NFLPA.

YET ONLY A FEW WEEKS LATER, JUST BEFORE SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL WAS ABOUT TO PUBLISH THE NEW TAX INFORMATION FOR THE NFLPA ON NOVEMBER 6, 2006, (BUT NOT THE TAX INFORMATION FOR PLAYERS, INC. WHICH IS A PRIVATE COMPANY, AS IS 2021 BUILDING CORPORATION), ALLEN ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS LEAVING BOTH COMPANIES TO TAKE A JOB WITH THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD (SAG).

ALLEN'S PUBLIC QUOTE WAS, "THIS HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY".

YET UPSHAW IS QUOTED SAYING, "HE (UPSHAW) HAS KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME THAT DOUG ALLEN WAS UP FOR THE SAG JOB.... I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING."

DOUG ALLEN HAD WORKED FOR THE NFLPA SINCE 1986, AND PLAYERS, INC. SINCE 1994. (A TOTAL OF 20 YEARS).

IN THE SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL ARTICLE, WRITTEN BY DANIEL KAPLAN (NOT LIZ MULLEN), THE FOLLOWING IS STATED:

".... SPORTS UNIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME ARE REPORTING PREVIOUSLY CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN THE WAKE OF ONEROUS NEW DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS THAT COVER ALL U.S. UNIONS."

IN RESPONSE TO THESE NEW PUBLIC DISCLOSURES, DOUG ALLEN IS QUOTED AS FOLLOWS:

"IT IS A REAL PROBLEM," SAID DOUG ALLEN, PRESIDENT OF THE NFLPA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION'S MARKETING AND LICENSING ARM, PLAYERS, INC.

ALLEN THEN ADDS, "WE WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES AND WE ARE NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT."

YOU CAN READ THE FULL ARTICLE TO GET MORE INFORMATION, BUT THE POINT IS THAT RIGHT AFTER ALLEN KNEW THAT THIS INFORMATION WAS GOING PUBLIC, HE RESIGNED, AS DID THE THREE OTHER TOP EXECUTIVES AT PLAYERS, INC.

OBVIOUSLY, THE BEST SOURCE IS TO TRY AND GET COPIES OF THE TAX RETURNS OF THESE TWO PRIVATE COMPANIES: PLAYERS, INC. AND 2021 BUILDING CORPORATION.

Now I am told that Dave Meggyssy NFLPA District VP has suddenly resigned or retired from his cushy $234,000 a year job after 20 years with the NFLPA as the exodus proceeds. Long time NFLPA insider Brig Owen also seems to be bailing out retiring from the NFLPA Steering Committee.

New LM2 reports from May 30, 2006 filed for the period through 2/28/2006 show a definite trend of Player Inc to pay off retired player TV and radio announcers for ESPN, etc with large checks to influence what they say or don’t say about Upshaw and the NFLPA.

Marvin Zimmerman of Chicago has been involved with Players Inc for many years. Does Zimmerman own the 21% that the NFLPA doesn’t own? There is a Marvin Zimmerman in the insurance business in Chicago. I will determine if it is the NFLPA/Upshaw Marvin Zimmerman. Being from Chicago, perhaps in the insurance business, is he connected in any way with Patrick Ryan, Andrew McKenna, or Aon Corporation? Every IRS/Dept of labor report form that I have seen has a request for an extension of time because “additional time is needed to gather information to complete the return.” All but one request has been granted but I have never seen a final Form 990 or any other report such as the one granted for 2004 approved “Extension Granted Until 01-17-06.” I am requesting copies of all extended reports, particularly those by Calibre CPA Group PLLC’s Jo Ann Woodson, CPA.

It is appearing more likely that an NFL owners corporation like NFL Ventures, Inc (Chairman Roger Goodell 280 Park Ave, New York, NY 10017 or NFL Properties LLC c/o C T Corporation System, 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, 10011 owns the 21% of Players Inc.

Valerie Thomas a former Gene Upshaw NFLPA secretary sued the NFLPA and during her trial Upshaw gave testimony that he overheard on a taped telephone call that his in house accountant William Garner was keeping two sets of books. The NFLPA’s accounting practice is to use such vague terms that no one could tell without a physical audit what their creative labels on expenditures are really referring to.

Steve Saxon of Groom Law Group tax attorney for Players Inc paid NFLPA $6,600 for Super Bowl tickets. What are the circumstances of that purchase? Saxon works with Calibre CPA Group in creatively preparing NFLPA-Players Inc, Player Assistance Trust, Retirement Plans financial reports. Are Calibre and Saxon guilty of the type misleading accounting nomenclature and maneuvering as Frank Massey of Thomas Havey CPA’s who are being prosecuted for hiding personal union officer expenses in union administrative and other expenses? Havey was involved in the ULLICO union scandal as was Gene Upshaw that has been described by journalist as labor’s Enron.

A mortgage of $26,000,000 was taken out on an NFLPA owned office building at 1133 20th Street, Washington, DC near the NFLPA’s 2021 L Street Corporation building in Washington DC during 2006. Who are the shareholders of 2021 L Street Corporation other than the NFLPA? Are Gene Upshaw ($3.5 mil), Doug Allen ($469,695), Pat Allen ($338,439), Richard Berthelson ($624,470) or Dave Meggysey ($230,000) or Brigg Owen shareholders in Players Inc or 2021 L Street Corporation or any other legal entity related to the NFLPA? A lot financial mischief can be hidden in real estate deals and I wonder if the $11,000,000+ of deferred income shown on the 2004 Form 990 but is gone or if it has been absorbed into some other category in the 2/28/2006 LM2 report.

Under “Other Securities form 990 Statement 13 SECURITY DESCRIPTION Limited Partnership Interest FMV $10,139,182 “. That is another nameless vague description for $10,139,182 in some Limited Partnership that Upshaw and his accountant perhaps William Garner perhaps Calibre obviously don’t want anyone to know what it is or who is involved in it.

How about INVESTMENT IN SUBSIDIARIES $19,556,453 Form 990 2004 part IV line 56 column B, what SUBSIDIARIES, for what?

How about SETTLEMENT PAYABLE $598,990, payable to who for what?

NFL Properties 280 Park Avenue paid a $5,000,000 settlement on 2/28/2006 the date of the LM2 Dept of Labor report form, to either the NFLPA or Players, Inc. what was it for? What did it settle?

NFL Properties LLC 280 Park Avenue paid Players Inc $175,603 in 2005.

An owners corporation NFL Ventures 280 Park Avenue paid the union’s Players Inc $24,647,576; $20,384,528 of which was also paid on 2/28/2006 the filing date of the LM2 report. I guess a reasonable person might wonder what’s up guys what are you trying to push into the next reporting year? Is this not iron clad evidence of collusion between the NFL owners and the union?

Accounting fees Item 31 on Form 990 2004 $627,947 that is in addition to paying William Garner $221,543 to keep the “books” however many sets there might be as Upshaw the “Treasurer” directs.

Upshaw the 2006 NFLPA Treasurer has different responsibilities and liabilities than as Executive Director with no vote. When was Upshaw elected Treasurer? How was he elected? Did the membership vote on him? Troy Vincent NFLPA President listed as such on the 2006 LM2 IRS Forms is playing in a very dangerous game running over the labor laws with Upshaw, Condon, and Berthelsen.

There is $11,000,000+ of deferred income owed by the NFLPA. Who is it owed to? Is this $11,000,000+ connected to the building sale or purchase of the new building.

Frank Woschitz paid the NFLPA $11,000 and Gene Upshaw paid NFLPA $8,300. The question is exactly when and why? Woschitz used to be the head of the hapless ineffective NFLPA Retired Players Department.

Medical Advisory Physicians take at least two seminars a year on how to be a good NFL MAP. That curriculum and the doctor’s notes from their participation in those indoctrinations in how to apply the NFL disability agenda to injured players should be subpoenaed immediately.

In my opinion RICO violations have been committed, along with ERISA and labor laws.

Marvin Peterson Attorney Houston, TX $22,969.
John Paul Simkins, Esq. Philadelphia PA $24,403.
Hemenway & Barnes Boston $6,436
Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe Indianapolis $11,223
Shyam Das (Arbitrator) Pittsburgh $28,651
Burleson Pate & Gibson LLP Dallas $6,403
Richard Bloch Esq. (Arbitrator) Wash DC $26,647
Edward H. Benn (Arbitrator) Glenco, IL $7,432
Stephen Burbank Univ of Penn Law School $13,919

Political activities and lobbying 2005: Groom $12,430, Baach Robinson & Lewis, D.C. $96,690



NFL Management Council $120,000 Drug Program.

The only Physician paid by NFLPA was Dr. Thom Mayer 103 Eaton Place, Fairfax, VA $23,400. Dr. Mayer is described by the NFLPA as the NFLPA’s expert physician on medical issues.

Thanks for not asking. Groom Law Group’s Alvaro Anillo wrote Dept of Labor’s Nathan Seidman Oct 23, 2003 saying “We appreciate that you have declined to request copies of many of these documents, including most disability case files.” Seems a cozy relationship for a DOL investigation, too cozy. Seidman supported Groom’s contention that their $140,000 ($6,700 per page) of legal fees were justified for intervening in the Supreme Court Case Black and Decker vs Kenneth Noar Case #02-469 to diminish players rights to use their treating physicians diagnosis as a deciding factor in disability cases as the Social Security department uses.

Item #1 Troy Vincent raised a racial issue in an ESPN 4/12/06 interview.

The older retired players pre1982 are 75% white. That 75% is an assumption from the old “only 13 blacks per team rule” from Paul Brown’s era that followed the “only 6 blacks per team” from George Halas hay-day. Of course the players of those eras had nothing to do with management’s racist policies or any of the NFL monopoly’s rules. Of color or not we signed and served under slave contracts or we didn’t play at all.

Under those stiffeling conditions (1959 to 1962) we tore a pension plan out of the hides of the 100% white owners and it is our “GIFT” to the current players. Now Vincent and Gene Upshaw feel they have the right to take the basics of that pension away from us. It isn’t going to happen we paid too much for it.

For those reading this who don’t know Troy Vincent he is the current, re-elected in Hawaii, President of the NFLPA being groomed by Upshaw to succeed him when he becomes NFL Commissioner or retires or... Vincent seems to be trying to give himself a raise before he ascends the throne calling for a increase in “benefits” to $10 million a year from Upshaw’s current $3 million a year salary. It certainly serves Upshaw’s interests to have Troy Vincent, believing he is Upshaw’s hand picked successor. Vincent in his role as President of the NFLPA, sees unfairness in Upshaw being underpaid at $3 million a year and has never said anything, that I know of about the unfairness of the average retired player’s sub-poverty level $14,451 pension benefits.

Vincent relates Upshaw being underpaid in relation to NFL Commissioner Tagliabue’s $10 million a year to racism. Don’t you think that might be called “playing the race card?”

These are Vincent quotes from ESPN April 12, 2006 article. "You don't get much credit for being a man of color," said Troy Vincent, whose off season job is head of business development for Eltekon Securities in Trenton, N.J. "I can personally say that, because I'm a man of color. We always have to do an overabundance, say two or three times more than a non-color person. Gene and Paul are equals, but Tagliabue makes three times, almost four times what Gene does. Paul's salary isn't too high, Gene's [$2.85 million] is too low.”

Yablonski has misstated what I said numerous times in his threatening letter in an effort to try to spin the race issue to his client’s advantage but the truth already is in black and white print and published on my Blog. www.bernieparrish12.blogspot.com

Vincent made the statement that Upshaw was underpaid because he is a man of color which implies the 100% white owners were underpaying Upshaw.

Troy Vincent raised the question of Upshaw being underpaid because he is a man of color. I said in emails and on my blog it doesn’t make rational sense unless he is talking about the 100% white owners underpaying Upshaw, and they are not supposed to be paying Upshaw. Vincent says Upshaw is underpaid because he is a man of color and I observed that those who pay him, the current players are 75% men of color which doesn’t make rational sense; so what was Vincent’s point? My observation was since Vincent’s point is irrational perhaps it is based on racism.

Vincent further displayed another slant toward racism with his comment about Bryant Gumbel’s remarks about Gene Upshaw, Vincent said “We talk about the right to freedom of speech but I was always taught that if I didn’t have anything positive to say, especially about my peers or bother, then don’t say anything at all.” “…or brother?” Am I misreading the “…or brother” reference to be racial? I have ask six former teammates and NFL opponents (3 black and 3 white) if they consider the “…or brother” reference to be a racial reference and the vote is 6-0 that it is. Vincent is chastising Gumbel for a man of color criticizing Upshaw another man of color as being especially bad which is in character with the previous racially tainted statements Vincent has made. Because I am critical of Tagliabue and the 100% white owners and Upshaw’s Assistant Executive Director Doug Allen that doesn’t mean I am racist against Caucasians.

I believe that Upshaw’s agent Tom Condon is probably behind Vincent’s comments, negotiating for his client Upshaw, using Vincent as a pawn. I believe Condon is also behind Upshaw’s recent statements that the owners will lockout the players in 2008 and there will be a huge labor crisis. 2008 is coincidentally the year that Upshaw’s current $11.2 million contract ends. I believe Condon wants Upshaw to be the indispensable Commander in Chief in time of a choreographed labor war in 2008. Upshaw recently told Philadelphia and Boston papers of the coming labor strife when the owners realize in 2008 how badly he had outsmarted them in the CBA. One paper mentioned the players need to build up a war chest of cash for the coming 2008 owner lock-out/strike. I thought the owners voted 30-2 in favor of the CBA. This presents another opportunity for the Groom Law Group to charge a set of legal fees for setting up another Trust Fund called a strike fund for 2008.

The Tagliabue/“leashed pet” labor peace acclaimed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft in March 2006 didn’t last very long. Yablonski’s paragraph discussing a $110 million and $250 million and relating it to the 25% retirement benefits is a ridiculous distorted mish-mash of inaccurate misleading NFLPA propaganda. A 25% benefit increase on $50.58 million of total benefits paid in 2005 costs $12.6 million, not $110 million, and certainly not $250 million, but $12.6 million, peanuts. A 25% increase amounts to a total of only $12.6 million not the phony claimed “$120 million to bring the total to $700 million” as stated by Upshaw and Harold Henderson on July 27, 2006. $110 mil, $120 mil, $250 mil, $700 mil you and your clients are sure loose with the money except when it comes to the 3,500 pre 1982 retired players. ($50.58 mil x .25% = $12.6 mil)

The 2002 benefit increase of 100% from $7,225 average annual benefit to $14,451 per recipient had an exact cost of $19.4 million. The employer contribution increased from $23.6 million in 2001 to $43 million in 2002 an Art Modell and owners victory in spite of Upshaw not because of him.

From a previous email: Examining what exactly has happened. The employer contributions were:

1999 $24,211,136
2000 $26,675,399
2001 $23,654,464
2002 $43,074,347
2003 $49,599,601

The entire employer contribution in 2002 was only $43,074,347 how could the benefits be increased by $110 million as you and Upshaw have claimed repeatedly? How many times does $110 million go into $43,074,347. How many times does $110 million go into $19.4 million the true increase in 2002.

Upshaw and his gang act like if they say it enough times it will turn into the truth. It won’t, your $110 million is “wrong, incorrect, a bald faced…” You (Joseph Yablonski) know it is wrong and both you, Upshaw and the rest of his cabal continue to make these false statements to financially damage the retired players. I don’t believe that that is legal. Now in your letter of 8/29/06 page 2, you (Yablonski) are spinning the tale that “This year the NFLPA negotiated for an additional $250 million to be spent on improving retired player benefits as part of the 2006 extension of the CBA.” The 25% benefit increase proposed will cost 25% of $50.58 million the total benefit payout from 2005 which is $12.6 million not $250 million even 6 years times $12.6 million is not $250 million it is $75.6 million.

You don’t let the facts get in your way any more than your clients do. Is it legal for the Retirement Plan’s lawyer to try to convince the beneficiaries that they are receiving 19.8 times as much in Plan benefits as the Union is actually proposing? Is it legal for the Plan lawyer to deceive the beneficiaries? Your numbers are as senseless as Upshaw’s. I’ll ask the Department of Labor’s Inspector General and a few other folks if they agree with you or with me.

Anti NFLPA/NFL Gene Upshaw Media bliz 84 pages 33 articles across the nation

Here now are 84 pages of 33 articles written in the last 3 weeks that confirm the information I have been sending you (congress, etc) the press and others for the past eight months about retired and disabled players issues. The writers who wrote these articles are not saying “Bernie Parrish says…”, they are expressing their own strong opinions about the legal, medical, and moral abuses being inflicted on the retired NFL players because NFL owners and management and the players union are treated as a privileged class, above the law, in fact anti-trust exempt without being granted that exemption by congress. They are granted a free pass by a portion of the media who allow them to answer almost every question with “Gee Whilligers…We just became aware of that problem, but we are working hard to study it and fix it. Would you like to buy a piece of this bridge it connects Brooklyn and…” Like they just became aware that football players suffer frequent concussions that cause other related problems and every other problem they are causing and covering up.

At the moment they are conducting a cover up campaign to hide a totally unqualified Dr. Elliot Pellman who was exposed by the NY Times. The NFL’s Dr. Pellman who was appointed by Tagliabue to head the NFL’s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee (MTBI) hired Dr. William Barr. The NY Times revealed that Dr. Pellman is a rheumatologist with a degree from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico not from SUNY Stony Brook as his resume claimed. Pellman has no credentials to head a committee on brain injuries.

Tagliabue was obviously looking for another NFL “yes” man, not some one with medical expertise on brain injuries, when he appointed Dr. Pellman the head of his NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee in 1994. Forsaking his union membership’s health and safety Upshaw has covered for Pellman and Tagliabue/Goodell ever since. “I’m making too much money. I can’t rock the boat.” Gene Upshaw after the failure of an NFL Health insurance plan.

After a short period Dr. William Barr a real brain injury expert from NYU Medical School, refused to go along with the NFL’s act and blew the whistle on the self serving and dangerous information being published (13 studies since 1994) on concussions by the NFL under Dr. Pellman. Dr. Barr and Brain Injury attorney Michael V. Kaplen Chairman of Brain Injury Association of NY State, both dispute Dr. Pellman’s and the NFL’s contentions on concussions and brain injuries and recently spoke up in the media to try to bring about Congressional Hearings to protect NFL players and to try to prevent the dangerous NFL misinformation about concussions from trickling down to college, high school, and youth programs.

Unbelievably Dr. Pellman remains today the NFL’s expert on concussions and brain injuries in spite of his lack of training and credentials and the problems with his inaccurate resume being made public by the NY Times. Commissioner Tagliabue and his successor Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw know all about Dr. Pellman’s credibility and lack of medical expertise problems and the threat he poses to the health of NFL, college, high school, and the youth football players of the nation and incredibly they have done nothing about it. Instead they have ordered Pellman not to talk to the media and are trying to hide him today.

There is an obvious reason that Upshaw’s NFLPA and the Player Retirement Plan spend over $5,000,000 a year on legal fees almost exclusively to defeat the best interests of retired and retired disabled players and only $23,400 on Dr. Thom Mayer to advise the NFLPA on player’s medical issues.

This is just one example of how the NFL and NFLPA operate in collusion and why the active and retired NFL players need help from Congress and the courts and perhaps law enforcement.
See article number 32 page 79, for the latest example of NFL’s abusive disability system built and operated by the Groom Law Group Tagliabue/Goodell and Gene Upshaw for the NFL owners.


1. Sunday, February 04, 2007
By JERRY IZENBERG
Newhouse News Service

MIAMI - Money.

Its color and its smell hang over Super Bowl City like a second skin.
This isn't a revenue stream. It's a positive revenue ocean. It starts with the $600 game ticket. It lives at every NFL-approved souvenir stand. It comes for its piece of the action even in NFL Player Association events. It is visible in the credit lines for an army of corporate sponsors.

If this game and this league ever get around to commissioning a battle flag, it will feature crossed Visa cards (another sponsor) rampant on a field of dollar signs.

All that money.

A former All-Pro safety named Willie Wood went through surgery eight times. Then he fell in his own home. Once Willie Wood had the reflexes of a safecracker in his body and the lightning of an antelope in his legs. And once, on the very day that started this whole super-duper-supercalifragilistic money machine called the Super Bowl, Willie stepped up and timed a Len Dawson pass perfectly, stole it and returned it 50 yards for the Packers to set up a game-breaking touchdown.

Now he is in assisted living and his medical benefits are running out.

With ancillary revenue, this Super Bowl may be the richest single-day sports event ever.

And Herb Adderley, who won Super Bowl rings with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, receives in his mailbox every month an NFL Players' Association pension that is the ultimate insult. He says he no longer wears his Super Bowl rings or the one he was awarded by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He never expects to wear them again.

His NFL Players' Association pension comes to $126.85 a month.
Adderley says he signed an agreement with NFLPA to run from 2003-2005.
"In place of the compensation they promised me," he claims, "they sent me a Reebok catalog" telling him he could pick up $1,000 worth of merchandise.

"I thank God I didn't depend on my pension or NFL Players Inc. (an NFLPA-sanctioned corporation) to survive. If I had, I would be homeless and added to the list of my former teammates (and opponents of that era) for whom Jerry (Kramer) is trying to raise money."

Super Bowl XLI will be heard domestically on 500 radio stations.
Spanish-language radio will deliver it to more than 500,000 domestic Spanish speakers. The game will also be heard in 230 foreign countries. Additionally a dozen other countries will originate their own coverage.

And the Super-dollars have so many zeros they look like petrodollars.

Bill Forester, who played in four Pro Bowls and captained the Green Bay defense in the years just before the first Super Bowl, will not hear this broadcast in any language. It is problematic that he will even know which team won. He has Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and developed pneumonia and had been hospitalized. His 72-year-old wife desperately tries to keep the two of them together.

He is one of the non-favored pioneers whose pension doesn't make you laugh. It makes you cry.

The cutoff date set for them by the NFLPA for serious funding is a shame and a scandal. That's why Kramer, Mike Ditka, Harry Carson, Willie Davis and others are here supporting Kramer's brainchild, the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund.

Kramer's Web site hosts a memorabilia auction, with all the proceeds going to players that time, the NFLPA and the NFL itself have treated as invisible men.

Kramer explained that "there are 9,000 retired NFL players, but only 144 of them are receiving long-term disability benefits." He spoke of Mike Webster, the Hall of Fame center who played for 16 years with the Steelers. Webster died physically and mentally ill in his battered van under a bridge.

But not until he had challenged the league for help. He contended that numerous concussions triggered serious brain damage. A board
comprising three NFLPA members and three representatives of the league voted 6-0 against him.

His family ultimately won a major legal suit.

He never lived to see it.

"I don't think the modern players stop to think about this and don't even know how little these guys made and how much some of them need help," Kramer said. It was then that Kramer suggested I call Conrad Dobler, who was an All-Pro and has been to hell and back since those days.

"There are guys suffering," Dobler said, "who are the same guys that made all this possible for today's players and today's Super Bowl. I went on strike three times for this union, and now it doesn't want to hear me or any of these guys.

"I remember during a negotiation with Buffalo how they took out the disability clause and I didn't even realize it. This is my history:

"My wife is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. At 44, I had my first knee replacement. An NFL medical adviser suggested it. But he never told me I could file for my physical troubles as line-of-duty injuries. So it went like this.

"I had a replacement for the other knee, too. Then I learned that the prosthesis in the first knee had broken. I have had eight operations and once I had to live with an IV in my arm for five months.

"But I will still tell you that football is a great game, and if I had to do it all over again I would. But I still believe the players of today have to think about us. We were the group that made this happen. Some of us really need help and nobody seems to care except those among us like Jerry Kramer and the others who understand."

I am reminded of the day that Vince Coleman, who is black, when asked about Jackie Robinson's impact on his life, said, "I don't know nothing about no Jackie Robinson."

You'd hope that the NFLPA's members would not let their bling outweigh the sense of a debt they owe their pioneers.

2. By Joe Posnanski
McClatchy Newspapers
Feb. 1, 2007

MIAMI - Anybody can look good at a news conference. There was Gene
Upshaw in a very nice suit clarifying exactly why the NFL Players
Association doesn't have enough money to take care of its penniless
and wounded legends. Next to him, Washington player Troy Vincent wore
an equally nice suit, and he explained politely that players today are
tired of these former players asking for money all the time.

It made me wonder just what a Darth Vader news conference would sound
like.

VADER: "So as you can see by these charts, it is only by crushing the
rebel alliance that we can all truly be free. Are there any
questions?"

REPORTER: "Is it true that you blew up an entire planet just for kicks
and have been known to choke people with your mind and ... ach ...
ach ...

VADER: "You appear to be turning blue."

REPORTER: "Ach!"

VADER: "Are there any other questions?"

There's a dirty little secret that has been coming out. Many of the
men who built the NFL are in agony. They walk with canes, they suffer
from dementia, they live in shelters, they cannot sleep because of the
pain. This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one; these
football men from the 1950s, `60s and `70s played in helmets without
cushions, they saw doctors who prescribed aspirin for concussions,
they collided on concrete fields. They played football in a time when
the disabled list was the unemployment line. They did all this for a
few thousand bucks a year.

So, no, it should be no surprise. But it still breaks the heart to
hear that Willie Wood, the Hall of Fame safety who made the Green Bay
Packers on a tryout, could not afford to move into an assisted-living
care center as he approached his 70th birthday. It bends the mind to
think in this billion-dollar NFL era that amazing players like Joe
"The Jet" Perry and Lem Barney get a scant few hundred dollars a month
from their NFL pensions.

Herb Adderley, one of the players who defined how to play cornerback,
suffers from terrible post-football injuries and gets $126.85 a month
from his pension, according to his former Packers teammate Jerry
Kramer.

Hall of Fame center Mike Webster died without a home. John Unitas
could barely move his golden right arm at the end of his life. The
incomparable Earl Campbell sometimes jolted up in bed with a panic-
attack pain in his chest so intense it made getting hit by Jack
Lambert seem like a shower massage.

There are dozens of stories like these, horrible stories, heart-
wrenching stories about great football players in pain: Mercury
Morris, Pete Pihos, John Mackey, Doug Atkins, Wilber Marshall, Conrad
Dobler, on and on. All of them suffer, many of them are helpless. No
surprise.

The surprise is this: The NFL and its players association let this
happen.

And the bigger surprise: They're unapologetic.

There on Thursday was Upshaw, the union's executive director and a
former great player himself, standing in front of the assembled Super
Bowl media and throwing out vague figures and hazy accomplishments and
lame excuses about why there's no money for these player who made the
league great. He went cold when a reporter asked him the only question
that mattered: How could the NFL let so many of the players who built
the league suffer now that the league is printing money?

"You never hear about the guys we help," he grunted.

This is certainly a difficult and complex issue. How do you help
everybody? How do you help these hurt people find comfort in this time
of wildly inflated health-insurance costs? And so on. There are no
easy answers. Football is a uniquely violent game. There are countless
complications and potential lawsuits and doctor issues and pension
problems, and anyway there is never enough money to satisfy everyone.

The trouble here is that the NFL is thriving like never before_and the
people in power don't even seem to care about the past. Upshaw
famously told The Charlotte Observer last year: "The bottom line is I
don't work for (these former players). They don't hire me, and they
can't fire me."

Mike Ditka sent a letter to all 32 NFL owners asking them to match the
$100,000 he had donated to help these struggling former players. Ditka
says he got two responses, and those checks were so small he sent them
back in disgust.

It's shameful. And it's sad. But this is the dark side of the most
powerful sports league in America.

Sometimes people ask: Why is it that there's not nearly the uproar
about performance-enhancing drugs in the NFL as there is in baseball?
I have a theory. I think it's because people don't really care much
about the health of NFL players. They are our gladiators. The bigger
they are, the stronger, the faster, the more willing to endure pain,
the better the show. And when the show ends, well, that's their
problem. The NFL would have done beautifully in Roman times, when it
was lions and Christians. Nobody sued for disability.

There are some people, though, who do care about those beat-up
warriors who thrilled America and built the NFL yard by yard, tackle
by tackle. If you go to www.jerrykramer.com , you can make a donation
to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. This is money that will go
directly to players in need.

You can also bid on prize possessions - Hall of Famer Joe
DeLamielleure donated the bracelet that O.J. Simpson donated to his
offensive lineman after he became the first man to rush for 2,000
yards.

"That bracelet means the world to me," Joe D. said. "But at some
point, you have to decide what's really important in life. And to me
it's important to help all those players the NFL has forgotten."

In Thursday's sham of a news conference, Gene Upshaw said he was "not
opposed" to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. That was nice of him.

But that wasn't even the most outrageous statement. Troy Vincent, the
union president, said he wished those retired players - instead of
always griping about money - would talk to the younger players about
what it means to play in NFL.

This was particularly galling. I've heard countless older players say
they would like nothing more than to talk to the younger players about
the past. They have not been invited. Many of today's players don't
listen to their coaches; they're certainly not going to pay attention
to some old guys with limps who played in the league back when you had
to take a second job just to pay the mortgage.

And still the news conference went on.

"The economics don't allow that to happen," Upshaw said when asked why
former players can't have pension packages similar to today's players.

"We can't please everybody," Vincent said.

"I don't think anybody is going bankrupt," joked general counsel
Richard Berthelsen when asked about the current agreement in the NFL.

Behind them was a banner with the players association slogan. It said,
simply: "Past. Present. Future.


3. By Emery Filmer
Stamford (Conn.) Advocate Staff Writer

February 4, 2007

Super Bowl Sunday has always been one of the greatest sports days of
the year. Some even want the Sunday, or the day after, to be a
national holiday. Today, though, it feels like it should be more a day
of mourning, or at least one of embarrassment for the league.

Think about all the negative NFL news we've heard in the last couple
of weeks . . .

Tank Johnson. Chris Henry and Chad Johnson and most of the other
Cincinnati Bengals. Andy Reid's sons. Ted Johnson and Bill Belichick.
Those sore losers in San Diego. The end of the Terrell Owens-Bill
Parcells saga. Gene Upshaw's heartless comments. The sad plight of the
old-timers. And on and on we could go.

All of the above have taken some of the luster away from today's game
between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. None of them,
however, make us squirm as much as that last one.

The lack of retirement benefits for so many older NFL greats have left
many living in or near poverty. Many have physical handicaps related
to their playing days and can't pay their medical bills. Some have
pensions of barely more than $100 per month. The NFL Players
Association, which was not around in those days, obviously couldn't
care less about the men who helped build the foundation for the
greatest, most popular and richest sports league of them all.

The NFLPA has thus far refused to contribute more than token pocket
change to the older retired players. But don't just blame the players.
The owners, who made millions off these guys while paying them
peanuts, have also forgotten about them.

Both sides ought to be ashamed of themselves. It's time for them to
right this wrong.

Commissioner Roger Goodall has to get NFLPA president Gene Upshaw to
convince the players to contribute, say, one percent of their salaries
to the pre-1990 retired players pension/disabilities pool. The average
salary today is more than $2 million, so that would be $20,000 each,
times 1,600 players, or $32 million. The owners could then match it
(it's only $1 million per team) and you have $64 million.

Then take money collected by player fines and throw them in, too. A
player fined for whatever reason would also get bumped up to two
percent of his salary instead of one. The second time he's fined, it
goes up to three percent, etc.

Before long, the problem will be gone. Then it would be easy figuring
out which team guys like Leroy Kelly, Wilbur Marshall, Jerry Kramer,
Alan Page and other old-timers would call their favorite:

Why, the Cincinnati Bengals, of course.




4. By RICHARD JUSTICE
Houston Chronicle
Feb. 3, 2007

MIAMI - It must be Super Bowl week because where else would it seem
normal that a grown man shows up at a news conference in orange high
heels. Love the outfit, Prince.

Hey, there's Billy Joel, decked out in jeans and a black leather
jacket with a cap pulled low over his eyes. He walks with a slight
limp, seems a bit out of sorts.

"It's tough being an old rocker," he says.

You're preaching to the choir, Piano Man.

Joe Namath strolls through unnoticed. And Lynn Swann and Marcus Allen,
too.

Fat guys in Italian loafers line up to be photographed with a woman in
an R-rated Pocahontas outfit. Did I mention the woman in the bird
costume? It's getting weird out there, friends.

It's not the real world, but the Super Bowl never has been around the
real world. It's where we go to forget about death and taxes and all
that other stuff.

Many 'need help'

Nevertheless, the real world stuck its ugly head through the door
anyway. Old guys began showing up with canes and zipper scars telling
gruesome stories of broken bodies, of men unable to walk or work and
existing on small pensions and poor medical coverage.

They questioned whether the NFL cared. They criticized Gene Upshaw,
head of the National Football League Players Association. They said
that with all the NFL's wealth, the least it could do is help take
care of the men who'd help make it so popular.

"There are a lot of guys out there that are down, depressed and in
need of help," Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer said. "Some of them can't
get help, and many of them won't take help. But they need help."

The people who can help them don't seem inclined to. Upshaw said the
union already was doing its part. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
sounded concerned but promised nothing.

"It's not good for the NFL to see that kind of image with our players
having the medical problems they have," he said. "I think we're going
to sit down and see how we can be creative and deal with that."

Benefits, pensions lacking

HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel this week told the story of
several former players, including Conrad Dobler, a three-time Pro
Bowler who played 10 seasons for the Cardinals and Bills. At 56, he's
reduced to a shuffle, spent 100 days in the hospital last year and had
seven operations. He told Real Sports he spends $150 a month on
Vicodin.

Disability insurance is part of his NFL benefits package, but NFL
doctors say he's not disabled.

"I mean, if you can stand, if you can breathe, you probably aren't
going to get disability," Dobler told Real Sports. "You basically got
to be strapped to a gurney with I guess your head taped to the top of
it before you'll get anything with that nature."

According to HBO, dozens of former players say their benefits won't
pay for knee or hip replacements or treatment for post-concussion
syndrome. Their pension is worth about $1,000 a month.

Professional athletes in every sport frequently struggle with life
once the cheering stops. Divorce, addiction and bankruptcy aren't
uncommon. NFL players have an additional risk: worn-out bodies.

Mike Ditka, a former player and coach, mentioned former Steelers All-
Pro center Mike Webster, who died homeless after years of addiction to
painkillers and alcohol. His family won a $1.5 million judgment
against the NFL for disability benefits and back pension.

Doug Atkins, Jim Ringo and John Mackey are among dozens of the former
players who have struggled since leaving the NFL. Another player - a
former Patriot - is said to be living on the street. Bill Forester,
suffering from Alzheimer's disease, has no health benefits.

So on Super Bowl week, the week the NFL celebrates itself, three Hall
of Famers pleaded for help. Ditka, Lem Barney and Kramer pleaded for
more benefits and larger pensions.

In what seems to be a symbolic gesture, they announced an auction at
jerrykramer.com for retired players in need.

Among the items for sale: Ditka's 1975 NFC Championship ring; Joe
DeLamielleure's gold bracelet, a gift to Buffalo offensive linemen
from O.J. Simpson; plays hand-drawn by Vince Lombardi and a football
autographed by Paul Hornung, Bart Starr and Jim Taylor.

"My suspicion is we'll raise more money from donations once people
hear about this than we will from the auction," Kramer said.

Ditka said he sent a letter to every NFL owner asking for $100,000 to
start a trust fund for former players.

"We only got a check for $5,000 from one and $10,000 from another," he
said. "We sent them back."

As for Upshaw, he counters angrily: "There are $16 million paid out
each year. We just spent $51 million this year to improve the benefits
for guys like me. What you don't hear about is the guys we help. There
was one of them in here earlier saying we don't do anything. We just
paid his mortgage for the last five months. So I know what we do. And
I'm proud of what we do."

What makes the issue so silly is there's money available to help the
players who legitimately need it.

"These guys played the game the way the game was supposed to be played
and didn't make a lot of money," Ditka said. "And yet every time they
go to ask for benefits, it's like they have to take on the creator. We
want to fix that."

It's not complicated. Current players simply don't understand the
problem, don't understand that it could happen to them.

Upshaw must lead, must force the issue.

Goodell must lead.

The money is there. To do anything else is unconscionable.

5. by Ashley Fox
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sat, Feb. 03, 2007

MIAMI - There is no question that Troy Vincent is one of the good guys
in the National Football League. He is president of the players'
association, is smart, savvy, a tough defensive back and a charming,
well-spoken advocate for player issues.

But when he sat next to Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the
players' association, on Thursday and defended the current players'
lack of sympathy for the ailing retired players, Vincent sounded cold
and heartless.

One of the big issues at the Super Bowl this week has been the help -
or lack thereof - afforded the men who played the game before proper
safety and high salaries became the norm. There are many men who are
suffering because they played professional football in an age when
aspirin was used to treat concussions and helmets had about as much
cushion as a piece of steel.

Some former players can barely walk. Others suffer from dementia. Some
are homeless. Others can't pay their bills. Many are too proud, or too
ashamed, to ask for help, and the help that is available is
inadequate.

Monthly pension payments, in many instances, wouldn't cover groceries
for a few days, much less medicine, doctors' bills or physical or
mental therapies.

The NFL is richer, more powerful and more popular than it has ever
been, and yet the forefathers of the game have been kicked outside the
periphery. It is an ugly reality.

On Thursday, Vincent said he was "at the pulse" of the issue between
retired and active players, and said it was "a major concern" of the
union's. But he bemoaned the retired players' tactics at improving
their situation. Vincent said that he hears about it from coaches on
the sidelines during games or when he runs into a former player at an
airport. It's always the same, Vincent said: The retired players want
more money, while the active players would like a little help -
advice, perspective, whatever you'd like to call it - from the men who
preceded them.

"The only thing we hear about is the economics," Vincent said. "We
can't please everybody."

But according to Jerry Kramer, the former Green Bay Packers offensive
lineman from 1958 to 1968, not many former players are pleased at all.
Herb Adderley, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, receives
just $126.85 per month from his NFL pension. Hall of Famer Willie Wood
is in an assisted-living facility, and without the help of Mike Ditka
and others, he couldn't afford the care.

Kramer started the Gridiron Greats Assistance Program to help players
in need and recruited Ditka to help raise money, an effort that
includes an ongoing memorabilia auction at jerrykramer.com.

"The thing that's been making my heart ache," Kramer said, "is some of
my teammates and warriors are having a hard time."

Said Ditka: "The guys today who play the game are not the makers of
the game. They are the keepers of the game."

The pension and disability issues facing the league are confusing and
not easily solved. Upshaw said it would take $800 million annually to
elevate the former players' pensions to the active players' level.

But Ditka isn't asking for that type of contribution. In fact, he sent
a letter to the 32 NFL team owners, asking for a $100,000 donation
from each. He said he got one check for $10,000, and one for $5,000.
Ditka sent each back in disgust.

"It just doesn't make a lot of sense," Ditka said. "If we can't help
them, then nobody will. ... It's embarrassing."

During his inaugural Super Bowl news conference on Friday, new NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell said he was "concerned any time you see one
of our former players, and the men that helped make this game great,
have the medical issues that they're having."

There isn't an easy solution.

"It's not good for the NFL to see that kind of an image with our
players having the medical problems they have, and I think we need to
address that," Goodell said. "I think we have to do it intelligently
and thoughtfully."

How to do it remains the big question. Donations? Increased pensions
or disability payments? Case-by-case assistance? There must be an
answer. It won't be easy, but something has to change.

Vincent is smart enough to know that.

"I've played 15 years, so I've helped build the game, too," he said.
"There's not much that we can do."


6. by Rick Maese
Baltimore Sun
February 3, 2007

THIS WEEK, THE CITY OF Miami expects a $400 million boost to the
economy. Forbes.com estimated the Super Bowl brand to be worth $379
million. The commercials alone cost $2.6 million a pop -- total
revenue of more than $150 million. And the gate tomorrow will bring in
more than $30 million.

Yep, sounds like money is flowing pretty freely around the NFL this
weekend, right? Don't answer that yet. First, it's important that we
all understand exactly what kind of graveyard this game and this sport
was built on top of.

You need to know about Wayne Hawkins. His name might sound familiar.
He played with the Raiders from 1960 to 1970, a five-time AFL All-
Star. He may tune in to the Super Bowl tomorrow, or he may not. Truth
is, he doesn't even know who's playing.

"The last two years, he's just a different person," says Sharon
Hawkins, his wife.

Vascular dementia has set in, and he's in the early stages of
Alzheimer's. Hawkins can't work the remote control or a cell phone. He
cries every night watching the evening news. His neurologist says it's
cumulative from the damage suffered on the football field. No surprise
there.

But what you need to know about Hawkins is that for his final three
years in the game, he played right guard for the Raiders, while Gene
Upshaw played left guard -- the same Gene Upshaw who today heads the
NFL Players Association.

You know all that talk we give to the bonds forged in the locker room,
how teammates go hand in hand into battle together, how when you fight
under the same colors, you've built a relationship for life? Forget
all that.

"Wayne doesn't respect Gene, of course," Sharon says. "None of the
guys do."

And now we've cut to the core of the problem. Who is at fault for the
substandard pension and health benefits given to the aging players who
built the NFL into what it is today?

I've spoken to several retired players over the years--a generation of
men who rely on canes and walkers, who live with pain, fake joints and
depression. Many agree on one thing: Upshaw, a man once their peer,
has abandoned them.

"It's a shabby way to treat people," Mike Ditka, the former player and
coach, said at a news conference this week in Miami. "I went back to
the Hall of Fame two years ago and when I heard the poppycock from
Upshaw, it was a joke. It's hypocrisy to listen to what he says."

It's simple for us to say that more needs to be done. Deciding who
exactly is responsible is a bit trickier.

"The frustration is misdirected," says Jean Fugett, who played in the
NFL from 1972 to 1979 and now serves as president of the retired
players steering committee, an advisory board to the union. "I think
the union has gone above and beyond. I think the current players have
gone above and beyond. But I don't think the owners have."

Fugett rightly points out that the NFL has washed its hands of the
retired players, making their ills and disabilities solely a problem
for the union.

I have a copy of a letter sent to Paul Tagliabue, former NFL
commissioner, in November 2005, requesting more attention to the needs
of retired players. The letter is signed by former Colts Ordell Braase
and Jim Mutscheller, former Bear Mike Pyle and former Eagle Pete
Retzlaff. Tagliabue never responded. Instead, a curt response came
from Upshaw two weeks later.

"You are not union members and we do not represent you," Upshaw wrote.

"[Y]ou, me, and all other players have absolutely no right to any
pension benefits other than what we currently have," the letter
continued. "... You have no rights here. What you have is an opinion."

For a man who once shared a locker room with these players, the lack
of sympathy is remarkable. But legally, he does speak some truth. He
is paid a $3 million salary to negotiate on behalf of current players,
not past ones.

"To the extent that the existing players want to remember the old
players, God bless them," Fugett says. "They have a duty to protect
themselves and to remain in business. The past players have gotten so
much more than my relatives who retired from General Motors or the
post office or any other place get. I don't know any other union who
does this."

But you can't really compare the NFL to other businesses or the NFLPA
to other unions. The economic growth in the NFL is astounding and the
negligence shown to the game's founding fathers shameful.

"Forget what's legally right.Why doesn't someone ask what's morally
right?" says Bruce Laird, a former Colt.

So who's right? Is it Upshaw's fault? The NFL's? The owners'? The
answer, of course, is D. All of the above. They all treat the aging
generation as a burden, like a son who doesn't have time, energy or
money to care properly for an aging parent.

"Anyone who says Gene Upshaw and the NFL Players Association don't
care about the retired players is not responsible," Upshaw said at his
news conference Thursday.

If that's the case, he needs to show it. It's Upshaw's responsibility
to impress upon the current players and the NFL that this is
everyone's problem.

"These guys today who play football are not the makers of the game,"
Ditka says. "They are the keepers of the game."

And players like Hawkins are the foundation of this game.

Hawkins didn't miss a single game for eight seasons, and today he
receives a monthly pension check for $150. There was one time, Week 9
of the 1963 season, when Hawkins was knocked completely unconscious.
He left the stadium in an ambulance, and they had to cut his uniform
off. He was unresponsive for 14 hours. And then he played the next
Sunday.

In 1964, he was knocked cold in three different games. Sure, it hurt
at the time, but the pain is more evident today.

A few weeks ago, Hawkins lost his AFL championship ring. He fell to
his knees in tears. His family filed a police report, and they've been
visiting area pawn shops. No luck, so far.

Hopefully soon, though.

"We just need some help," Sharon Hawkins says. "We can't do this
alone."


7. Johnson says Pats coach ignored LB's concussion
Associated Press



NEW YORK -- Former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said coach Bill Belichick subjected him to hard hits in practice while he was recovering from a concussion -- against the advice of the team's top trainer.

Johnson
Johnson, who helped the Patriots win three Super Bowl titles before retiring two years ago, told The New York Times that a collision with another player during that 2002 practice led to another concussion. And, after sustaining additional concussions over the next three seasons, he now forgets people's names, misses appointments and suffers from depression and an addiction to amphetamines.
"There's something wrong with me," Johnson, 34, told the Times in a story posted on its Web site Thursday night. "There's something wrong with my brain. And I know when it started."
The Boston Globe, which is owned by the Times, posted a similar story on its Web site.
Johnson, who played 10 years in the NFL, said he began to deteriorate in August 2002 with a concussion during an exhibition game against the New York Giants. He sustained another concussion four days later after Belichick prodded him to participate in a full-contact practice, even though he was supposed to be avoiding hits, Johnson said.
The next month, with their relationship already strained, Johnson confronted Belichick about the practice after the coach asked him to meet in his office.
"I told him, 'You played God with my health. You knew I shouldn't have been cleared to play,'" Johnson told the Globe.
Belichick told the Globe he got no cue from Johnson in practice that day that he was hesitant about participating in the full-contact drill.
"If Ted felt so strongly that he didn't feel he was ready to practice with us, he should have told me," Belichick said.
The Patriots did not allow Jim Whalen, still their head trainer, to comment for this story, according to the Globe.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James told The Associated Press on Thursday night that the team was aware of the report but was not prepared to comment.
In a story last month, the Times reported that brain damage caused on the football field ultimately led to the suicide of former NFL defensive back Andre Waters last November, according to a forensic pathologist who studied Waters' brain tissue.
"We have been focused on the issue of concussions for years," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the AP. "It remains one of our prime concerns as we continue to do everything possible to protect the health of our players."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to answer questions about the issue at his annual state of the NFL news conference Friday.
Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, the neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who examined Johnson, wrote in a memo on Aug. 19, 2002, that Johnson sustained a second concussion in that practice, the Times reported.
Schwamm also wrote that, after speaking with Whalen, the trainer "was on the sidelines when he sustained the concussion during the game and assessed him frequently at the sideline" and that "he has kept Mr. Johnson out of contact since that time."
Johnson said he spoke with Belichick the next day about the incident, but only briefly, the Times said.
"He was vaguely acknowledging that he was aware of what happened," Johnson said, "and he wanted to just kind of let me know that he knew."
Johnson sat out the next two preseason games on the advice of his neurologist but played in the final one. Then, thinking he was still going to be left off the active roster for the season opener against Pittsburgh, he angrily left camp for two days before returning and meeting with Belichick.
"It's as clear as a bell, 'I had to see if you could play,'" Johnson recalled Belichick saying, according to the Times.
Moments later, Johnson said, Belichick admitted he had made a mistake by subjecting him to a full-contact drill.
"It was a real kind of admittance, but it was only him and I in the room," Johnson told the Times.
After returning to game action, the linebacker sustained more concussions of varying severity over the following three seasons, each of them exacerbating the next, according to his current neurologist, Dr. Robert Cantu.
Cantu told the Times he was certain that Johnson's problems "are related to his previous head injuries, as they are all rather classic postconcussion symptoms."
He added, "They are most likely permanent."
Cantu, the chief of neurosurgery and director of sports medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., also said Johnson shows signs of early Alzheimer's disease.
"The majority of those symptoms relentlessly progress over time," Cantu said. "It could be that at the time he's in his 50s, he could have severe Alzheimer's symptoms."
Johnson told the Globe he estimates he had at least six concussions in his last three seasons but reported only one because he already had a reputation as an injury-prone player and he didn't want to make it worse.
"Looking back, it was stupid not to tell anyone," Johnson said. "But I didn't know then that every time you have a concussion, you are four to six times more susceptible the next time. I had no idea the damage I was causing myself."
Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, spoke in general terms about concussions at a news conference Thursday in Miami, where the Super Bowl will be played Sunday.
"If a coach or anyone else is saying, 'You don't have a concussion, you get back in there,' you don't have to go, and you shouldn't go," Upshaw said, not speaking about Johnson's case specifically. "You know how you feel. That's what we tried to do throughout the years, is take the coach out of the decision-making. It's the medical people that have to decide."
Upshaw told the AP that concussions are one of the issues the union is examining this year.
"We've seen a number of concussions in the NFL this year, and as a result of our studies, we've seen a change in the helmet. We're also studying the effects of that on concussions," Upshaw said.


Guys, glad Ratto wrote about it but he's a little late in my opinion.
here's my latest op/ed.

Your friend with the pen,
G. Moore

==============

8. Super Bowl weekend shouldn’t be the only time for this story to be told
By Gregory Moore, Blackathlete.net columnist

SAN ANTONIO – I’m glad to see and read that the plight of former NFL
players is being told this week but I have a problem with Ray Ratto,
Dan Wetzel and others, including many of my own friends in radio and TV
land, and that problem is this: where the hell were you last year, last
month or last week when this should have been a priority back then?

As many of you know, I have been a silent proponent to try and help
change how guys like Herb Adderley, Eugene ‘Mercury’ Morris, Wayne
Hawkins and almost 250 other former NFL players have been treated by
the current NFLPA and it’s union head, Gene Upshaw. I have written
several stories about these guys and what they are going through. I
have had personal conversations, both via e-mail and on the phone, with
many of them and I have heard them tell me how the benefits package
that they signed for before the age of 62 has nearly crippled many of
them today. And I’m not just talking about some no name guys either.
I’m talking about many players who helped make the NFL what it is today
and that includes many Hall of Fame players and many of them who are
not a part of this weekend’s festivities. Guys like Adderley, Rayfield
Wright, Joe DeLamielleure, Alan Page and so many others. I’m talking
about guys who changed the game like a Marlon Briscoe, Mercury and Earl
Edwards. It was conversations like I had with Mercury some time ago
about his court battles and how much he just wants things to be equal
for every former player that has pushed me to write those articles and
it was correspondence with Edwards, Adderley, Smokey Stover, Ron Mix
and others that continues to keep me in the loop, trying to help these
guys get what they rightfully deserve but more importantly, to show the
union that it needs to do a better job of taking care of its ‘elders’.

So when I read Ratto’s piece or hear one of my friends talk about this
charity or that charity, I do get fighting mad at them. I get mad at
them because in our business of sports, we, as writers, talk show
hosts, or pundits should be caring this torch a lot longer than just a
few weeks before another Super Bowl game. I cannot tell you how many
times I have sent out personal emails to many of my friends saying that
it is up to us to put the pressure on Upshaw and others to realize that
former gladiators have paid a tremendous price for the rich millions
and billions that this league and players have today. I can’t tell you
how many times I’ve wanted to just pick up the phone and say, “When in
the hell are you guys going to get real about this issue and seriously
talk about it?” heck even this past week, I was so tempted to pull a
few trump cards and ‘sabotage’ some shows because all they were doing
was hitting and missing the issue. But what good would that have done
for any of us? Nothing.

Let’s take this even further. I have made suggestions, both via e-mail
and through writings, that some very well known former players like
Mike Ditka, Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw and others need to speak up on
video and call Upshaw on the carpet. I’d like to see guys like a Ray
Buchanan, James Washington, Greg Lloyd, Cornelius Bennett and Deion
Sanders not hide behind the ‘media’ cloak and just tell it like it is.
These guys and so many others who are a part of the media now have a
tremendous voice and if they spoke up more and often, things could
definitely be so much better.

By the same token, this story can only go away when the current
membership of the NFLPA realize that they are not helping former
players at all. Players can come to the rescue of a family like that of
Darrant Williams in tragedy but they cannot be proactive on a tragedy
that is ongoing right in front of them. What is wrong with this current
NFLPA to say, “okay guys, every month you need to kick in $250 so that
we can make sure that ALL of us have a pension plan for years to come”?
I simply cannot fathom the fact that nobody in the Washington, D.C.
offices sees that by simply raising a few dollars out of everyone’s
pockets now and creating a pension fund that covers those players like
Adderley and Edwards as well as the millionaires who will be leaving
soon. It just seems that nobody truly wants to fix the problem with
fresh new ideas; that they are perfectly happy with how things are
right now.

I know that there is a retired players committee at the NFLPA that is
working hard to correct the problem that is facing these former
players. I know that’s a true fact and I have been in contact with many
of those members who have said, “just point us to them and we’ll try to
help”. But that’s not good enough people. That committee should be a
separate committee who is making sure that each end every former player
who has signed the package that is paying them a $127.34 a month is
getting at least a check of $1,237.34 a month. There should be a
pension fund for these guys that takes advantage of the aggressive
markets in our financial districts, that benefits from various NFL
charity donations, that speaks about education to the new retiring
players and who is a true partner to the NFLPA. And yes I’m even saying
that maybe Upshaw should still be the man in charge.

But it shouldn’t be this way and it shouldn’t be a hot media topic the
week or weekend before the biggest game of the football season. These
players deserve better than what is being given by the media. Many Hall
of Famers like Adderley, DeLamielleure and Page should be a part of
this game. Media outlets should be just tripping over themselves to
talk to these retired players who have played in the early Super Bowl
contests. There should be long lines of callers wanting to speak to
these former gladiators and find out from them how things were back in
the ‘glory’ days of the NFL/AFL. That’s how it should be but that’s not
the reality. The reality is that the only time any of these men are
called upon is right about this time and I shouldn’t be surprised.

I’m not going to say that my disappointment in my own profession leaves
me shameful because it doesn’t. If a writer or talk show host wants to
take this time to bring out one of the biggest tragedies in sports
today, I say go for it because it needs to be exposed. But what I am
shameful about is the fact that while this story is being told all over
the world right now and maybe a few days after the big game, I know for
a fact that nobody will speak about this tragedy a month from now or
even a year from now until Super Bowl XLII in Arizona.

Look I applaud those who have decided to speak about the plight of our
retired NFL players. There really isn’t a better time to do it than
this weekend. However, if guys like Ratto, Wetzel and others really
want to help these guys out, then speak on this topic when this game is
over with and there’s nothing going on in March. These guys played
their hearts out for us in the early years and I think the sports
media, especially those who have the stroke of the pen or the boom of a
mike that can reach millions, to tell their story and to keep it as a
major blip on the sports story radar screen. This story needs to be
told as often as possible.

The Super Bowl isn’t the only time for this story to be told; it’s just
the biggest stage because of the game being played.

Gregory Moore is the Managing Editor of the San Antonio Informer, a
weekly African American newspaper located in San Antonio, Texas and is
an NBA analyst for Fox Sports Radio where he can be heard on the
national and affiliate programming. Gregory has also appeared on
Sporting News Radio, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines Nightly”, “Hot List” and
“4 Quarters” programming as well as appearing on local sports talk and
news talk radio programming in the San Antonio, Texas, Richmond, VA,
Hollywood, Florida and Highpoint, North Carolina markets on a weekly
basis.


________________________________________________________
Gregory Moore
Managing Editor - San Antonio Informer
Former NBA Analyst - Fox Sports Radio
Associate Editor - Blackathlete.net (BASN)
Syndicated columnist - American Chronicle Online Magazine
Contributing Columnist - 411 Sports Network
Columnist - Black Sports the Magazine
Show contributor for local, regional and national talk radio programming
Ph. #s: 210.227.8300 (work) • 210.627.4995 (cell)


9. Shame on NFL; it neglects greats





UNION-TRIBUNE
February 2, 2007

MIAMI – It's difficult for Super Bowl Week to get terribly serious. It is, after all, about a football game, not Iraq. There's that, and frivolity, debauchery, and picking the right party in which to be properly presented and seen. But No. XLI sobered up quickly yesterday morning. There was passion, not laughter, in the hall.
Some angry NFL legends gathered at the Miami Beach Convention Center to announce they are starting an online auction and donation drive to help the many retired players who are in need because their pensions basically amount to farthings.
So, the former players, including Mike Ditka, Jerry Kramer, Merlin Olsen, Joe DeLamielleure, Paul Hornung, Sam Huff – you get the picture – are auctioning off some of their precious memorabilia online to raise money for the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund.
Many former players are down and out and physically or mentally impaired. Down and out? As an example, Herb Adderley, the Hall of Fame Packers cornerback, gets a $126.85 pension per month.
It's a shame and a disgrace. There are those who put the blame directly on players union chief Gene Upshaw, a former player and a Hall of Famer himself. Others put it on the NFL, especially on former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, always an easy – and excellent – target.
“Our pensions (stink),” DeLamielleure said.
Ditka, along with DeLamielleure the most outspoken of the group, said he sent letters to every NFL club asking for $100,000 from each so a trust could be established, with money going directly to the players.
“I will say this: I don't know if it ever got into their hands; I don't know if they ever saw the letter,” said Ditka, who mentioned he had dinner with an owner of a team not involved in football and was given $100,000. “But I said, 'Here's what we've done in seven years. We've donated $100,000 to this trust, and if they could help with a one-time donation of $100,000 per team, if I know my math, that would make it $3.3 million and we can eliminate the problem and take care of these guys.'
“The response was not good. I got one check from an owner for $5,000 and another for $10,000 and I had them sent back.”
Some of the men who made the game what it is are the ones in dire straits. Among those is John Mackey, the great Baltimore Colts tight end, who has Alzheimer's and needs 24-hour care.
“These are guys who built the league with their backs, their knees and their legs,” DeLamielleure said. “It's like a big pie we've made and they're giving us the crumbs.”
The thing is, coaches and front-office people have terrific pensions, and the modern players have little to worry about. “Referees get larger pensions than the players,” DeLamielleure said.
One Hall of Fame player told me yesterday: “It's really not the NFL's problem. It's Gene Upshaw's problem. He's the one who has to get it done.”
He's just about right. Many modern players are incredibly selfish. But there's no reason the NFL, so concerned with its image and history, can't reach out and help these people. I mean, a $5,000 check?
Upshaw, meanwhile, represents all players, not just the ones involved today. And we aren't really talking about that many people being in distress. It isn't as though every old-timer is destitute. Many have passed away.
“There aren't 100,000 people out there asking for help,” DeLamielleure said. “All I know is that the guys who built the league are getting screwed. When you sell your brothers out, I don't have any use for you.
“I'm insulted by our union.”
Upshaw yesterday basically said the union is doing all it can but that it would take $800 million a year to get the older players to the same level as the modern ones.
“It's tough for me to answer a phone call when I know we're basically helpless (economically),” Upshaw said.
Please.
“What you don't hear about are the guys we help,” he added.
Look, I'm sure the union helps. But the people who spoke yesterday morning aren't looking for $800 million a year. The NFL can pay for what these folks need with chump change. So can the union, which is not destitute. True, some of these players decided to draw their pensions early, at 45, and now have nothing left.
But there's more to it. It's about helping your own, and I don't want to hear The League and the union don't have the means. Few players even ask for help. They're too proud.
“They're tired of begging,” Ditka said. “It's like fighting the Creator trying to get something done. If we can't help 'em, nobody's going to help 'em. It's embarrassing.
“I can't tell you if (Steelers Hall of Fame center) Mike Webster would be alive today with a better (pension plan). I don't know that. But I know he wouldn't have been a damn street person. I know that when he passed, his family wouldn't have had to sue to get his benefits. It's not right and it has to stop.”
It does. But the brake lines appear severed.

Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com




10. NFL makes battered players pay




MIAMI - It long has been an embarrassment for the NFL: players rendered mentally and physically broken from the brutal demands of the game and then left with little or no financial support from the league after they retire.
The veil was lifted off the problem at the Hall of Fame induction last summer when new inductee Harry Carson, the former Giants linebacker, addressed the matter in his speech. Ex-Bears coach Mike Ditka drew more attention to the matter when he said on an HBO "Real Sports" segment that the NFL didn't care about retired players.
Ditka and several prominent former players took the NFL Players Association and the league to task again yesterday, calling on both organizations to do more to help their brethren who are now destitute.
"I played next to a guy for seven years who is now in a homeless shelter," said Joe DeLamielleure, a former Buffalo Bills guard. "I played next to Mike Webster and Jim Ringo. Our pension (stinks). Twenty percent of nothing is nothing. I hold (union executive director) Gene Upshaw and (former NFL commissioner) Paul Tagliabue responsible for this. They were in power for 20 years and did nothing."
Oddly, none of the current players, all of whom are paying into the pension fund, has come out in support of the ex-players suffering from debilitating long-term injuries. It is a noticeable absence in this embarrassingly sad situation.
Perhaps the modern-day players are concerned that if the NFLPA and the NFL loosen their grip on the disability funds, there won't be anything left for them when they retire. Maybe they think that those ex-players, who didn't contribute very much to the pension fund when they were playing, shouldn't be able to draw on 2007 dollars.
It comes down to this: How much do today's players owe the players of yesterday, who built the league into the bonanza they are now reaping the financial rewards from?
"There's enough money to go around," Ditka said. "These guys today who play football are not the makers of the game. They are the keepers of the game."
In the past, Upshaw has taken a harsh tone when responding to the problems that retired players, saying that he doesn't work for them. But during his press conference yesterday, Upshaw softened his stance.
"Anyone who says Gene Upshaw and the NFL Players Association don't care about the retired players is not responsible," Upshaw said.
He said at the current rate it would cost $8 million a year to get the retired players on par with the current players in terms of disability payments. He said part of the problem is that some of the retired players started to collect their benefits when they turned 45, meaning their monthly pension is around $70. He also said there was no mechanism in place for those retired players who don't really need their pensions to donate them.
That is a tough sell in a league that has a TV contract worth billions and some players earning in the hundreds of millions. Under that setup, it looks cruel not to help those ailing retired players or to force them to drag you into court to get help.
There is a lot of bitterness and anger from the ex-players - Jerry Kramer, Lem Barney, Ditka and DeLamielleure - who were present yesterday to talk about the work of The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. There is also the feeling that the retired players must start doing something to help those who have fallen on hard times.
Kramer is holding a memorabilia auction through Steiner Sports to help raise money for the Gridiron Greats fund. For the next 11 days, people can go to www.JerryKramer.com to bid on items. Kramer said he hopes to raise $500,000.
What incensed the former players at the press conference yesterday was that ex-players had to beg and grovel before the NFLPA and the NFL to get disability payments.
"These guys are proud. They don't want to beg," Ditka said. "They don't want to ask. They don't have to. It's there."
Ditka said he had sent out letters to all 32 teams requesting a $100,000 donation. He got two responses. One was a check for $5,000 and the other was a check for $10,000. He had his secretary return the checks.
Those old warriors who sacrificed their bodies to help build the NFL into what it is today are going to have to lean on each other for support. They've got no one else.

Originally published on February 2, 2007





11. Bears icon Ditka speaks out for those the NFL money machine left behind, DAVID NAYLOR writes

by DAVID NAYLOR
Toronto Globe and Mail
Feb. 2, 2007

MIAMI -- Almost everything about Super Bowl week -- and the National
Football League in general -- reeks of wealth and abundance.

>From new stadiums to billion-dollar television deals, right down to
the free shrimp and booze this week in Miami, there seems no limit to
the NFL's desire to spend lavishly on itself and its guests.

All of which made yesterday's news conference just a little bit
jarring when a group of former NFL players gathered to condemn the
league and its players' association for allowing so many of them to
fall into poverty and desperation.

The NFL's ascent to top of the North American sports world occurred
during the 1960s and '70s, when it morphed from a rag-tag collection
of often money-losing clubs into the powerhouse of today, with
franchise values nearing $1-billion each.

And while modern players live rather well, those of the 1950s, '60s
and '70s are often destitute, encumbered partly by the crippling long-
term affects of the game they played with such passion.

"There's a lot of them out there," former Chicago Bears tight end and
head coach Mike Ditka said. "And it's not like there's not enough
money to go around, because there is enough money to go around.

"These guys today who play the game of football, not taking anything
away from them, they are not the makers of the game. They are the
keepers of the game. Period. They are doing what was laid down by a
lot of other guys before them, who didn't make money and played hurt
all the time.

"You hate to use that thing that where you're valuable to me when
you're a player and you can contribute, but when you're not, you're
not longer valuable to me. But that's what it looks like and that's
what it feels like to them."

Ditka's anger highlights a divide between players of today and those
of the past -- many of whom feel they have been mistreated by the
union and league they helped build. They're also frustrated with
difficulties many players have claiming disability benefits for
injuries they cannot prove were caused by football.

When the president of the National Football League Players
Association, Troy Vincent, addressed the issue of retired players
yesterday, he at first claimed to understand their plight, but then
said he and others were tired of constantly being hounded for money.

"I'm on the sideline and a coach who is a retired player says. 'Hey,
Troy, when are you going to increase the benefits?' " said Vincent, a
defensive back for the Washington Redskins.

"At practice or at the airport, everywhere. Think about that. Every
player is facing that. Every conversation with the retired players is
strictly about economics. At some point you just go and say: 'I've had
enough. I don't want to talk about it any more.' "

Ditka and other former players aren't waiting for a solution. An
online auction fundraiser at jerrykramer.com will feature many items
donated by retired players, including Ditka's 1975 National Football
Conference championship ring and a gold bracelet owned by former
Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure given to him by O.J.
Simpson after the running back's 2,000-yard season in 1973.

"I really wanted to keep that O.J. bracelet, I've got six kids of my
own, two that I adopted," DeLamielleure said. "But I'm willing to give
it up because you've got to give something to get something,"
DeLamielleure said. "It's just come to point in my life where it's put
up or shut up, because I've been bitching about this for years. Now,
at least I've done something."

The plight of some former players has been brought to the NFL's
attention many times, including by former New York Giants linebacker
Harry Carson during his enshrinement speech at the Pro Football Hall
of Fame last summer.

Ditka wrote to the league several years ago, asking that each club
contribute $100,000 toward the problem. He received two cheques -- one
for $5,000 and another for $10,000 -- and sent them back.

Since then, he has refused to visit the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

While there are examples of destitute former athletes in many sports,
football players seem to be paying a price directly related to the
nature of the game that they play. A generation ago, few paid
attention the accumulative toll of injuries and the way things such as
multiple concussions could possibly lead to dementia and Alzheimer's
disease.

Among those cited as currently in need is 70-year-old Willie Wood, the
former Green Bay Packers safety, Hall of Famer and one-time head coach
of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. He's in an
assisted living centre in Washington.

"Willie Wood was known because he hit really hard," former teammate
Jerry Kramer said. "He'd come up and stuff guys at the line of
scrimmage.

"He's had a narrowing of the spinal canal in the high back, operation
on his lower back, operations on both hips and both knees. Willie was
a great football player, and now he's paying for it."


12. by Tim Smith
New York Daily News
Friday, February 2nd, 2007

MIAMI - It long has been an embarrassment for the NFL: players
rendered mentally and physically broken from the brutal demands of the
game and then left with little or no financial support from the league
after they retire.

The veil was lifted off the problem at the Hall of Fame induction last
summer when new inductee Harry Carson, the former Giants linebacker,
addressed the matter in his speech. Ex-Bears coach Mike Ditka drew
more attention to the matter when he said on an HBO "Real Sports"
segment that the NFL didn't care about retired players.

Ditka and several prominent former players took the NFL Players
Association and the league to task again yesterday, calling on both
organizations to do more to help their brethren who are now destitute.

"I played next to a guy for seven years who is now in a homeless
shelter," said Joe DeLamielleure, a former Buffalo Bills guard. "I
played next to Mike Webster and Jim Ringo. Our pension (stinks).
Twenty percent of nothing is nothing. I hold (union executive
director) Gene Upshaw and (former NFL commissioner) Paul Tagliabue
responsible for this. They were in power for 20 years and did
nothing."

Oddly, none of the current players, all of whom are paying into the
pension fund, has come out in support of the ex-players suffering from
debilitating long-term injuries. It is a noticeable absence in this
embarrassingly sad situation.

Perhaps the modern-day players are concerned that if the NFLPA and the
NFL loosen their grip on the disability funds, there won't be anything
left for them when they retire. Maybe they think that those ex-
players, who didn't contribute very much to the pension fund when they
were playing, shouldn't be able to draw on 2007 dollars.

It comes down to this: How much do today's players owe the players of
yesterday, who built the league into the bonanza they are now reaping
the financial rewards from?

"There's enough money to go around," Ditka said. "These guys today who
play football are not the makers of the game. They are the keepers of
the game."

In the past, Upshaw has taken a harsh tone when responding to the
problems that retired players, saying that he doesn't work for them.
But during his press conference yesterday, Upshaw softened his stance.

"Anyone who says Gene Upshaw and the NFL Players Association don't
care about the retired players is not responsible," Upshaw said.

He said at the current rate it would cost $8 million a year to get the
retired players on par with the current players in terms of disability
payments. He said part of the problem is that some of the retired
players started to collect their benefits when they turned 45, meaning
their monthly pension is around $70. He also said there was no
mechanism in place for those retired players who don't really need
their pensions to donate them.

That is a tough sell in a league that has a TV contract worth billions
and some players earning in the hundreds of millions. Under that
setup, it looks cruel not to help those ailing retired players or to
force them to drag you into court to get help.

There is a lot of bitterness and anger from the ex-players - Jerry
Kramer, Lem Barney, Ditka and DeLamielleure - who were present
yesterday to talk about the work of The Gridiron Greats Assistance
Fund. There is also the feeling that the retired players must start
doing something to help those who have fallen on hard times.

Kramer is holding a memorabilia auction through Steiner Sports to help
raise money for the Gridiron Greats fund. For the next 11 days, people
can go to www.JerryKramer.com to bid on items. Kramer said he hopes to
raise $500,000.

What incensed the former players at the press conference yesterday was
that ex-players had to beg and grovel before the NFLPA and the NFL to
get disability payments.

"These guys are proud. They don't want to beg," Ditka said. "They
don't want to ask. They don't have to. It's there."

Ditka said he had sent out letters to all 32 teams requesting a
$100,000 donation. He got two responses. One was a check for $5,000
and the other was a check for $10,000. He had his secretary return the
checks.

Those old warriors who sacrificed their bodies to help build the NFL
into what it is today are going to have to lean on each other for
support. They've got no one else.


Hall of Famer Mike Ditka joins movement to assist former NFL players,makes conscientious appeal to owners, public

13. by Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 2, 2007 03:13 AM

MIAMI -- Mike Ditka has been a spokesman for toilet paper and Levitra.
He does his radio show from his restaurant in Chicago, where people
stand in line to pay for his pork chops and his autograph.

He sells his own beer (Iron Mike's, an amber ale), his own line of
wine (including Kick Ass Red) and recently has formed his own
recording label. Those who have worked with him have a nickname for
the former NFL tight end/head coach. They call him "printing press."
And after all these years, his profile and his empire are still
growing.
advertisement

Fortunately, Ditka is now standing for something nobler, for something
bigger than product endorsement. He is the ringleader for a great
cause, renewing efforts to provide more money and benefits for the
forgotten generation of broken-down NFL warriors.

And to prove it, he is donating his NFC championship ring from 1975.

"The guys today who play the game of football, they are not the makers
of the game," Ditka said. "They are keepers of the game, period. They
are doing what was laid down by a lot of guys before them who didn't
make money, who played hurt all the time, who didn't have sports
medicine . . . "

Of course, this is not a new issue. For years, the NFL has been
accused of ignoring the players who laid the foundation for a league
that is now floating in money. But Thursday's news conference
trumpeting an online auction for the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund
should embarrass the NFL, because many great players are parting with
deeply personal memorabilia in order to help out their comrades. The
presence of the hugely popular Ditka and his ties to ESPN certainly
ups the stakes.

"I've played next to a guy who is in a homeless shelter; I played next
to (the late) Mike Webster," said former Bills offensive lineman Joe
DeLamielleure, who is donating a gold bracelet given to him and
inscribed by O.J. Simpson. "And our pension sucks, plain and simple. I
think (players union boss) Gene Upshaw and (former NFL commissioner
Paul) Tagliabue are responsible for this. They've been in power for 20
years and haven't done anything."

Tagliabue retired as commissioner last year, and Upshaw continues to
insist that, no offense, but the current players are very happy with
him.

Yet former Packers great Jerry Kramer, whose Web site (jerry
kramer.com) is hosting the auction, is in the process of gathering
data and is alarmed at how many former players have been physically
crushed by the game's brutality. And in a Super Bowl where the 1985
Bears are once again relevant, we regret to inform you that Wilber
Marshall, a former heat-seeking linebacker, has been stricken down
hard by the game. And that former Colts great John Mackey isn't doing
well, either, now in need of 24-hour care.

"I've seen the way the United States treated guys from Vietnam when
they came back home from protecting our country," former Lions great
Lem Barney said. "They fought their tails off, and a lot of them came
back wounded mentally, physically and spiritually. And when they came
back, they had no real benefits waiting for them. As a result, some of
them are living on railroad tracks, they're living in torn-down
places, and their families have divested from them. It's the same way
with these former football players."

But it's Ditka who now is applying the serious heat. He passed out
copies of a 2001 letter from Al Davis to Tagliabue in which the
Raiders owner condemns the former commissioner for blocking a
philanthropic project. Davis wanted to build satellite halls of fame
in Anaheim and Orlando to both honor and raise money for old-time
players, only to watch Tagliabue squash the idea.

Then Ditka told a chilling story. After his golf tournament had raised
$100,000, he sent a letter to all 32 NFL owners. He asked for a one-
time donation of $100,000. The $3.3 million would be put in a trust
fund, and the problem would be eradicated.

"My response was not very good," Ditka said. "I think I got a check
from one owner for five thousand and one for 10 (thousand). And I had
our people send them back."

Ditka wouldn't name the two teams, other than to say they were located
on the East Coast. But he finds it shameful, revealing that an unnamed
owner in a different sport just offered Ditka $100,000 to help the
cause.

"Nobody seems to care. That's what bothers me," Ditka said. "I know
Mike Webster might be alive today if somebody cared. These guys, they
really gave it their all. They built this league, and they didn't get
a lot for it, and nobody really cares."

Ditka says you can help, too. He thinks public donations eventually
will blow away the $500,000 they hope to raise with the auction. And
then he points to a chubby, swollen finger.

"Would I give this ring away?" Ditka said. "No. It's the most valuable
thing I've ever had. It's the Super Bowl ring I had with the Bears
from 1986. But (the NFC ring is) the ring from the Cowboys, and I
would give anything else away I have if I thought it would bring the
kind of money needed to take the pain away from these (former
players).

"It's time. The year is 2007. It's time to right a wrong that's
existed for a long time."

With Ditka doing the barking, it's about time the NFL paid attention.




14. by JERRY KELLAR
Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times-Leader

It was April 2002, the last time Johnny Unitas, then part-owner of the
fledgling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, visited this area. It was
also five months before one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the
game passed away.

The 20 minutes or so I got to spend that day with the NFL Hall of
Famer in a small conference room in the basement of Wachovia Arena
ranks among my most cherished memories in the business.

They also served as an eye-opener.

A couple decades in pro football took its toll on ol' No. 19's body.
His most noticeable problem was a curved right arm, a result of all
those passes he threw. He also suffered the lasting effects of a torn
Achilles tendon, broken ribs, a punctured lung and knee injuries.

But it was the right hand that I'll never forget.

Slightly deformed from nerve damage incurred from all that physical
pounding, Unitas had only limited use of the appendage. When a local
politician interrupted our interview to ask for an autograph, Johnny U
gently laid the marker into his palm and slowly etched his name on a
photograph.

The memory of the onetime gridiron hero struggling to carry out this
simplest of tasks, one that most of us take for granted, is
distressing.

That emotion turns to outrage when you come to realize that the work-
related injuries that befell Unitas and so many other players from the
golden age of the NFL is not covered by insurance because of the
league's unwillingness to rework the former employees' pensions to
include a health plan.

Think about that for a few moments.

As the NFL readies for its annual showcase event - Sunday's Super Bowl
- some of the biggest names in league history, athletes who have laid
the groundwork for what is now a billion-dollar empire, have been
forsaken by this greatest of all games and the greed-mongers who run
it. That includes union president and Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, along
with a group of players who are reaping the rewards of the sacrifices
made by their predecessors.

Guys like Earl Campbell, a bruising Hall of Fame running back who
nowadays can barely walk. Or ex-Steelers' center Mike Webster, another
Canton inductee who died a virtual cripple at the age of 50 after
several dozen operations to his hands, knees, ankles and hips.

Webster, who in 1999 was diagnosed with incurable brain damage, the
result of repeated concussions during his career, passed away before
learning that a lawsuit to acquire full disability benefits from the
NFL was successful.

Stories such as these, a few of which were detailed in a recent
segment of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, left John Unitas a
bitter man at the end.

"It's hard not to be," he told me during his final visit to Wilkes-
Barre. "It's the side of the game most people will never hear about."

It should be noted that not all of today's players have turned their
backs on their gridiron brethren. But for every Peyton and Eli Manning
- whose dad Archie still bears the scars of a 14-year NFL career while
earning a fraction of what his sons make as high-profile quarterbacks
-- there are far too many others whose only concern is their personal
well-being.

Those players are representative of a generation which chooses to live
only for the moment. But even the bright lights of Super Bowl Sunday
eventually go out.

Then it's every man for himself.


15. Ex-Players Say Increase in Pensions Is Needed


• SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS
• PRINT
• REPRINTS
• SHARE


By CLIFTON BROWN
Published: February 2, 2007
MIAMI, Feb. 1 — Disenchanted with the National Football League and its players union, a group of retired players has organized an online auction to raise money for former players in need.

Blog
Times staffers cover the road to the Super Bowl.
Go to Blog »
N.F.L.
• Scores/Schedule
• Schedules: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Standings: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Teams | Statistics
• Transactions
• Injuries: A.F.C. | N.F.C.
• Discuss the N.F.L.
Giants
• Team Page
• Schedule/Results
• Statistics | Roster | Injuries
• Depth Chart | History
• Discuss the Giants
Jets
• Team Page
• Schedule/Results
• Statistics | Roster | Injuries
• Depth Chart | History
• Discuss the Jets
Four members of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund — Lem Barney, Joe DeLamielleure, Mike Ditka and Jerry Kramer — held a news conference Thursday to raise awareness about the auction and the plight of many retired players. The four players, all members of the Hall of Fame, want an increase in pension benefits for former players.
“I played next to a guy for seven years who’s in a homeless shelter,” said DeLamielleure, 55, who was an offensive lineman for 13 years.
DeLamielleure said pension benefits to veterans were inadequate, and he blamed Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association, and Paul Tagliabue, the former N.F.L. commissioner.
“They’ve been in power for 20 years and haven’t done anything,” DeLamielleure said. “Guys need help yesterday. I said to Gene, It’s like there’s a big pie being made here, and there’s a couple of crumbs on the floor, and they won’t even give us a crumb. This isn’t some industry that’s not making money. And there’s not like 100,000 people out there that are asking for help. I’m insulted by our union.”
At a news conference later in the day, Upshaw defended what the union had done for its retired players, saying that some expectations were unrealistic.
“There’s $60 million that’s paid out each year,” said Upshaw, a Hall of Fame guard who played 16 seasons. “We just spent $51 million to improve the benefits. When everyone walks up to you and says we’re not doing anything, I know the body of work. What you don’t hear about is the guys we help. There was one of them in here earlier saying that we don’t do anything. We just paid his mortgage for the last five months.
“I know what we do, and I’m proud of what we do, because I understand what this is all about.”
Upshaw said that it was not economically feasible to raise the pensions of retired players to the level of current players.
Ditka said he had dinner Wednesday night with a team owner who offered to donate $100,000, and that current players should be doing more to help retired players.
“These guys today who play the game of football, and not taking anything away from them, they are not the makers of the game,” Ditka said. “They are the keepers of the game, period. They are doing what was laid down by a lot of other guys before them, who didn’t make money, who played hurt all the time, who didn’t have the sports medicine.”
Troy Vincent, president of the players association, said he had empathy for former players, but said that some players had grown weary of hearing complaints.
“On the opposite sideline, I’m getting up and going back to the huddle, and I have a coach that’s a retired player, ‘Hey, Troy, when you going to increase the benefits?’ ” said Vincent, a defensive back with the Washington Redskins. “At practice, you’re at the airport, everywhere. Every conversation with the retired player is strictly about economics. At some point you just go, I’ve had enough, I don’t walk to talk about it anymore.
“We are really making every effort to bridge the gap. Let’s develop a relationship first. You’re a Hall of Famer, tell me what I can do to improve my game, not just belittle me about what we’re not doing as an association.”
Ditka referred to Mike Webster, a Hall of Fame center who played most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and died in 2002 at 50. Last month, a United States Court of Appeals upheld a 2005 trial court ruling that Webster sustained brain damage from playing professional football.
“I can’t tell you today if Mike Webster would have been alive today or not; I don’t know,” Ditka said, adding that he believed better benefits would have kept Webster from living on the street. “When he passed, his family wouldn’t have to sue to get his benefits.”
The auction, featuring football memorabilia donated by former players, began Thursday and ends Feb. 13. It can be accessed at jerrykramer.com. Ditka said the proceeds would go directly to players in need.
“We don’t make them jump through hoops, we don’t make a bunch of red tape,” Ditka said. “Every penny that goes in, goes out.
“I’m not going to bash Upshaw, or I’m not going to bash the commissioner. It could have been remedied a long time ago, and it should be remedied now. If they don’t, then there’re going to be a lot of people embarrassed over it.”


16. by Brian Ettkin
Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

We can handle the truth. It's the NFL's good fortune that we're just
not interested in it.

We don't want to know how the NFL suppresses information about the
effects of multiple concussions on its players.

We're not outraged that the enormously profitable NFL and its players'
union "provides" a meager pension and no health insurance benefits for
former players whose careers began before 1977.

We don't care about the loopholes in the league's drug-testing policy.
We don't even care when a superstar such as Shawne Merriman tests
positive for steroids and is suspended for four games.

We are outraged by every revelation about steroid use in baseball.

Because we're smitten with the NFL, we'd prefer not to look at its
dark recesses. We want to observe Super Bowl Sunday as a holiday, and
ignore our favorite league's unsavory practices, which we could never
celebrate.

It's not that news stories casting the NFL in shadowy light are
softened. They're just not widely reported.

When an October 2006 story in ESPN The Magazine reported the NFL-
commissioned Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee's dubious findings
on head trauma, findings that contradict the research of other doctors
who study players with concussions, it was a nonstory in the popular
press.

Among the revelations: The MTBIC concluded that returning to play
after a concussion "does not involve significant risk of a second
injury either in the game or during the season." Which is funny,
because a 2003 NCAA study of 2,905 college football players found
exactly the opposite: a player who suffers a concussion becomes more
susceptible to further head trauma for seven to 10 days after the
injury.

The MTBIC claimed there's "no evidence of worsening or chronic
cumulative effects of multiple MTBIs in NFL players," even though a
2003 report by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the
University of North Carolina concluded -- wouldn't you know it? --
just the opposite. And most sports doctors agree.

Yet, according to the MTBIC, 51.7 percent of players who sustain
concussions return in the same game.

The story also found that MTBIC chairman Elliot Pellman, the Jets'
team doctor, didn't include in his study all relevant available data
on players with concussions.

It's worth noting that Pellman is a rheumatologist, not a neurologist,
so he's not trained to study brain trauma. He didn't earn a medical
degree from Stony Brook, as he once claimed. He attended medical
school in Guadalajara, Mexico.

And we don't find this disturbing.

Then there's the pension and benefit plan for pre-1977 players, which
Hall of Famer Howie Long once called, the "dark secret nobody wants to
talk about."

Even players covered by the NFL disability plan rarely collect. NFL
veterans who play long enough become physically broken men and their
minds are sometimes permanently jumbled too. Yet, The Wall Street
Journal reported in December 2005 that only 90 of the more than 7,000
former players covered by the NFL plan were receiving the benefits.

This has prompted Pro Football Hall of Fame members including Deacon
Jones and Mike Ditka to boycott the annual induction ceremonies in
Canton to protest the NFL's and players union's treatment of its
former players.

Not that we want to know about it.

Brian Ettkin can be reached at 454-5457 or by e-mail at
bettkin@timesunion.com.



17. By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
January 30, 2007

MIAMI - Mike Ditka is spitting fury and frustration, words hitting
harder than a South Beach hangover.

He surveys the scene here for Super Bowl XLI, takes one look at the
giant billboards, the corporate sponsors, the overflowing hotels and
restaurants, the four-figure ticket prices and he doesn't see smiling
faces - just old ones.

Like the one of Mike Webster, the Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steeler who
died broke and sick and had spent time homeless, living in his pickup
truck.

Or Willie Wood, a Green Bay Packer Hall of Famer, who played in the
first two Super Bowls no less, currently struggling with a mountain of
medical bills from myriad surgeries to repair back, neck, spine and
hip problems almost all assuredly related to the violence of football.

ADVERTISEMENT
Or Herb Adderley, another of those old Packers, who is so disgusted at
his $126.85 per month pension in the face of all the NFL's profits
that he refuses to wear his Super Bowl or Hall of Fame rings anymore.

When you spend your days hearing sad stories from all your old friends
who helped make the Super Bowl the extravaganza it is, helped lay the
foundation for a league now filled with millionaire players and
billionaire owners, you don't have to have Mike Ditka's legendary fire
to want to blow up at the owners, at the NFL Players Association, at
the current players, at someone or something.

"It's a disgrace," Ditka said, starting to tick off his culprits. "The
owners ought to be ashamed of themselves. The owners are financiers,
and they are all about making money. They don't care about the history
of the game.

"[NFLPA executive director] Gene Upshaw?" Ditka continued. "Come on.
You can get somebody off the street to do what he is doing, and you
will pay him a whole lot less. You've got [players] today making
millions of dollars.

"All we are saying is we got a lot of guys that started this game that
have a lot of problems health wise and mental wise. I say help them
out. Help them out. Let them die with a little dignity and a little
respect."

With that Mike Ditka is about out of breath. But not out of will.

Here is where the issue gets as complicated as it is emotional.

Two things are undeniable. First, many older players (especially pre-
early 1980s) are suffering financially, physically and, often,
mentally and emotionally. A great deal of that comes from playing the
game. Second, the NFL is now awash in cash, a $6 billion industry.

The problem is that the retirement deals cut back in the day were
reflective of the fiscal realities of those times. Older players look
at today's Super Bowl as a cash cow and argue it wouldn't have been
possible without Super Bowl I.

"You see we've got a $4 billion contract, we've got a 59-percent
increase in income, franchises are now worth a billion and a half
dollars and you're going, 'hey, hey, excuse me, you forgot something
back here,'" said Hall of Famer Packer Jerry Kramer, who played in the
first two Super Bowls.

"This era is what founded the foundation of the league."

Indeed it is. But, then again, that first Super Bowl in 1967 didn't
sell out the Los Angeles Coliseum.

"The pension for the current players is quite good," NFL spokesman
Greg Aiello said Tuesday. "And those benefits are a factor of the
economics at the time. [For] guys who played years ago, the economics
of the league weren't as great. Therefore their benefit package isn't
what the benefit package is for the players today."

The NFL currently pays out $61 million in pension, but most of that
goes to post-1977 players. The NFLPA recently upped its contributions
to older players, but people such as Ditka claim it is woefully
insufficient.

And while you'd love to see the NFL just step up and cover every
player in need, it deserves at least some nod of respect for bucking
every known trend in corporate America - rather than trying to abandon
its legacy costs to retirees, it actually is upping its contributions
and commitments.

"Every collective bargaining agreement we've negotiated with the
players has included improvements in the pension plan for retired
players," Aiello said. "Which is unusual in industry for the
bargaining unit to go back and improve the benefits."

Of course, it isn't enough. Nor is the NFLPA's weak claim that it can
only do so much because it legally represents only current players,
not retired ones. Both the NFL and NFLPA could and should do more.
Both could and should act as examples of what is right here.

That they defend their current actions says there is a lot of
semantics here, a lot of buck passing, just not enough to the old
players.

But the real problem here isn't exploding revenue or left-behind
senior citizens - we've had that in most major sports. It is the
inherent nature of the NFL, too violent, too painful, too destructive
for any traditional definition of right and wrong to apply.

"Willie Wood had an operation on his high spinal column, on his high
shoulders, on the narrowing of the spinal canal, on his lower back and
on his hips," Kramer said of his old teammate.

"You know any one of those [surgeries] could wipe out a modest
savings."

You don't have injuries like that playing basketball or baseball. You
probably don't have them as a coal miner, or a lumberjack or a
jackhammer operator even.

If the NFL were just any old industry - and not our national sporting
obsession - it is quite possible the federal government would all but
outlaw it for the safety of the workers. The NFL can provide all the
helmets, trainers and team doctors it wants, but this still is a game
that essentially can ruin anyone who plays it at the highest level.

"Football is a great game until you turn 45," former San Francisco
wide receiver Mike Shumann told the San Francisco Chronicle in a story
that detailed how at least 20 members of the 1981-82 49ers already
cope with serious physical issues.

Which is why this is such an issue for the NFL. Common sense tells you
that many players retire from football due to disabling injuries that
will affect them for the rest of their lives, be it a blown knee or
the double-digit concussions. But unlike most industries, players have
been unable to prove it in court, and as few as two percent of retired
players receive disability from the NFL.

With near-crippling injuries suffered from this massively violent
pursuit, they struggle to make ends meet on meager pensions, hit-or-
miss health care and limited employment prospects.

But the NFL, as rich as it is, can't afford to have 1,000 players
suddenly on disability, sometimes for forty and fifty years. The
league, as a business, can't operate if it admits that so many
employees who do only what their job requires - tackling, blocking,
being tackled, being blocked - wind up disabled.

It is not an understatement that the entire league's existence would
be at stake. The federal government would have to pass some kind of
legislation protecting it from such claims so it could continue to
operate. That's why the NFL vigorously fights disability claims.

Moreover, the post-retirement life of a NFL player is full of non-
physical challenges. According to the Kansas City Star, two-thirds of
players have "emotional problems" within six months of retirement. And
eighty percent of their marriages end within four years - another huge
financial drain.

The NFL now works with current players about preparing for life after
football, understanding that many players arrive from coddling college
programs where there was little actual education and few thoughts
spent on anything but playing ball.

"We have programs in place that never existed years and years ago to
help prepare players for their transition," Aiello said. "They first
hear about it at the rookie symposium and then they go to their teams,
and they know about all of the resources that exist to assist them in
their life off the field including continuing education, internships,
life skill programs."

But that is too late for the older players who often mismanaged parts
of their lives. Ones such as Adderley, who was one of 324 former
players including 40 Hall of Famers who (foolishly, he admits) took
early retirement, which explains his pathetically low pension. Not
that it would have been much better. Kramer gets just $358 per month.

But the question remains, should it really be the NFL's job to care
for all these players for all these reasons?

That debate is sure to get more contentious and litigious. The former
players aren't backing down. There are lawsuits and press conferences
and fights to be had. Ditka is just one of the combatants. The battle
promises to be long and nasty, high stakes, high emotion.

In the meantime, Ditka and Kramer can't wait. And they won't. Both are
fortunate to be in good health and enjoy prosperity from post-playing
careers. But they won't forget their old teammates.

"I don't know if it is anyone's fault particularly," Kramer said.
"Some guys took retirement. Some had bad information. A lot of us got
[information] indicating we would die at an average of 54. A lot of
guys didn't, but a lot guys got caught in bad decisions financially or
medical decisions. The medical thing has gone so through the roof."

Whatever. Nothing can change that now.

"I've got guys in the hospital, guys in homeless shelters, I've got
guys who need help in days," Kramer said. "I can't believe the owners
and the union won't correct this problem. [But] that's not my concern
this week.

This week he is acting. Kramer, Ditka and a host of former players and
franchises are holding an online auction to raise emergency money for
players in need.

It's called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund and the memorabilia
and experiences are one of a kind. Ditka is auctioning his 1975 NFC
championship ring. There are celebrity experiences with Harry Carson,
Howie Long and Merlin Olsen. Hand-drawn plays from Vince Lombardi. All
kinds of stuff.

The information for the auction and the fund can be found on
jerrykramer.com.

And whether you think the NFL and NFLPA should do more, whether Ditka
is right or wrong, you can't argue with the need.

The Super Bowl is upon us - a celebration of the game. But not for
those whom football chewed up and forgot.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist.


18. The plight of retired players is a growing concern

By Ethan J. Skolnick
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 1, 2007

Forty years ago, Willie Wood ran the other way in glory. The slick
Green Bay free safety snatched a Len Dawson pass and raced 50 yards,
as the Packers sprinted to an easy victory in Super Bowl I against
Dawson's Chiefs.

Now, many contem-poraries and friends see shame as they accuse the NFL
and its players association of running away from legendary players
like him.

Wood, 69, is certainly in no shape to chase anyone these days.

The Hall of Famer has replaced one knee and one hip, will need to
replace the other knee, and maybe the hip, too. He has a wheelchair,
and back trouble, and gout, and diabetes, and arthritis in his hands,
and even early-stage dementia. While he never took his principal, his
pension still earns him only about $1,000 per month -- which is
actually four times as much as many players of his era, even after the
recent proposed 25 percent increase that is awaiting ratification.

"The medical monster has been a problem for a lot of older guys," said
Jerry Kramer, Wood's former teammate. "Costs have escalated so
dramatically, and many were caught without insurance, and some were
uninsurable. We were able to piece together some funds for Willie, and
get him into an assisted living facility."

For now, anyway.

But for Wood and so many of his physically and financially broken
contemporaries, who made a pittance compared to current players, the
resources run out quicker than any of them ever ran onto a field.
Speak to any player who retired before the late 1970s, and you'll hear
tragic stories about teammates. Some are invalids, with wives
returning to work to pay for care. Some are homeless, or in trailers.
Some have passed away penniless, with no family capable of paying for
a proper funeral.

After witnessing these declines, along with what they perceive as a
prolonged, shameful run from responsibility on the part of the NFL and
player union chief Gene Upshaw, several outraged football legends and
their supporters are taking a new approach.

"We will have World Wars IV and V before we have resolution on the
pension issue," said Bob Schmidt, Wood's former USC teammate and long-
time attorney. "You can't win that argument. We have to kill them with
kindness. If we go out and do the things that we are capable of doing
for these players, the league and the association will have to come
along, because otherwise they will really look stupid."

The NFL, and particularly, its players association have come under
heavy criticism of late, even from more recently retired Hall of
Famers such as Joe Montana and Howie Long. The issues: the meagerness
of pensions for old-time players, especially when compared to
contemporaries in baseball and the extreme difficulty in receiving
total and permanent disability status. Critics have mostly targeted
Upshaw, who has touted pension improvements, retirement packages for
current players, called retired players "ungrateful" and said he does
not represent them.

Upshaw told the Charlotte Observer last year that the NFL can't extend
health insurance coverage beyond the current 5-year post-retirement
limit because it would be cost-prohibitive, citing a figure between $5
billion to $9 billion to insure current players for life.

The retired player problem has become such a flashpoint that, when
asked for comment last week, NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis said that
Upshaw "would have an in-depth, comprehensive response to all of the
media reports" at today's 3:30 p.m. NFLPA press conference at the
Miami Beach Convention Center.

Earlier in the day, Mike Ditka will lead a press conference about the
concerns of retired players.

At 11 a.m., Kramer will announce the official start of his first
Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund auction, through JerryKramer.com.

"I just pray that the other people have an impact on the league, or
the pension fund, or the players association, but these are guys who
need help right now, today," Kramer said. "Virtually everyone we've
asked has donated something."

That includes those who could use help themselves.

Conrad Dobler, an NFL offensive lineman for 10 seasons, now runs a
supplemental staffing business for nurses. His house is getting
repossessed. His wife is paralyzed. He had seven surgeries in one
year, has had his left knee replaced twice, and spent nearly 100 days
in the hospital this past year. He pops Vicodin like candy. He has
never received a penny of disability money from the union or league.

"You have to be in a coma before you get anything," Dobler said.

He doesn't take his pension, because it would only cover his health
insurance, not including his co-payments.

And yet, he says, "There are a lot of other people in worse shape than
I am."

And, so while he has six children, and hoped to leave them his
mementos -- if not sell them on eBay -- he considers Kramer's to be
the ideal charity.

"It's time to quit the bitching and put together an organization to
get help where the players need help," Dobler said. "By God, if nobody
is going to take care of us, we will do it ourselves, with the help of
the players who respected the people like us, the people who made the
game great."

That's why Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure is auctioning off a
bracelet that former teammate O.J. Simpson gave him, one valued at
about $1,500. He wouldn't do otherwise, but after seeing the state of
former teammates -- one of which he just visited in a shelter -- and
considering "we have realized the union and league will do nothing
about this."

"It's an absolute disgrace that the former players, who were screwed
all along, have to give up the things that they earned," said
DeLamielleure, who has been receiving a $992 pension, which would have
been $2,200 if he could have waited until age 55. "If the industry was
suffering, then guys could say, `Hey, we understand it.' But it's not.
It's booming. We're forgotten, but we're not gone."

They're certainly not going quietly.

Bruce Laird and Tom Matte were among those frustrated by the NFLPA's
initial response to a call for help for former teammate John Mackey,
who suffers from dementia, and whose wife Sylvia had to return to work
as a flight attendant at age 62. So they formed a Google Group, which
now includes more than 1,000 retired players, they have lobbied
politicians, they have contacted legal firms and worked with Kramer --
also believing they need to act quickly to help former players before
real change comes.

Matte, now a Ravens broadcaster, made $85,000 at one point in his
career, so he considers himself fortunate despite his medical
problems. After a 12-year career, he makes $1,400 per month in his
pension, before the 25 percent increase.

"What we have to do is embarrass the league," Matte said.

They aim to represent a group that they believe lacks allies,
including current players. DeLamielleure believe that is because
Upshaw has not educated them. Matte thinks it's because they "have so
much change in their pocket, that they don't care what's happening."

Said Laird: "After new collective-bargaining agreement, the new
players get more, and the old players really don't."

His monthly pension is around $200.

"It's not about that, it's about the ancillary benefits the modern
player has," Laird said. "We are very happy for the active player.
They have finally gotten what they sorely deserve. We would just like
everybody to understand that the pioneers who made this game great
have been left out in the cold for a long, long time."

Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel



19. by Shaun Powell
NEWSDAY SPORTS COLUMNIST
January 30, 2007

At some point tonight on the Amtrak from Baltimore to Miami, a
passenger might feel a gentle tap on the shoulder and see a large man
balling a fist, ready to hit him with a bit of nostalgia.

"See this?" John Mackey will say sweetly to the stranger while
flashing a striking piece of bling. "This is my Super Bowl ring. I
scored the 75-yard touchdown to beat the Dallas Cowboys."

This is what he tells people -- on the streets, in the malls, wherever
-- not just because the memory of his thrilling catch in Super Bowl V
gives him bragging rights. It's also because, in his condition, the
touchdown is almost all he remembers about the past.

And the ring. He wears two of them, actually -- a Super Bowl ring on
one hand, a Hall of Fame ring on the other. Always. He sleeps with
them. He rarely removes them. Which is why he's taking the train to
Miami for Super Bowl XLI and not a flight.

A few years ago, while headed to St. Louis for an autograph signing
show, he approached airport screening. Security ordered him to remove
the rings and place them in the plastic bins. He refused. They told
him again. He said no.

Then he noticed these weren't the same friendly strangers on the
street who listened patiently when he told them about the touchdown.
That's what dementia does. It makes its victims suspicious and also
very protective of their possessions, especially the precious ones.

Therefore, Mackey followed his football instincts, which took him from
Hempstead to Syracuse to the NFL and allowed him to cover 75 yards on
that touchdown catch and run 35 years ago, when he spun away from the
Dallas defense.

He elbowed past security and headed toward the gate. He was then, and
still is now at age 65, a firm 6-2 and 240 pounds with giddyap. In his
mind, he still was the man who starred for the Colts and
revolutionized the tight end position.

It took four security jackets to tackle Mackey. In a post 9/11 world,
that was enough for his wife, Sylvia, a flight attendant.

"If he could've gotten away and run down the corridor, they weren't
going to catch him," she said yesterday. "They'd have to shoot him.
And I'm not going to put him up against that."

So they'll ride the train to Miami to watch his old team, the Colts,
play in the title game for the first time since their Mackey-inspired
16-13 win in 1971. The trip will take a while, but it's nothing
compared with Mackey's long and draining journey to get financial help
from the NFL to cover his soaring medical costs.

His situation is not unique among former players who came before the
big salaries, who now pay the physical and sometimes mental price for
laying the foundation for a league that generates billions in revenue.

Mike Webster, the great center for those Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh
teams, suffered brain injuries and was homeless before dying five
years ago from heart failure. Andre Waters recently committed suicide
at age 44 after being depressed, perhaps a result of brain damage
after playing 12 years as a hard-hitting safety.

Those are just two examples. One report recently said that of the
7,500 former players covered by NFL disability, fewer than 200 receive
football disability benefits. These players must prove their
disability is a direct result of football injuries in order to
collect. The league estimates it shells out $60 million a year in
pension benefits; others say the figure is closer to $15 million.

Regardless, it's a cruel coincidence for Mackey. As an outspoken
player, he fought for free agency and benefits at great risk to his
career. And where did this sacrifice get him? He was snubbed by Hall
of Fame voters until 1992, his final year of eligibility. And the NFL
players' union, the weakest in team sports, sits under the thumb of
the owners.

For many years after his career, Mackey had thriving business
interests and successfully raised a family. About eight years ago, his
wife noticed changes. He became forgetful about little things. Then
she overheard a conversation in which Mackey told someone: "I don't
have a sister." Sylvia pulled him aside.

"You do have a sister."

"No, I don't."

"Are you kidding? You have a sister."

"Well, what's her name, then?"

"That's when I knew something was wrong," Sylvia Mackey said. "He went
to a bar once, which is something he rarely did, and began singing
karaoke with someone. Then he announced they were taking their act on
the road. They were going to Vegas. And he was serious."

His health declined, the bills increased. Sylvia Mackey, a retired
fashion model, had to return to work as a flight attendant. They moved
from Southern California to Baltimore partly to stimulate his memory.
He began spending his days in an adult day care center, where the
monthly costs almost equaled his NFL pension.

On a whim, his wife wrote a heartfelt three-page letter to outgoing
commissioner Paul Tagliabue, urging him to take action. She told him
about John's behavior, which became childlike, and the financial and
emotional drain his condition had on the family. She explained how his
memory was running on empty, except for the rings and the TD in Super
Bowl V.

Tagliabue was moved. Within weeks, the NFL created the Number 88 Plan,
named after Mackey's uniform number, which provides up to $88,000 a
year for institutional care to former players suffering from dementia.

"I expected his reply to be along the lines of, 'We're working on it,
thanks for your letter, good luck,' something like that," Sylvia
Mackey said. "Paul felt everything he saw in my letter."

Other events in Mackey's life seem hazy. Only the NFL still registers
strongly. Seizing the chance, his wife strategically puts his medicine
in a box with an NFL address, which makes Mackey anxious to take it.
Because dementia destroys a person's hygiene habits, she also taped a
fake sign in their bathroom from the NFL, telling him to wash his face
and brush his teeth. She signed it Paul Tagliabue.

"Works like a charm," she said.

Football was his life, and after a brief separation, is back in his
life again. He stays sharp by watching video of old games, including
the two Super Bowls in which he played. He never tires of the 75-yard
touchdown play, or showing the Super Bowl V ring. But football does
have company for Mackey's affections.

"Before this disease, John was a person who had a hard time saying 'I
love you' to his wife," Sylvia said. "But now I must hear 'I love you'
10, 15 times a day."

She laughed. "I knew something was wrong when he started saying that."



20. by Wallace Matthews
Newsday
January 31, 2007

When Tiki Barber retired from the NFL at the end of this season, he
did more than walk away from his career at the top of his game. He
also walked right onto Gene Upshaw's enemies list.

There is simply no other way to describe the behavior of that
spineless mockery of a union, the NFL Players Association, or the
attitude of its president, also known as Roger Goodell's -- formerly
Paul Tagliabue's -- lapdog, toward its former members.

As exposed by HBO's "Real Sports" last week, and illustrated by my
colleague Shaun Powell's heartbreaking column about John Mackey
yesterday, once a player is done with the NFL, the NFL is done with
him.

This week is the NFL equivalent of Mardi Gras, a week of happy
horsecrap about the League That Can Do No Wrong.

But a handful of former players, Hall of Famers all, are not
swallowing the Kool-Aid the rest of the country seems to be drunk on.
While most of the NFL media is being distracted by the temptations of
Super Bowl Week, Jerry Kramer, Harry Carson and Mike Ditka, to name a
few, will be speaking truth in a hotel conference room a few hours
before Upshaw gets his chance to lie about how great everything is.

They have long known that The Shield, as the players refer to it, is a
league that eats its young, and the NFLPA is a union that discards its
old. And tomorrow, they want the rest of the world to know it.

As Kramer said, "It will not be a pleasant task. But then, it's not
pleasant to talk to Bill Forester [a Pro Bowl linebacker on Kramer's
Green Bay Packers teams of the mid-60s] and hear that he's suffering
from Alzheimer's and dementia and pneumonia, that he needs a feeding
tube to survive, and that he can't get any money from the Players
Association to help him."

Nor is it pleasant to consider the case of Willie Wood, a Hall of
Famer now destitute, living in a nursing home and needing to rely on a
trust fund for retired players set up by Ditka, of all people, in
order to survive; or to think about a former New England Patriot,
whose name is being withheld to preserve his privacy, living on the
street, nor to consider the future of Carson, now 53 and suffering
from post-concussion syndrome, the result of at least 15 game and
practice-related concussions. Will he be the next John Mackey or Andre
Waters?

This is the stuff the NFL never wants to talk about, but especially
not now, when everyone is paying attention to what is universally
regarded as the world's most lucrative and best-run sports league.

Upshaw did not return a call yesterday, but as he told the Charlotte
Observer recently, "They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They
can complain about me all day long. But the active players have the
vote. That's who pays my salary."

Clearly, there's no help there, so after their news conference, the
players will stage an auction of items from their personal
collections, many of them prized possessions, to raise money for the
thousands of players who can't, or won't, go to the union for help.

"These are proud guys, and a lot of them are too embarrassed to ask
for help," Carson said. "But for them to even get to the point where
they have to beg for assistance, that really -- me off."

Thankfully, Carson does not need the $700 or so a month his NFL
pension would pay him if he applied for it. But it enrages him to
think of Herb Adderley cashing an NFLPA check for $126.85 a month --
that is not a misprint -- and it really infuriates him when Upshaw
crows about increasing all benefits this year by 25 percent.

"Great, now Herb will get $150," Carson said.

For a league that receives $3.1 billion a year for its television
rights alone, it is an incredibly chintzy way to do business. Of the
9,000 retired NFL players, only 144 receive disability benefits and
the league has never lost a lawsuit brought by a former player seeking
help.

"You really do need to be crawling on the floor to qualify for
disability benefits," Carson said. "They just deny, deny, deny, and
hope that it all goes away."

Kramer said he hopes the auction will raise between $250,000 and
$500,000, with all proceeds to be distributed as soon as possible
because "we got guys who need help right away."

The NFL is providing nothing but the hotel room, because to deny the
retired players a place to speak out would have garnered even worse
publicity than what they will say.

But that is where The Shield's commitment ends.

"They told us they had so many requests for help, they didn't know who
to help first," Kramer said. "So they decided to help nobody."

For the NFL, it is business as usual. Profits through the roof. Heads
in the sand.




The N.F.L.’s Blue-Collar Workers - New York Times 01/29/2007 09:03 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/weekinreview/21gross.html?ei=5070&en=9a88342449836c0c&ex=1170219600&pagewanted=print Page 1 of 3
January 21, 2007
WHOMP
21. The N.F.L.’s Blue-Collar Workers
By DANIEL GROSS
Correction Appended

THE Super Bowl, the highlight of the National Football League season, is the very model of a 21st-century media, marketing and entertainment mega-event. It commands a huge audience (an average 90.7 million viewers tuned in to last year’s Super Bowl), attracts enormously lucrative commercials ($2.6 million for a 30-second spot this year), and will feature Prince as the performer during its halftime extravaganza.
But despite all the trappings of a modern business empire, football — or more specifically its labor system — harks back to the 19th century. Like miners and dock workers of that time, the N.F.L.’s work force has little protection against job loss. Workers frequently toil outdoors in freezing temperatures. And they often literally put their lives at risk, as we were reminded last week when a neuropathologist claimed that the suicide of a former N.F.L. player, Andre Waters, was linked to brain damage he sustained while playing football.
“It brings to mind the high-risk jobs of the earlier industrial period,” said Raymond Sauer, an economics professor at Clemson University and founder of the Sports Economist blog.

To be sure, football players, with their generous paychecks, do not seem as exploited as those rail-thin miners dusted with coal. But compared with athletes who ply their trades in two other big-money sports — basketball and baseball — they’re strictly blue collar.
“The average salary in the National Football League is somewhere around $1.3 million,” notes Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College, compared with $2.7 million for Major League Baseball and $4.2 million for the National Basketball Association. Beyond that, football players’ careers resemble life as Thomas Hobbes described it in the 17th century: they’re nasty, brutish and short. The average football career lasts less than four years, notes Mark Yost, author of “Tailgating, Sacks and Salary Caps: How the N.F.L. Became the Most Successful Sports League in History.”
The minority of players who do make it past a fourth year are still treated like (highly paid) temporary or contract workers. In baseball and basketball, teams must honor multiyear contracts, even if players suffer career-ending injuries or if their skills decline.
The N.F.L.’s Blue-Collar Workers - New York Times 01/29/2007 09:03 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/weekinreview/21gross.html?ei=5070&en=9a88342449836c0c&ex=1170219600&pagewanted=print Page 2 of 3
contracts, even if players suffer career-ending injuries or if their skills decline.
Not so in football. “A person with a five-year contract will get paid only for the current year if he suffers a career-ending injury,” Professor Sauer noted.
Star players with bargaining power have been able to protect themselves by negotiating guaranteed multimillion-dollar signing bonuses. But less-valued players are not able to extract those bonuses, and the relatively weak players’ union has not been effective in getting many concessions from owners, nor much protection for players hurt on the job.
Tiki Barber, the New York Giants star running back who retired this year after 10 years in the N.F.L., summed up many players’ predicament when he told New York magazine recently that he wanted to retire while he could still walk.
But while Mr. Barber and his fellow players will likely feel the after-effects of the hits they suffered for years, their employers won’t necessarily cover the care they might require. “Players get insurance that covers them for five years after their careers are over,” Mr. Zimbalist said. “But given the kinds of abuse that they suffer, and the injuries they have, that’s not enough.
They have ongoing physical problems that can last for 10 or 20.”
In choosing to play despite those risks, football players are engaging in a brutal form of costbenefit analysis, with their health on the line. In his interview with New York magazine, Mr. Barber said he was motivated to retire in part by the example of Earl Campbell, who played for the Houston Oilers: “He can’t even walk. He has a wheelchair or a walking stick.”
Indeed, evidence suggests that the job requirements for playing football — a huge physique and a capacity for dishing out and accepting physical punishment — can be hazardous to one’s health. And the more physiologists learn about the damage sustained by football players during their careers, the more it seems the parallels should be drawn not between football and other sports, but between football and dangerous working-class labor like working with asbestos and mining coal.
The gladiator mentality instilled in players early on ties the endurance and acceptance of pain to economic rewards. Given the economics of the industry, prospective college scholarships (which high school players compete for), tuition and board (which college players count on), and later, N.F.L. salaries are all contingent on players absorbing immense amounts of physical punishment. Players have generally accepted the aches associated with the bargain in exchange for the compensation, and wear their creaky legs and aching backs as badges of service, like varsity letters.
But like asbestos workers who develop with mesothelioma years after exposure, or coal miners stricken with black lung disease, they are finding that the wear and tear associated with using their bodies as commodities can take years off their lives.
The N.F.L.’s Blue-Collar Workers - New York Times 01/29/2007 09:03 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/weekinreview/21gross.html?ei=5070&en=9a88342449836c0c&ex=1170219600&pagewanted=print Page 3 of 3
their bodies as commodities can take years off their lives.
Last year, a Scripps Howard News Service study found that “football players are more than twice as likely to die before age 50” as Major League Baseball players are, and that many of those who died suffered from obesity, or from ailments tied to obesity like heart disease.
In the case of Andre Waters, Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist at the University of Pittsburgh, concluded that the 44-year-old former safety’s brain tissue resembled that of an 85-year-old man. Dr. Omalu says the damage was either caused or worsened by successive concussions Mr. Waters sustained playing football. That damage, he says, was at least partly to blame for Mr. Waters’s life-threatening depression.
None of this is to say that playing in the N.F.L. isn’t an attractive career path. But it isn’t all that glamorous either. Just ask Earl Campbell.

Correction: January 28, 2007

An article last Sunday about the lack of job security for professional football players misstated the average salary of an N.F.L. player. It was $1.4 million in 2005, the most recent figure available, not $1.3 million a year.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS First Look Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map

22. Smizik: Porter has legitimate gripe, but it's with Gene Upshaw
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joey Porter is right. The news media, including this column, has spent too much time on his salary and his attitude. Although conducting himself away from the field pretty much like one extremely unhappy camper this summer, Porter has fulfilled every aspect of his contractual obligation to the Steelers in a professional manner. Nothing more can be asked.
Porter also is wrong. He's the guy who put the subject on the front burner by telling the NFL Network he felt he was underpaid. Any time an outstanding athlete, particularly one who played a prominent role on the Super Bowl champions, draws attention to his situation -- and that's what Porter did -- he should expect to be written about.
The following, however, is not about Porter. It's about why he griped about his salary in the first place.
On the current edition of HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," the host takes an extreme blast at Gene Upshaw, longtime head of the National Football League Players Association, which is the bargaining agent for Porter and his colleagues.
In his parting shot, in the form of an open letter to new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who will replace Paul Tagliabue Sept. 1, Gumbel said the following:
"Before he cleans out his office, have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."
Tagliabue was furious and hinted that Gumbel could lose his job as play-by-play voice of the NFL Network. Upshaw refused to respond to the statement.
Gumbel clearly hit a sore point. He might have gone too far in addressing the relationship between Tagliabue and Upshaw, but there can be no mistaking the fact that the compensation for NFL players pales next to what pro baseball and basketball players earn. The price of labor peace in the NFL -- and all the benefits that come with it -- has been reduced compensation for the players. There's no getting around that.
Porter is a star player, playing an important position on the Super Bowl champions. In this his eighth year, he will make $3.85 million.
Compare that figure to what Pirates and ex-Pirates are making.
Jack Wilson, Kip Wells and Craig Wilson all in their sixth season, are making, respectively, $4.75 million, $4.15 million and $3.3 million. Sean Casey, in his eighth season, is making $8.5 million.
Those players have the same service time or less than Porter. None is as good at his job as Porter is. All except Craig Wilson, who is not a regular, are making more.
The Pirates are the opposite of the Steelers. They're one of the worst teams in baseball with one of the lowest payrolls, yet they have ordinary to good players making more than a star for the Steelers.
The Philadelphia Phillies, playing in a bigger market and with more success, yet not nearly at a championship level, paid these kinds of salaries this season to players and ex-players: Bobby Abreu, $13.6 million; David Bell, $4.7 million; Pat Burrell, $9.75 million; Tom Gordon, $4.5 million; Jon Lieber, $7.583 million; Mike Lieberthal, $7.5 million; Jimmy Rollins, $5 million; Randy Wolf, $9.125 million.
The only player on that list who has Porter's star power is Abreu, who makes more than three times as much money and now plays for the New York Yankees.
Of course, MLB has to pay 25 players compared to the 53 on an NFL roster. MLB teams, however, operate as many as six minor-league clubs, while the NFL has its players developed free of charge by the colleges. The travel and in-season expense money doled out by MLB is considerably larger than that incurred by the NFL.
The reason for this disparity is the Major League Players Baseball Association historically has taken a confrontational stance with ownership. It has not been afraid to go on strike and it has clearly and repeatedly outwitted ownership at the bargaining table. Upshaw has chosen not to be as confrontational, perhaps correctly feeling his players didn't have the commitment that the baseball players did.
But, in failing to gain higher wages, he also has failed to come through with guaranteed money, which baseball and basketball players have. In a sport where injury can wipe out a career quickly, it would seem that guaranteed money should have been a priority with Upshaw. And because it wasn't, then higher salaries should have resulted.
He should have got one or the other -- guaranteed money or higher salaries. He got neither.
Upshaw is not a docile pet. He's a man of integrity. He's also a failed labor leader. If Porter is looking for a reason for his frustration over his contractual situation, he should look no further than Upshaw.

(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468. )


23. by CHARLES CHANDLER
Charlotte Observer

MIAMI - The Rev. Jesse Jackson is entering the effort to improve
benefits for retired NFL players.

Jackson, a longtime civil rights leader, attended Super Bowl XLI
Sunday and said on his way into Dolphin Stadium that he has held
discussions recently with some retired players and team owners.

"We must reach some common ground," he told the Observer.

Even though retiree pensions and benefits have been increased several
times over the years, Jackson suggested more needs to be done.

"The game's profit has exploded," he said. "These (retired) guys, many
of whom are now crippled, gave their bodies so the game could be what
it is today."

There is a growing hostility among some former players who say the
league and NFL Players Association are not doing enough to improve
pensions and disability aid for retirees.

Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and Joe DeLamielleure criticized the league
and players' association at a news conference Thursday, prompting
questions in later news conferences held by league Commissioner Roger
Goodell and union chief Gene Upshaw.

Goodell said Friday that he believes more needs to be done and that he
would talk to Upshaw to seek creative new ways to provide assistance.

Hall of Famer Harry Carson, the former New York Giants linebacker, is
among the former players who've talked to Jackson. Jackson said he
will try to serve as a mediator.

"There (is) some need to smooth it out and build a bridge," he said.
"I hope to be a part of that."


24. Posted 2/5/2007 1:20 AM ET
By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY

MIAMI - Roger Goodell, who took over as NFL commissioner at the start
of this season, inherited the prosperity of predecessor Paul
Tagliabue. America's dominant pro league has multibillion-dollar TV
deals and labor peace with its players through 2012 - potentially.

But just as Tagliabue did before his retirement, the 47-year-old
Goodell faced questions about an assortment of thorny issues Friday
when he held his first state-of-the-NFL news conference.

A day earlier, Super Bowl halftime entertainer Prince declined to take
questions and instead turned his news conference into a loudly
amplified concert.

"For those of you who attended the Prince press conference, I'm not
sure I'm going to be able to meet that standard," said Goodell, whose
dark suit also contrasted with Prince's orange attire.

But Goodell answered all questions on topics that included player
misconduct off the field, drug testing, stadium financing, labor
peace, minority hiring and more.

"I've been working for the NFL for 25 years. ... And I'm fortunate to
understand the issues," said Goodell, who started with the NFL in 1982
as an intern and since 2001 had been executive vice president and
chief operating officer. "I don't worry as much about the transition
now. I worry about the challenges ahead."

Off-field behavior was among the topics Godell discussed in reviewing
his first season.

The Cincinnati Bengals alone have had nine players arrested in the
past nine months. Goodell, who has met with Bengals management about
the matter, was asked if he might hold clubs responsible for the
conduct of their players.

"Well, we have to do something about it," said Goodell, son of the
late U.S. Sen. Charles Goodell (R-N.Y.). "One incident is too many in
my book."

Goodell said the league will "re-evaluate" its program designed to
help players stay out of trouble.

Labor peace

Last March, the NFL and the players union reached agreement on a six-
year contract extension. But some club owners here say the deal is too
costly.

"I think the union did too good a deal last time. They overreached,
and we're going to have to recalibrate if we want to keep going," New
England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

But Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said: "I don't know that the
union overreached. The union reached, and we accepted."

The extension also included an opt-out provision. As early as 2008 it
would allow either side to eliminate the final two salary-capped years
of the deal, 2010 and 2011. The games would continue but without any
limits on salaries. The final year of the extension (2012) is an
uncapped year.

"I know there's some concern about the cost of the deal, but we have
to do that evaluation," Goodell said. "So I would urge all of you to
be patient, to understand it, do the evaluation. It is our job, our
responsibility with players, to strike a reasonable agreement that
works for all parties."

Performance-enhancing drugs

Goodell described the NFL's steroid testing as "high quality" and
described the league as "leaders in this area." Does he believe
players also should undergo blood tests for use of human growth
hormone (HGH)?

"There is no reliable test for HGH right now," he said. "We are
investing money to develop that test. I don't know if that will be a
blood test or a urine test. We are going to pursue both. We keep an
open mind-set about the use of a test."

Former players in need

Earlier this week, former players such as Jerry Kramer of the Green
Bay Packers, Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears and Joe DeLamielleure of
the Buffalo Bills held a news conference to draw attention to an
online memorabilia auction they are holding to raise money for former
players who have fallen on hard times economically and medically.

DeLamielleure said: "Our pensions suck, plain and simple ... and I
think
(players' chief) Gene Upshaw and Tagliabue are responsible for this.
They've been in power for 20 years and haven't done anything. ... Guys
need help yesterday."

Goodell was asked what can be done to remedy the situation.

"I think that's an important question," he said. "I am very concerned
anytime you see one of our former players, and the men that helped
make this game great, have the medical issues that they're having," he
said. "And I think that's something that Gene and I have discussed
quite extensively over the last several weeks. I think we're going to
sit down and see how we can be creative and deal with that."

Minority hiring

This was a historic Super Bowl with the first two African-American
head coaches in the game. Goodell said that is an affirmation of the
"Rooney Rule," which requires clubs with head coaching vacancies to
interview at least one minority candidate.

Goodell said "the whole basis of the Rooney rule was to make sure we
have the best possible people in these positions. ... Those are two
great examples, and it's happening across the league, and we're proud
of it."

However, he did not commit the league to expanding the rule to include
coordinator coaching posts and top front-office positions.

"The great news about the Rooney Rule, I hope some day it's not going
to be necessary," he said. "And I feel the same way about the front
office. Clubs are doing it voluntarily because they believe it's
paying dividends for them and they're benefiting and, most
importantly, it's the right thing to do."


Posted February 2, 2007

25. Mike Vandermause column: Kramer calls for help


By Mike Vandermause
Most Packers fans think of Willie Wood as the hard-hitting, sure-tackling safety who was part of five championship teams in Green Bay during the 1960s and earned a berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The picture of Wood today is far less flattering. He resides in an assisted care facility in Washington, D.C., and gets around with the aid of a cane and walker.
Surgeries on his back, hips and knees over the years have left him virtually incapacitated. Overweight and discouraged, the 70-year-old Wood desperately needs physical therapy.
His condition is heartbreaking, and what's worse is, Wood doesn't have the money to pay for necessary care.
NFL pension and disability benefits for players Wood's age are woefully inadequate, and a number of ex-NFL stars like Wood have slipped through the cracks.
The situation has prompted one of Wood's ex-Packers teammates, Jerry Kramer, to take action. Kramer has started a campaign called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund to raise money for former players who have fallen on hard times.
Kramer held a news conference on Thursday in Miami, site of Super Bowl XLI, in hopes of raising awareness about the problem.
"These are your brothers, these are your pals, these are the guys you went to war with," said Kramer in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "It feels good to be able to help them out. It feels bad that they need to be helped out."
Kramer has enlisted the aid of several former NFL stars, including Willie Davis, Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers. An auction featuring NFL memorabilia will help raise money, and donations can be made at jerrykramer.com, a non-profit Web site.
Wood's condition underscores a serious problem among players who competed during that era. Not only were salaries then a fraction of what they are today, but also pensions for anyone who played before 1977 are embarrassingly small.
Former Packers cornerback Herb Adderley, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, earns a pension of $126.85 per month. Adderley is so disgusted he refuses to attend NFL functions and has stopped wearing his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings.
"I thank God that I didn't depend on my NFL pension," said Adderley in an e-mail on Kramer's Web site. "If I had, I would be homeless."
Both the NFL and the players' association have been blamed. Ditka, a former player and head coach, is spitting mad.
"It's a disgrace," Ditka was quoted as saying on the Yahoo! Sports Web site. "The owners ought to be ashamed of themselves. The owners are financiers, and they are all about making money. They don't care about the history of the game."
Kramer hopes the league and the players' union do something. After all, the same players who are struggling are the ones who helped lay the foundation for the NFL's success as a big-money industry.
In the meantime, Kramer isn't going to stand idly by and watch his former comrades suffer. "I've got guys in homeless shelters today," he said. "They've got pneumonia. They need help, and they need it right now."
That includes Wood, whose care over the next 90 days has been paid for thanks to the efforts of Ditka, Kramer and others.
"The whole process is pretty tough for him," Kramer said of Wood. "He needs to get his butt moving pretty good and somebody who gives a damn about getting him moving."
Wood and other players from that era gave themselves up for the game. It's time they receive something in return.
Mike Vandermause is sports editor of the Press-Gazette.

Date posted online: Wednesday, February 07, 2007

26. By John Doherty
Times Correspondent

In one episode of "Seinfeld," the character Uncle Leo complains
throughout of ringing in his ears and keeps yelling for somebody "to
answer that phone." New NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must know how
he feels. Goodell's phone won't stop ringing because another ex-player
is complaining of too much ringing in the ears -- and all the other
symptoms of concussion.

In Miami on Friday for the commissioner's annual "state of the NFL"
speech and news conference -- his first -- Goodell found himself
answering questions about Ted Johnson instead of the Super Bowl.
Johnson was a linebacker for the Patriots for their three Super Bowl
championships. He retired just prior to the 2005 season due to post-
concussion syndrome. Since then, the life of the 10-year NFL veteran
has been a downward spiral and, on Friday morning, the Boston Globe
told his story. Bad timing for Goodell and the NFL.

In the Globe piece, Patriot head coach Bill Belichick was remarkably
obliging -- and absurd. Refusing to allow Patriots head athletic
trainer Jim Whalen to respond to questions, Belichick acknowledged he
had made errors in dealing with Johnson.

However, as to the allegation that he had forced Johnson to practice
one day in 2002 when he was still recovering from a concussion,
Belichick said, "If Ted felt so strongly that he didn't feel he was
ready to practice with us, he should have told me." Nice try. Bill.
Johnson already had been ruled out of the practice by Whalen.

That is why teams have a medical staff. They decide whether a player
can or can not play, especially when the player's judgment may be
impaired -- which is precisely the case when the brain is concussed.

Responding to a question regarding Johnson, Goodell said, "I won't
accept the premise that (rushing players back from concussion is)
common practice, but it does concern me." He went on to say that
league research on concussions "has led to new helmet designs, it's
led to rule changes, and I think a safer environment for our players."

Goodell should think again. The one study on the efficacy of the
Riddell Revolution helmet was deeply flawed, was done only on high
school players, and showed only marginal improvements in concussion
frequency and severity. As for the rules, they are erratically
enforced and have done nothing to address the new physics of the game,
which have resulted in this age of bigger, faster, stronger.

On Dec. 20, in this space, I asked how many more lawsuits the NFL
would face after the estate of late Steeler Mike Webster was awarded
$1.5M-plus for the brain injuries he'd suffered. Since then, late
Eagle Andre Waters' recent suicide has been attributed to his repeated
concussions and now Johnson's telling his story.

The answer? I don't think Goodell wants to count that high because the
number won't have a nice ring to it.

John Doherty is a certified athletic trainer and licensed physical
therapist.

This column reflects solely his opinion. Reach him at
ptatcsport@sbcglobal.net.


27. by Gregory Moore
Blackathlete.net
http://www.blackathlete.net/artman/publish/article_02866.shtml

The ugly story about former NFL players who are disabled not being
able to get their disability checks has reared up and once again
NFLPA's Gene Upshaw and Troy Vincent are railing against these former
gridiron players as if they are nothing more than a pariah to their
happy landscape.

These two guys simply don't get it and they don't want to get it. They
don't get it because one doesn't seem to care about his fallen
comrades and the other has no clue what it is to have played at a time
when a doctor gave you aspirin for a concussion or told you to take
this shot to ease the pain.

For the hundreds of guys who made the NFL what it is today, they
simply do not get any love from Vincent or Upshaw.

Well that may now become a huge mistake on their part. It seems that
the very fact that the NFL and the NFLPA are trying to 'wish' this
problem away has riled up the competitive juices of a lot of retired
players and that may be a fight that Upshaw and Vincent don't want to
take on.

I had the privilege of speaking to one such angry hornet of a retired
player this past Sunday, Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe
DeLamielleure. He called me on Sunday to thank me for writing an
article about how the media needs to keep this story on the front
burner but we also talked about the statements that Vincent and Upshaw
made.

"Greg, they have awakened the competitive juices of a lot of former
players," DeLamielleure told me over the phone.

The former Buffalo Bill is an angry former player and you can't blame
him. While he may be doing pretty well by most standards, it's the
fact that he hasn't forgotten his former teammates and 'brethren' who
played during the same time.

To show how much he cares about those fallen men, DeLamielluere
donated the very bracelet that O.J. Simpson gave his linemen when he
rushed 2,003 yards in 1973 to the Gridiron Great Assistance Fund that
was started by former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer.

That's deep folks; it's really deep. And when you have many Hall of
Famers, many of them in the destitute situations that are described by
numerous articles, there seems to be uproar from that group that wants
to not just shout obscenities at a union that doesn't care about them;
they want to change the complete landscape.

Well maybe having some 200+ Hall of Fame members railing against you
is what the NFLPA needs. Maybe it is time that the HOF fraternity band
together and start letting the world know just how they are treated by
a union that is making almost billions off of the sweat, grit and
determination of guys like Herb Adderley, Willie Wood, and others.

Maybe it's good that these former players are now fighting mad about
how they are being treated and respected by a union that has no
inclination the importance of the 'old timers'. Maybe it is time for
the 'old timers' to kick a little butt. DeLamielleure made a very
poignant observation to me and I do think it's appropriate in it's
context.

He equated the civil rights movement for African Americans to what the
retired players are going through right now. In principle, Joey D.
isn't too far off the mark. Civil rights isn't just about riding on a
darn bus or being able to eat at a restaurant. It was and still is
about economic power.

Right now, the union and league have the power and the retired
players, no matter when they retired, do not. And for a league that
owes these guys so much, they need to be a little more grateful and
definitely a lot more giving to a group of men who literally gave
their lives and bodies for guys like Vincent and others.


28. Public Opinion Online
Chambersburg (Pa.) Public Opinion

By GRAHAM MESSNER

For Public Opinion

Imagine getting hit by a car.

Then imagine getting hit by a car three or four times a week for at
least 20 weeks.

For 10 years straight.

Sound like a good time?

It has been estimated by research that the collisions that occur
during professional football games involve forces up to 100 times that
of gravity (100 Gs).

In an article in the Chicago Times, Kevin Guskiewicz, research
director for the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the
University of North Carolina said, "A 100-G impact is analogous to a
car crashing into a brick wall at 25 mph with test dummies hitting the
windshield with 100 Gs of force."

It's always been both sad, yet fascinating, to hear the stories of how
many former great NFL football players have a heck of a time simply
getting out of bed because of all the pain that came with all the
glory.

This week, former wide receiver Mark Clayton (Miami Dolphins) told the
Miami Herald that he currently has right arm numbness and chronic
headaches. He can't lift anything. He's 45.

Here's a former Pro Bowler who was the equivalent of a jet fighter 15
years ago and is now more like a $1 balsa wood toy flier, hoping to
not get pulled out of the cellophane.

Clayton is just one of very many former NFL players who are in
constant pain. Forty-two percent of all players between ages 45 and 64
had arthritis, according to Guskiewicz.

In other words, a lot of these guys are winding up crippled and sorely
needing additional pensions and disability aids.

Yeah, we could all use a little more, but in this case, the entity
that doesn't seem to be in any hurry to help is the NFL Players Union.

The money currently pouring into the NFL resembles Category 5 white-
water rapids, which is why it is hard to understand why there are no
concessions being made.

An NFL player stops receiving medical benefits a year after he leaves
the league, while an NFL assistant coach gets medical benefits for
life.

Making the case that life isn't fair -- as many readers like to point
out -- isn't good enough in this case. Nobody could have possibly
predicted the long-term effects of the physical pounding these guys
endure and how the rising cost of health care were going to combine to
create such a quandary.

The guys today wear more pads than their gridiron forefathers, but
they are ridiculously faster, bigger and stronger. It really is like a
demolition derby every Sunday at the nearest NFL stadium near you.

According to the Living Heart Foundation, the biggest players, such as
linemen, suffer from a much higher incidence of sleep apnea and
enlarged hearts than the general populace. These guys have paid a
price.

Interestingly, most of the guys wouldn't trade it for anything. They
truly love the sport -- playing the games, the camaraderie before and
after games, getting through preseasons and forming lifelong
friendships that go beyond what many people can truly understand.

These guys are like Barbaro in a way. They suffer through surgery
after surgery, trying to address all the issues. They are used to
playing through pain and now are forced to live through it.

Without embellishing, a retired player might have shoulders made of
putty, a gimpy knee, heart problems, cracked vertebrae and recurring
migraine headaches.

Addressing all of the ailments a former player must suffer through is
a bit like trying to put a pair of socks on an octopus. It's almost an
exercise in futility.

In the end, the pain lingers, the bills mount and their quality of
life declines.

Talk about giving 110% ...

Things have gone too far for too long.

----------

Graham Messner, a coach at the high school level, is a local columnist
for Public Opinion. He may be reached at graham@innernet.net.

29. Los Angeles Times
Thursday February 01, 2007
Ex-NFL stars conduct auction for charity
Home Edition, Sports, Page D-9
Sports Desk
16 inches; 553 words
By Greg Johnson, Times Staff Writer
Mike Ditka is donating a 1975 NFC championship ring that he earned while playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Joe DeLamielleure is contributing an inscribed bracelet that O.J. Simpson presented to him and other members of the Buffalo Bills fabled "Electric Company." Merlin Olsen is volunteering to serve as a fishing guide during a two-day trip into the Hells Canyon region on the border between Idaho and Oregon.
The auction items being offered by the three Pro Football Hall of Fame members are among dozens of NFL-related merchandise and services to be put on the block starting today by the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. Ditka, DeLamielleure, Willie Davis, Gale Sayers and Harry Carson will serve as board members for the non-profit organization created recently to assist professional football players who have fallen upon hard times.
"I think the Super Bowl is a perfect time to do this," said former Green Bay Packers star Jerry Kramer, who jump-started the fund-raising effort that fans and collectors can access at jerrykramer.com.
Former NFL players are raiding their treasure troves and using their big league connections to solicit one-of-a-kind donations for the auction that will run through Feb. 13 and hope to raise $500,000. Auction items include Lem Barney's 1967 Pro Bowl helmet, a football with Dwight Clark's autograph and a diagram of his famous "Catch" play in the 1982 NFC championship game. Vince Lombardi's son has donated a hand-drawn play from the Packers' celebrated coach who won the first Super Bowl. And John McEnroe has offered up a day's worth of tennis.
Auction organizers will hold a news conference to announce the auction today at the Super Bowl XLI media center in Miami.
The relief effort is being driven by mounting frustration among many NFL veterans who've watched former teammates and opponents lose their health, homes and dignity, Kramer said.
"There are lots of guys in dire need," Ditka said. "Guys like [Hall of Famer members] John Mackey, Doug Atkins, Joe Perry and Pete Pihos. A lot of guys have Alzheimer's. Doug Atkins rarely comes out of his house, and Willie Wood needed financial help to move into an assisted-living facility.
"These guys were the foundation of the NFL. The league and players are making millions of dollars and all we're saying is that some of the guys who started it have health problems, mental problems. We should be helping them out."
Kramer said the auction will need to be repeated because so many former players need financial and medical assistance.
"I'm looking at this as a five-year project," Kramer said. "I'm hoping it will create an outcry among people who want to donate, and that other players will get involved."
Organizers are hoping that the Super Bowl will drive interest in the auction. But the New York auction house that has volunteered its services believes that the one-of-a-kind nature of auction items will drive up prices.
"Each item will come with a letter that attests to its authenticity," said Jared Weiss, president of Steiner Sports. "Nothing matches Mike Ditka saying 'It's my ring.' "
Auctioneers have high hopes for many items on the block, including DeLamielleure's gold bracelet, one of several that Simpson presented to his offensive linemen after becoming the first NFL running back to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
greg.johnson@latimes.com
Descriptors: FOOTBALL PLAYERS; MEMORABILIA; AUCTIONS; FUND RAISING; ILLNESS

30. By Jules Molenda/A word from the publisher
Lake Sun Leader, serving Lake of the Ozarks

Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, we can look forward to some
real sporting events soon ' next week major league baseball's pitchers
and catchers report for spring training.

Don't get me wrong: If you like professional football, please enjoy
it. Just don't expect me to do the same.

It's played mostly by men who have altered their physical shape
grotesquely and unhealthily in order to enjoy an extravagant but brief
career.

Or as social commentator Ian Schoales has said: 'Professional football
players, like prostitutes, are in the business of ruining their bodies
for the pleasure of strangers.'

But before all the high school fans fire off letters to the editor,
let me say emphatically, 'I love high school football.'

One of the best things about moving here last year was discovering
that we've got a football program at Camdenton that is usually
competitive and always entertaining.

But something happens to the football player pool when all the
nation's high school graduates are culled to those useful to college
programs and culled again when 'elite' college players are drafted by
the NFL.

Like most professional athletes, these elites understand that they
can't play at their sport to succeed. They have to work hard at it.
But for the core players on most teams ' the linemen ' work means
bulking up.

Size trumps athleticism on the front line and at the linebacker
positions.

Most football linemen have dolphin necks and couch-potato bellies
(with apologies aside to Camdenton native and NFL lineman Jason
Whittle).

What they don't have is any athletic skill.

Many spend their entire season without actually touching a football
and if, by chance, they actually scooped up the ball and tried to run
any distance with it, they'd fall over from exhaustion.

In order to play at their peak for 10 years or so, many of them ruin
their health permanently. Lyle Alzado was a 275-pound defensive end
who played mostly for Denver, Cleveland and Oakland in the 1970s and
1980s.

He consumed huge quantities of steroids to increase his size and
strength and died at age 43 of a brain tumor he blamed on the drugs.
At the end, he weighed less than 135 pounds.

I remember a Frontline piece 10 years ago that focused on former
players with permanent disabilities.

One of them was Oakland Raider center Jim Otto. Despite being somewhat
undersized for his position, he bulked up to 250 pounds.

This, and an iron-man mentality, allowed him to play every single game
(308 in total) during a 15-year career. During 12 of those years he
was named All-Pro.

It is an amazing football story, but his life since has been a
physical nightmare. He has undergone 40 surgeries including 28 knee
operations and multiple joint replacements.

It takes him two hours to become mobile each morning as he waits for
the calcium deposits in his knees and back to loosen enough so he can
leave his bed.

He can stand for no more than two hours at a time, which makes a grind
of his post-football career as owner of three McDonalds restaurants.

Football also stands out among major professional sports in the way it
treats its veterans.

A recent HBO special on this issue keyed on Conrad Dobler, a 13-year
lineman who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Buffalo Bills.

Now in his mid-50s, Dobler is a fraction of his former size and has
undergone multiple operations on his knees ' including seven
operations in 2006.

He walks slowly and precariously on these mis-shaped and zipper-
scarred joints. Several doctors have concluded that he's 100 percent
disabled.

Despite this, the NFL has ruled that he can perform 'sedentary' work
and denied him a disability pension.

Between his financial predicament and the constant pain, he talked
about committing suicide during his interview.

Dobler's financial problems arise from trying to live on the league's
pension, which doesn't even cover his out-of-pocket medical bills.

The NFL pension plan is the worst in major professional sports.

A 10-year pro football vet, for instance, is entitled to $24,000 per
year pension. Baseball's 10-year vets earn $175,000 per year.

The head of the NFL players union, Gene Upshaw, is a retired vet who
has come under heat for the poor pension and the way the league treats
its veterans.

His response: 'These guys don't pay my salary. The active players do.'

Upshaw reportedly earns $3 million a year.

This is one reason to dismiss professional football.

But the real reason I've grown away from the sport is because, most of
the time, it's simply boring.

A pro football game lasts about 3 hours.

The clock time for a game is 60 minutes. The time when the ball is
actually in play, however, is about six minutes.

During the rest of the 'game time,' players are unpiling, huddling and
waiting while referees confer or for TV commercial breaks to conclude.

When I watch a game these days, I keep a good book handy.

Reading is a more interesting use of the three hours and, if something
exciting occurs on the field, I won't miss it.

It's sure to be shown repeatedly in slow motion.

Contact the publisher at jmolenda@lakesunleader.com

31. NFLPA blamed
By ETHAN J. SKOLNICK
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
2/6/2007



After witnessing these declines, along with what they perceive as a prolonged, shameful run from responsibility on the part of the NFL and player union chief Gene Upshaw, several outraged football legends and their supporters are taking a new approach.
"We will have World Wars IV and V before we have resolution on the pension issue," said Bob Schmidt, Wood's former University of Southern California teammate and long-time attorney. "You can't win that argument. . . . If we go out and do the things that we are capable of doing for these players, the league and the association will have to come along, because otherwise they will really look stupid."
The NFL, and particularly, its players association have come under heavy criticism of late, even from more recently retired Hall of Famers such as Joe Montana and Howie Long. The issues: the meagerness of pensions for old-time players, especially when compared to contemporaries in baseball, and the extreme difficulty in receiving total and permanent disability status. Critics have mostly targeted Upshaw, who has touted pension improvements, retirement packages for current players, called retired players "ungrateful" and said he does not represent them.
Upshaw told the Charlotte Observer last year that the NFL can't extend health insurance coverage beyond the current five-year post-retirement limit because it would be cost-prohibitive, citing a figure between $5 billion and $9 billion to insure current players for life.
"I just pray that the other people have an impact on the league, or the pension fund, or the players association, but these are guys who need help right now, today," Kramer said. "Virtually everyone we've asked has donated something."
That includes those who could use help themselves.
Conrad Dobler, an NFL offensive lineman for 10 seasons including two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, now runs a supplemental staffing business for nurses. His house is getting repossessed. His wife is paralyzed. He had seven surgeries in one year, has had his left knee replaced twice, and spent nearly 100 days in the hospital this past year. He pops Vicodin like candy. He has never received a penny of disability money from the union or league.
"You have to be in a coma before you get anything," Dobler said.
He doesn't take his pension, holding off so his monthly check will be higher. And yet, he says, "There are a lot of other people in worse shape than I am."

32.Questions with Bob Sansevere
Pioneer Press
Twin Cities.com
Posted on Sat, Feb. 10, 2007

Brent Boyd was an offensive guard with the Vikings from 1980-86. I
hadn't seen Boyd or heard from him in more than 20 years. And then the
other day, I got an e-mail from him. It was a powerful e-mail, one
that touched and saddened me.

He started off by mentioning that ESPN is doing a segment on him
Sunday morning in its "Outside the Lines" show and that "it is about
my disability from NFL concussions" and the "way the NFL denied
benefits." Then he said, "I have been on permanent disability for
several years. Besides the physical (headaches, dizziness, knee
replacement) and mental (depression, anxiety, forgetfulness) the
inaction of the NFL has caused me and my son incredible financial
hardships."

He also wrote, "I recently read about Andre Waters' brain damage and
suicide, and Mike Webster's death and lonely last years. His son
Garrett talked about how his dad wouldn't call or let old friends see
him in his condition. Then it hit me. I was doing that, too. ... I'd
like to let old friends in the Twin Cities know the show is going to
be on before it airs. I have been ashamed to be seen, but they
probably think I was NFL guy and 'big timing' them. Just the opposite.
I want them to know what's happened to me and that they are in my
thoughts."

I called Boyd after I received the e-mail and talked to him about what
he has been going through.

BS Is what you're dealing with getting worse each day, or each week or
each month?

BB Physically, I was able to deal with it when I was younger because
you're stronger and have more energy. Is it getting worse? I don't
know. It could feel like it is because I'm getting older. The fatigue
is from the part of the brain that was injured. Instead of having more
blood there like most people, there's less. Mentally, it's probably
worse. You get used to aches and pains. When it's your mind, it's
tougher to deal with. You can't compensate for it.

BS Are you often fatigued?

BB All the time. I've got vertigo that doctors said is from a
concussion. You know what it's like to have the flu? You're tired and
dizzy and you have to lean on something. You put things off until
tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes.

BS Is it difficult to get out of bed some days?

BB It definitely is. I spend a lot of days in bed just staring at the
wall.

BS How long has this been going on?

BB When I was with the Vikings, I kept complaining about headaches. It
started in 1980, my rookie year. I hurt my knee in 1981 and they gave
me anti-inflammatory and said the headaches were from that. My first
concussion was my rookie year during the preseason. I lost vision in
one eye. I played about half the game and couldn't see out of one eye.
A concussion back then wasn't what it is now. Unless you were strapped
on a gurney, anything less than that wasn't a concussion. It was
getting your bell rung.

BS When is the last time you were able to work?

BB I graduated from UCLA with honors. Everybody expected I'd do big
things. After football, I couldn't even do menial jobs. I didn't know
when I'd feel good. I tried to be in sales and couldn't do it. I
haven't been able to work eight or nine years. I'm on Social Security
and disability.

BS What's a good day for you?

BB I have a son. I was a single dad since 1992, then I remarried in
2004. We try to live normal and try to laugh as much as we can.

BS You mentioned Andre Waters' suicide. Have you ever felt suicidal?

BB It's something that's hard to talk about. When the NFL betrays you
like that and I can't go out and get a job to improve our situation ...
we've had some very tough times. Those thoughts come and go. That's
why I try to laugh and keep Comedy Central on.

BS How many concussions did you suffer during your NFL career?

BB Who knows? I have no idea. I played seven years. That's longer than
average. You get kicked in the head. A lot of times something happens.
Back then, you weren't thinking in terms of concussions. You're dizzy
for a while. You're young and strong and you put up with it. You don't
want to go into the training room and complain about anything.

BS Are you angry with the Vikings?

BB My beef is not with the team. Bud Grant, Fred Zamberletti, I love
those guys. My beef is with the league and the NFLPA.

BS What do you want to tell the NFLPA and the NFL?

BB It's too late. There's nothing I can say to the NFL or NFLPA that
will make a difference. I want the current players to know what's
going on. I'd tell them to get rid of (union leader) Gene Upshaw right
away. The players think they're making millions and have such a great
lifestyle. There's no guarantee it will always be there. If they're
going to cash their paychecks, they need to honor the guys that played
in the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s.


33. CITIZEN-TIMES.com
Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times

By Keith Jarrett
KJARRETT@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
February 10, 2007 12:15 am

ASHEVILLE - An esteemed Charlotte Observer columnist, tired of hearing
the common refrain from athletes that they are paid so well because
their sports careers are so short, once offered a common-sense answer
to the question, "What am I supposed to do after I'm through playing?"

Ron Green Sr.'s response was, "Get a job."

That seems a ridiculous idea now in the days of multiyear,
multimillion-dollar contracts that spread the wealth through decades
and generations of an athlete's life.

It takes a Mike Tyson to blow through the fortune of a modern sports
star, but for those who played in earlier eras and those not
financially covered by pensions, the end of playing ball means the
beginning of entering the real world of the employed.

"For years people asked me what I did now that I was retired," said
Mickey Marvin, 51, of Hendersonville, who played in the NFL with the
Oakland Raiders from 1977-88.

"I told them I went to work. I knew that my pension wasn't going to be
enough to live on, and I had to get a job," said Marvin, who works
with the Raiders as a scout and player personnel adviser.

Some get no benefits, others very few

The unprotected received national attention this week when NASCAR
drivers, who don't have a pension plan, talked about helping some
older drivers who had fallen on hard times.

Asheville's Jack Ingram drove a racecar for decades and never reached
the high money level of NASCAR's Winston (now Nextel) Cup, but he is
among those who planned for his future.

"I did pretty well driving and put that money back into my race team,"
said Ingram, who at age 70 still operates Jack Ingram Racing on
Brevard Road.

"And I invested $12,500 for a piece of property out here in 1973
that's worth a whole lot more now."

A recent Associated Press story detailed the life of driver Sam Ard, a
contemporary of Ingram's who lives in a doublewide trailer in South
Carolina and has Alzheimer's disease.

Ingram said he donated a diamond championship ring for a NASCAR
auction to help Ard, and the ring sold for $4,800.

'A way to help'

"I don't know how NASCAR would do it, because drivers are independent
contractors, but there should be a way to help those drivers," said
Ingram. "It would be good for racing if they could do that."

While NASCAR drivers deal with no pension plan, many older athletes
struggle with retirement benefits far short of current living
expenses.

During Super Bowl week, Hall of Famer and former Green Bay Packers
defensive back Herb Adderley said he no longer promotes the NFL and
doesn't attend league functions because his monthly pension is
$126.85.

Adderley played from 1961-72.

Willie Wood, another Hall of Fame player who was Adderley's teammate
in Green Bay, can barely walk and lives in an assisted living facility
in Washington. Wood's plight was one reason Jerry Kramer, another ex-
teammate of Wood's, started a campaign called the Gridiron Greats
Assistance Fund to raise money for former players who have fallen on
hard times.

"These are the guys that paved the way for all of us, and they should
be taken care of," Marvin said.

MLB lauded for plan

While pension plans vary from sport to sport and have improved over
the years because of the huge increase of money produced, Major League
Baseball is held up as a model for taking care of its veterans.

Baseball's plan

"Baseball has the best pension plan," said Dave Bristol of Andrews,
who spent 45 years in the game and was a major league manager for 11
seasons.

"We were fortunate that we had people who had the foresight and the
intelligence to develop a good plan and thousands of guys like me have
benefited from that."

Marvin has sympathy for ex-athletes with poor or no pension plans, to
a point.

"I hate to hear about those older players who aren't doing well
physically or financially, and I believe the NFL should do something
to help them," Marvin said.

"But at the same time, athletes are like everyone else - they have to
plan for their future. I'm 51 years old and I'm not retired. I'm
working just like you are."

Costs of Aon Corporation Conflicts to NFL Player Retirement Plan?

Guys: The Pat Ryan that President Bush is thanking for raising money couldn’t be our Retirement Plan’s actuary Aon Corporation/Chicago Bears owner Patrick Ryan could it? Not the Patrick Ryan many of us, retired NFL players believe has cost the retired NFL players millions perhaps hundreds of millions in cooked actuarial analysis and other conflicts of interest? Check out the 9th paragraph below. Bernie

( PRELIMINARY RESEARCH FOLLOWS BELOW THAT DETAILS ABOUT THE AON-Chicago Bears Retirement PLAN CONFLICT OF INTEREST)

NO NEED TO READ EVERY WORD: THE QUICKEST WAY TO REVIEW THIS EMAIL IS TO 1) GO TO PARAGRAPH #9 BELOW, 2) THEN SKIM THE BIOS OF MCKENNA AND RYAN, 3) THEN TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE Aon MATERIAL YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN BEFORE, 4) THEN SKIM OVER THE FORM 5500 SCHEDULE C, 5) THEN READ THE SUMMARY AND THE “FOLLOW THE MONEY” SECTION:

For Immediate Release October 12, 2006
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
AT ROSKAM FOR CONGRESS,
DAVID MCSWEENEY FOR CONGRESS 2006,
AND ILLINOIS CONGRESSIONAL VICTORY COMMITTEE 2006 RECEPTION
Hilton Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
5:25 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. I'm proud you're here. Before I liberate the Speaker, so he doesn't have to stand up here for this long speech -- (laughter) -- I want to say this to you: I am proud to be standing with the current Speaker of the House who is going to be the future Speaker. (Applause.)
Speaker Denny Hastert has a long record of accomplishment. You know, he's not one of these Washington politicians who spews a lot of hot air. He just gets the job done. (Applause.) I have worked with him up close. I know what's it like to work with a Speaker who is determined to protect the United States of America, and a Speaker who wants to make sure that everybody who wants a job in America can find one. He has delivered results for the people; this country is better off with Denny Hastert as the Speaker, and it will be better off when he's the Speaker in the next legislative session. (Applause.)
The Speaker has heard me give a lot of talks, so he wants to make sure if there's a chair nearby -- (laughter) -- but I want to thank you all for coming. Your support means a lot.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We will win.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. (Applause.) I am also proud to be with two fine candidates, Peter Roskam -- (applause) -- David McSweeney. (Applause.) And I want to thank you for helping them. I have a sense of what it's like to run for office. (Laughter.) I've done it before, and I know how important it is for two candidates who are out day in and day out campaigning to be able to look at an audience this size and realize they're getting fine support. Your support means a lot not only the their campaigns, in the sense that you're helping to fill the hat, but it means a lot to their spirits to realize there's a lot of people pulling for them.
And there's nobody better to pull for a candidate than his family -- in this case, Peter's family, Elizabeth and his children, and in David's case, his wife Margaret. And it's been my honor to be able to see both those families, and I want to thank the families for supporting these good men for running for office, as well. (Applause.)
Speaking about wives -- (laughter) -- I was -- I happened to have my picture taken a while ago with a group of citizens that came through, and one fellow -- I guess I would define him as blunt, said, "You know, I was hoping to have my picture taken with Laura." (Laughter.) I said, "It's not hurting my feelings, man, you got good taste." (Laughter.) She sends her best to the Speaker and to the candidates; she sends her best to you all. I am a lucky man to have Laura Bush as my wife. (Applause.) And our country -- in my non-objective opinion -- is lucky to have her as the First Lady. (Applause.)
I wish Kevin White all the very best in his run for the 5th Congressional Delegation. (Applause.) Thanks for coming, Kevin. Give Geraldine a hug for me.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Right in front of you, right here. (Laughter.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'll do it for you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Laughter.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Give her a hug for me. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's your responsibility. (Laughter.)
I am proud to be here with Congressman Don Manzullo from the great state of Illinois. (Applause.) My thanks to state Representative Tom Cross, who is the minority leader of the Illinois House. I want to thank all the state and local officials who've joined us. But most of all, thank you all for being here.

#9 I thank my friend Pat Ryan. It's not easy to raise this much money, and I know how much organization it takes, and therefore it takes a strong leader up top, and that's exactly what Pat Ryan is. He's a strong leader and a great American, and I'm proud to be with you, Pat.

I want to thank my friend Andy McKenna, who is the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. The reason I mention grassroots activists is that you win campaigns by having candidates who can carry a strong message, and we have those candidates. You win a campaign because people are generous with their hard-earned money, and you have been so tonight. And you win campaigns when people get out, and put up the signs, and make the phone calls, go to the community centers and houses of worship and say, support these candidates. So I want to thank you for what you have done, and I encourage you to continue to work to turn out the vote come this November. (Applause.)

Andrew J. McKenna is Chairman of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s leading food service retailer, and also of Schwarz, an international distributor of paper packaging and allied products. He is a director of Aon Corporation, Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc., Click Commerce and Skyline Corporation. Previously, Mr. McKenna has served as the Chairman of the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame. His past directorships include First Chicago NBD, Dean Foods and The Tribune Company. Mr. McKenna has also served on numerous civic, community and philanthropic boards including the Museum of Science and Industry, the Economic Club of Chicago, Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University Law School.

Patrick J. Ryan is Chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation. Aon Corporation is involved in risk management, insurance brokerage, reinsurance, and human capital consulting services. Ryan is also part owner of the Chicago Bears. Ryan is active in civic affairs in the Chicago region and serves as Chairman of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees. He was an important fundraiser for George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and has also supported Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Patrick J. Ryan and the Patrick J. Ryan Holding Company are career patrons of former Attorney General and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan (R), former House Republican Leader Lee Daniels (R), and former Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R). As of June 30, 2002, they had contributed $137,000 to Jim Ryan's campaign fund; of this amount, $82,000 was contributed by the Patrick J. Ryan Holding Company, and $55,000 was contributed by Patrick J. Ryan. From 1993 to 2002, Patrick J. Ryan and the Patrick J. Ryan Holding Company contributed $810,000 to candidates for Illinois statewide constitutional and legislative office, 96% of which was given to Republicans.

Last revised June, 2006.

Aon Settles Corruption Probe with 3 States for $190 Million
Complaint Cites Involvement of Top Execs
The Insurance Journal
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Acting New York State Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills, together with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Acting Director of Insurance Deirdre Manna, today announced an agreement with the nation’s second largest insurance brokerage to resolve allegations of fraud and anti-competitive practices.
Under the agreement, the Chicago-based Aon Corporation is providing $190 million over a 30-month period for restitution to policyholders and is adopting a new business model designed to avoid conflicts of interest. In addition, Aon’s Chairman and CEO, Patrick G. Ryan, will issue a public statement apologizing for Aon’s improper conduct according to the statement issued by Spitzer’s office.
“The underlying complaint in this case shows that improper conduct was pervasive at Aon,” Spitzer said. “To its credit, however, the company has acknowledged the problems, has agreed to compensate policyholders and has adopted reforms that will provide greater accountability in the future.”...
The agreement with Aon was modeled after an earlier agreement reached January 31 with the nation’s largest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan Companies, for $850 million.
The Aon complaint cites the involvement of Ryan in efforts to increase placements with an insurance company in exchange for that company’s use of an Aon subsidiary (Aon Re) for reinsurance brokering.
The complaint also alleges that Michael O’Halleran, Ryan’s second-in-command, personally negotiated “clawback” arrangements in which Aon Re would provide insurers with discounts or rebates on its reinsurance commissions on the condition that Aon could recover or “claw back” these discounts through retail placements made with the same insurers....
The civil complaint filed today in State Supreme Court in Manhattan and the citation issued by the New York Insurance Department allege that for years Aon received special payments from insurance companies that were above and beyond normal sales commissions. These payments – known as “contingent commissions” – were characterized as compensation for “services to underwriters” but were, in fact, rewards for the business that Aon steered and allocated to the insurance companies.
Spitzer’s office and the Insurance Department have said they have uncovered evidence showing that the “practice distorts and corrupts the insurance marketplace and cheats insurance customers.”...
Spitzer’s complaint against the company cites internal communications in which top executives openly discussed these efforts to maximize Aon’s revenue and insurance companies’ revenues - without regard to Aon’s clients’ interests....
Spitzer’s office and the New York State Department of Insurance said they are continuing a broad investigation of the insurance industry. To date, 10 executives from four companies have pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from the probe.
$ $ $

October 26, 2004
Aon Mired in Marsh
By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool
As Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC) struggles to stay afloat in a quagmire of alleged bid-rigging and price-fixing, another industry giant, Aon Corp. (NYSE: AOC), has suddenly found itself flailing about for buoyancy as well.
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has allegedly found proof that the world's second-largest insurance broker was steering business to insurers that paid incentives to the company, a possible violation of the state's fraud and antitrust laws, as well as evidence of the practice of "tying," whereby the broker threatens to stop recommending an insurer's policies unless it agrees to use the broker to place its own reinsurance policies.
The alleged sins of Marsh & McLennan are overt criminal acts; the practices of Aon are more nebulous. The impact on the industry is far-reaching.
Spitzer forced Marsh to press the ouster of its CEO by refusing to negotiate with the company and threatening to indict it criminally, an action the company would have been hard-pressed to survive. With little choice, Marsh CEO Jeffrey Greenberg resigned and was replaced by Michael Cherkasky, the former CEO of Kroll Inc., a company Marsh acquired only this year.
Coincidentally -- or not -- Cherkasky was once Spitzer's boss in the district attorney's

SCHEDULE C (Form 5500)Department of the TreasuryInternal Revenue ServiceDepartment of LaborPension and Welfare Benefits AdministrationPension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Service Provider InformationThis schedule is required to be filed under section 104 of theEmployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. File as an attachment to Form 5500. Official Use OnlyOMB No. 1210 - 01102004

This Form is Open toPublic Inspection For the calendar plan year 2004 or fiscal plan year beginning April 01, 2004 and ending March 31, 2005

A Name of plan BERT BELL/PETE ROZELLE NFL PLAYER RETIREMENT PLAN

B Three digitplan number 001

C Plan sponsor's name as shown on line 2a of Form 5500 RETIREMENT BOARD OF BERT BELL/PETE ROZELLE NFL PLAYER RETIREMENT PLAN

D Employer Identification Number13-6043636 Part I Service Provider Information (see instructions) 1 Enter the total dollar amount of compensation paid by the plan to all persons, other than those listed below, who received compensation during the plan year: 1 $1,376,210

(a) Name..................................................................... Aon Consulting
(b) Employer identification number (see instructions) 22-3339704
(c) Official plan position .......................................... ACTUARY
(d) Relationship to employer, employee organization, or person known to be a party-in-interest .................................... NONE
(e) Gross salary or allowances paid by plan..............NA
(f) Fees and commissions paid by plan..................... $492,951
(g) Nature of service code(s) (see instructions) .......11

SUMMARY: In form IRS Labor Dept form 5500 Schedule C (d) above it asks “Relationship to employer, employee organization, or person known to be a party-in-interest” the Plan Administrator’s answer NONE is at best inaccurate at worst a lie, either way it violates the IRS reporting laws. This is not a one time error it is consistent on all form 5500’s filed by the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan reports.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: when our Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan pays Aon Corporation $395,323 in 2004, and $492,951 in 2005 (approx $440,000 a year) for actuarial/consultant services and Aon Corporation pays Chicago Bears owner Patrick Ryan $5,000,000 in 2005 as an executive officer of the same Aon Corporation one could legitimately conclude the payments are related. Ryan owns 22 million shares of Aon Corporation. Any prudent person would call Patrick Ryan a “Relationship to employer,…or person known to be a party-in-interest.”

Our NFL Player Retirement Plan documents say under Article 11.3 Use of Assets. “…under no circumstances will any amounts contributed to the Trust, or any assets of the Trust, ever revert to, or be used or enjoyed by, an Employer or the League,…” This would seem to be a slam dunk of a violation of the Retirement Plan terms and a clear conflict of interest since the Chicago Bears Club is “…an Employer…” as referred to above.

$395,323 in 2004, plus $492,951 in 2005 = $888,274 for 2 years (an average of $440,000) goes into Aon Corporation’s bank account from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan bank account and Aon Corporation pays Patrick Ryan $5,000,000 in compensation for 2005.

The money goes from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan bank accounts to Aon Corporation’s bank accounts then to Patrick Ryan’s an NFL owner/Employer.

Clearly our NFL Player Retirement Plan documents say under Article 11.1 Use of Assets. “…under no circumstances will any amounts contributed to the Trust, or any assets of the Trust, ever revert to, or be used or enjoyed by, an Employer or the League,…” This would seem to be a slam duck of a violation of the Retirement Plan terms and a clear conflict of interest since the Chicago Bears NFL Club is “…an Employer…” as referred to herein.

The Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan Board of trustees have personal fiduciary responsibility for improprieties in the course of their operating the Plan. Aon’s conflict of interest has been brought to the Plan Administrator and Plan lawyers the Groom Law Group attention numerous times over the past six months and nothing has been done to rectify the situation.

The $64 or $64 million or $640 million question is has Aon been cooking the actuarial analysis used to determine the employer contributions to the Plan? The employer contributions are out of sync with MLB’s and with the $6 billion gross NFL income and the fact that more NFL participants are covered 9,560 vs. MLB’s 7,360.

Lousy collective bargaining by the NFLPA, incompetent leadership, collusion with the owners, are all possibilities when one consider’s Upshaw’s pride in his “close partnership” with the NFL Commissioner, and his preoccupation with personal greed. Overpaid now, Upshaw is still angleing and schemeing for a hurried raise and a 5 year extension in the face of Congressional investigation of his questionable operation of the NFLPA. Upshaw expressed an “I’m making too much money. I can’t rock the boat.” attitude when he bought out and NFL health insurance failure from Rasheed Kenyon.