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
