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Congress to Hear Retired Player Testimonies

by David Kindervater on June 8th, 2007

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

The National Football League Players Association’s (NFLPA) mission statement goes something like this:

“We, The National Football League Players Association … Pay homage to our predecessors for their courage, sacrifice, and vision; … Pledge to preserve and enhance the democratic involvement of our members; … Confirm our willingness to do whatever is necessary for the betterment of our membership - To preserve our gains and achieve those goals not yet attained.”

So why are some former NFL players complaining about their retirement plans? They claim the pension plan of the league and the union is insufficient, especially for disabled ex-players. The argument has become so heated that Congress will now hear testimony on June 26. The hearings are the latest development in a year-long dispute between a group of retired players (namely Joe DeLamielleure, Mike Ditka, Lem Barney, Harry Carson and Jerry Kramer) and Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association. The latest flare-up came this week when Joe D. said he took literally a newspaper quote from Gene Upshaw who said that he’d like to “break his damn neck.” Oops, that might have been the wrong thing to say. Joe D. said he feared for his and his family’s safety, but I’m pretty sure Gene Upshaw is not going to send a posse to snuff out Joe D. or anyone related to him. It was probably blurted out in the heat of the moment, but still quite obviously it was the wrong thing to say. Anyway, the former players contend that the union has concentrated too much on current players and ignored the health problems of former players. Joe D. says Upshaw intentionally keeps current players uninformed about the plight of ex-players. I don’t know about that. I do know that Gene Upshaw once helped pay Lem Barney’s mortgage when he heard of his substantial medical bills. He also formed the “88 Plan” which provides up to $88,000 per year to families of former players suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. I could go on. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell commented:

“The retired players are important to us. They helped us build the game. I don’t think there’s anybody that I know of that’s done more for retired players or players in general than Gene Upshaw. I think he’s done a tremendous amount toward that. I think it’s unfortunate that this kind of thing is going on. I think that’s the reason Gene and I have talked about forming this alliance to make sure we can address these issues in a responsible fashion. I don’t think it’s helpful, but I understand it’s an emotional issue also.”

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and administrative law, called the hearing because the committee had seen recent reports that the benefit plan for retired players might be stacked against players who need serious medical care. While I do agree that the retired players helped build the league into the behemoth it now is and therefore deserve to be well taken care of, I also think Gene Upshaw has done a good job of going to bat for the active and retired players. I would tend to think maybe the former players might just be out for a bigger piece of the pie. Do they deserve it? We’ll find out more June 26.

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