Snowing in Dallas…
or so you would have thought, judging from the cold reception attorney John Hogan received when he showed up at Commissioner Roger Goodell’s “open” forum to hear about retired players’ complaints. John was there at the invitation of John Wooten of the NFL Players Alliance. After canceling appointments and juggling court appearances so that he could make the meeting (all at his OWN expense), John arrived at the meeting and was first stopped from entering the room. After a brief delay, John was finally allowed to take a seat in the meeting room. But in no uncertain terms, he was then told that he wasn’t allowed to speak at all because the floor was only open to players! So John sat through the entire meeting and took copious notes – over ten pages of ‘em!
As hopeful as we may have been for the Commissioner’s original gesture, first impressions are that it looks to be nothing more than a snow job. Another whitewash PR stunt on the part of the NFL. So it was definitely a very, very cold night in Dallas. Unless we see or hear otherwise, it looks like the Commissioner now has even more explaining to do. We had been doing our best to be positive and optimistic that this gesture could have turned out to be a very positive first step in bringing some welcome changes.
One of the highlights? Goodell was asked if he was a member of the Retirement Board (he’s actually the Chairman!), to which he responded something like, “Um, I guess so.” (See John Hogan’s notes in the comments below.)
Quite frankly, we’re surprised at John’s poor treatment; here was someone who has both the experience and expertise to provide the support that everyone needs with regard to disability issues. We can only hope that Goodell doesn’t have an “I know the law!” attitude like some other people we knew. It’s been obvious that no one within the organization seems to know much about the real issues.
Stay tuned. More to come once we hear from others who actually attended. In the meanwhile, we extend our own apologies to John Hogan for the disrespectful treatment he received.
John Hogan
October 8th, 2008 at 11:22 PM #
My notes indicate that when asked if he was on the Retirement Board, Goodell replied “I believe I’m on the Board” leaving me with the impression that he wasn’t sure. Also, when another guy asked him, “Who’s policing these people – the disability system,” the Commissioner never got around to answering it.
Goodell stated that he was there on his own time to hear from the retired players.
“To solve a problem, you have to identify what the problem is first.”
If they had just allowed me to speak for a few minutes, I could have told them.
John
from Dallas
Conrad Dobler
October 10th, 2008 at 5:23 AM #
There was a good range of people at the meeting in age from 75 years old to 32 years young. Most players were confused on what and why he was there. Of course there were some owner-friendly players there like Roger Staubach who said we had a chance in 1974 with the strike but gave up. I reminded him that it was him and a additional number of Cowboys who crossed the picket line and broke the strike. He’s also a guy who tried to buy an NFL team. Somehow, I don’t think he’s on the players’ side.
I was the one who asked Roger if he was on the disability board and he wasn’t sure! That really said something about how much attention he pays to the Disability Board. I believe he’s supposed to be the Chairman of the Board.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done but on a whole, I believe this was a big hand job and a photo op for Roger Goodell. He really isn’t able to do anything and said he didn’t know what the problem was all about but he’s going to try and identify the problem.
The main issues I believe were brought up at the meeting were: REPRESENTATION, PENSIONS AND DISABILITY.
I have stressed from the beginning that if we had a pension like baseball’s then everything else would fall in place. Players could then afford insurance, etc.
So this was nothing but a big feel-good meeting but it did bring a group of around 150 players together to discuss the issues.
We really need to bring new faces into the picture who will represent the retired players and have nothing to gain – e.g. maybe a movie deal, broadcasting job or ownership in a football team.
Those three issues are the ones we should continue to act upon. It’s almost like what the economy is going through now those in power continue to ripe the benefits while those that did all the work are losing everything.
Oh – they did pass out player care foundation plastic cards but that won’t put food on the table, pay rent, pay electric bills or help anyone today.
There are more chapters to this story but I need to sign off.
Dave Pear
October 10th, 2008 at 6:43 PM #
Conrad,
Thank you for your observation on the PR white wash show in Texas. You’re a stand up guy and have the courage to confront these rascals! Our union is responsible for the injustice and treachery that has has been pervasive throughout the NFLPA towards retired players. The contempt that we receive from our union continues to be unfathomable. GREED is their motivation. As they continue with their haughty attitude towards us, we have to be steadfast in our earnest pursuit for justice. I continue to be perplexed by the cozy relationship between the NFL and the NFLPA. With zeal, we’ll continue to be stand firm and expose their unscrupulous cunning schemes.
Sincerely,
Dave & Heidi Pear