Tossing Out Gene Upshaw’s Dog Food
More than a few of us took offense to departed Gene Upshaw’s dog food comment used in reference to the NFLPA’s marketing efforts for retired players. Even Judge Alsup managed to include them in his final ruling earlier this month (click HERE to read about it).
I ran across this very insightful piece by Mike Florio over at ProFootballTalk that discusses some of the incorrect opinions that are already starting to show up in the mainstream media. Here’s a clip for PFT:
“The problem is that the story creates the erroneous impression that the case is over and that the union has no chance of reversing any portion of the verdict. (As we’ve noted, the award of so-called “compensatory damages” might be in jeopardy because the retired players introduced no evidence of specific lost opportunities arising from the union’s failure to properly market the rights.)
Frankly, it’s hard not to think that someone intentionally fed Bloomberg incomplete or embellished info, given that the current NFLPA leadership is scheduled to conduct a press conference in Tampa later today, at which time there might be a few questions asked about the verdict.”
Read the rest of the PFT post by clicking HERE.
I added some comments to that post and I’ll re-state them here:
You are right on with this analysis. Right now the NFLPA is likely considering their appeal with Jeffrey Kessler, racking up even more legal costs at the players’ expense – current and retired BTW. It’s strange in that it’s technically like suing yourself in court.
Of course, they’re not really using their own money or ante after screwing the retired players out of their accumulated due for such a long time. As much as Upshaw kept declaring that he did not represent the retired players, the mere fact that they took their money every year for membership dues in the NFLPA – as well as asking them to sign the GLA that was at the heart of the entire lawsuit – clearly shows otherwise. And there’s well over a billion dollars now that’s supposed to be used for retired players’ pensions and disability benefits from which only a mere few hundred are actually receiving anything. (Of course, NFLPA management always manages to enrich themselves quite well over the years for “managing” this fund. They pay themselves more to run the fund than they actually pay out to the players – nice work if you can get it. No wonder everyone wants Upshaw’s job.)
To force the current NFLPA management to reconsider their possible appeal, the retired players will need to demand a full audit of the union’s accounting to 1) determine the extent to which their licensing money was squandered and 2) to reconcile the discrepancy between the number of players they claimed to have signed to GLA’s against the lower number of players they provided to the court (see an earlier post about that by clicking HERE). Additionally, inserting criminal charges for felony fraud, misrepresentation and malfeasance into the appeal would up the ante on Berthelsen & Co. so they have something personal to lose in this game; they need to have some of their own skin in the game so they might reconsider their idiotic win-at-all-costs attitude. Things change when the stakes change in a poker game. Right now, there appears to be no responsibility to the retired players on the part of management and it continues to be part of the culture that Upshaw developed over the years.
And, of course, Upshaw’s acting Executive Director had this to add when asked about the retired players by USA Today in Tampa:
“NFLPA interim director Richard Berthelsen responded to the criticism later in the day. “Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA have done as much if not more as any union in the country for its retirees,” Berthelsen said.” Read the rest of the article by clicking HERE.
The actions of the union towards their membership have been nothing short of criminal and should be an integral part of any legal proceedings from this point on should they decide to continue down that destructive path. The GLA trial in San Francisco was one step in the new beginning of a long war with the NFLPA. Unless drastic changes start to occur from the top down, it will ultimately harm the entire game itself over time.
Jack Barry
January 29th, 2009 at 7:45 PM #
Why would a union sell out its retired members so fully as the NFLPA has.?
It suggests a strong possibility of a “criminal conspiracy” between the owners and the Union leadership, who then guided the active players in the path that the conspirators wanted, to the ultimate benefit of the owners, standing as a group, behind the curtain, in front of which stood the union leadership.
The smart thing for the possible conspirators would be to deny all wrongdoing, and to then agree to step up the benefits, to the point that they were on the same level as baseball and basketball, and also did take into account the extreme toll that NFL football extracts on the players.
In return for this, the retired guys, en masse would resolve to not sue for any type of punitive damages, but would want retroactive damages for all past years.
Failing this, the League and its active players will need more and more showers and aftershave, to maintain that “good-all-over” image.
JACK BARRY
only a fan
in SF