Harold Henderson’s Outreach To Retired Players
Bob -
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Thank you for attending the meeting in Washington to hear from Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith about recent steps to address the needs of former players and for sharing your views on those efforts. In particular, we appreciate your suggestions on ways to better make retired players aware of resources and benefits available to them and their teammates. The view of everyone present that most retired players do not know about assistance programs was supported by the survey we reviewed.
You asked me specifically to tell you what the University of Michigan survey does for retired players. The short answer is it provides factual information, obtained directly from former players, about their current and past health, economic and social conditions. This is valuable because it allows all of us working to improve the lives of retired players to focus on finding real solutions to true problems, rather than acting on the basis of rumor, conjecture and popular myths. Before long that report will be publicly available online so everyone interested can read it. A few of the highlights which are important to retired players are:
- Health: The incidence of heart attacks and heart disease in former players is similar to comparable men; diabetes is lower. However, cardiovascular risk indicators (diabetes, high cholesterol,high blood pressure, poor circulation) are much higher in retirees under 50, suggesting close monitoring and undertaking preventive measures.
- Disability: One-fourth of retirees 50 and over have had a joint replacement. Half report significant lower back pain. Recently implemented plans to provide joint replacements and spinal care are responsive to these figures. Not surprisingly, reported arthritis and joint pain is much higher than in the general population, making this an area of focus in the future.
- Insurance: Contrary to widely-published unsupported reports, about 92% of retirees currently have medical insurance, mostly through employers. However, NFL retirees purchase private insurance three to five times more than the general population have private insurance, raising concerns about the escalating cost of insurance and losing coverage. While the 8% uninsured are still a significant problem, it is far different and likely easier to address than thousands uninsured.
- Assistance: There is a significant lack of awareness of the several funds available to help those in need of immediate financial help. More than half report having never even heard of the three funds available. Communication with large numbers of retirees who are years away from the game presents a challenge.
- Finances: Median income for NFL retirees is much higher than for all US men, and significantly higher than those with some college, a more comparable group. The vast majority are doing fine; however about 6% report income below the poverty level, with those under 50 having twice the rate below the poverty level as others with some college. Home ownership is greater than comparables in the general US population with 79% of younger and 86% of older retirees reporting owning their homes. Again, it appears that there is a small group of former players who are experiencing severe financial difficulties, but most are better off than non-players.
- Transition: There are many indicators that younger retirees are worse off in some areas than older ones. One priority will be to determine and examine the reasons for this difference and look at steps to better transition players out of football and into a productive working and family life. Apparently higher incomes do not make it any easier, as we see men struggling only a few years after retiring.
Bob, I am sure there are many other significant findings in the report, and that others will deem some of them to be more important than these I have highlighted. The purpose of the study was to determine accurate factual information about our retirees, which it does. Some findings are news and some not; some suggest immediate attention and others confirm that steps already taken are responsive to needs. It would be a huge boost to those seeking to improve the lives of those former players most in need of help if you and others with communication avenues to those players would help us make them aware of what is available, especially programs providing medical or financial assistance, and also help make us more aware of their needs and challenges.
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Harold Henderson
Executive Vice President for Labor Relations
Chairman of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee
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Harold Henderson, who is responsible for player and labor relations, oversaw the creation of the NFL Players Programs, which provides assistance to players in the areas of financial planning, continuing education and post-career business opportunities. He also oversees salary caps, and he expanded the free-agency rule for players. Henderson is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Michigan State University.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Michigan Study recently became available online. To download a copy of the Study, right-click HERE and select Save Link As… to download it for reading. Or you can click HERE to go directly to the University of Michigan page to download a copy.
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Jane Arnett
October 7th, 2009 at 9:54 am #
How many more studies will be conducted to try to make it appear that all is well? I’m sure the University of Michigan did an outstanding job with the tricky material they had to work with and were very sincere in their efforts.
Personally, I find this type of effort by the NFL almost offensive and their intent seems quite transparent. Judging from the conversations I have had with many retirees AND judging from the conversations and emails I have with wives, there is NO WAY the answers given were entirely honest and forthcoming. A person with “make no excuses” mentality isn’t a person who will complain during a phone or mail survey and one which is co-sponsored by an organization that spends the majority of its efforts (regarding the retirees) to impugn or at best discount them. I’m sure those who responded were as honest as they felt they could be, but in order to get a REAL picture regarding personal information there needs to be trust… not something one normally has with a survey taker, a voice over the phone or a piece of paper for the mail. It would also be very, very telling (important too) if wives and loved ones were surveyed as well!
This study appears to be another attempt to make it look as if the NFL cares and truly understands, great image for the public and Congress. I don’t know what’s more frightening… the idea that they continue to try to BS everyone into thinking things are “just great.” Or that they might be so detached and clueless that they believe this stuff themselves. Why do they continue to AVOID talking to those out here who work so hard to take care of retirees – those who are “in the trenches”? We certainly want to talk to them. They are still so invested in controlling (silencing?) the retirees, THEY foster the undertones of conflict with most retirees. It would be a defining and life-changing thing for everyone if the NFL actually cared enough to listen to retirees OTHER than sycophants and their own paid personnel. Hope it’s not just a nice dream.
By the way, the U of M deserves a great deal of credit for a job well done; they found a little over 1063 retirees, almost as many retired pro football players as the NFL claims it is able to find. Wow – go Wolverines!
Jane Arnett
Neal Olkewicz
October 7th, 2009 at 4:33 pm #
Dear Harold,
I don’t think I was contacted for the University of Michigan study but I can’t remember! In any case, I no longer own a home, have no health insurance and possess a college degree. Please add me to your well-researched study.
Neal Olkewicz
Washington Redskins
1979-1989
George Visger
October 7th, 2009 at 8:17 pm #
Neil,
My heart goes out to you, brother. I pray you can hang in there long enough for the rest of us to circle the wagons. We need to draw strength from one another and prop each other up as we did when we played. We are nearing the tipping point, and the NFL knows the time of reckoning is near. Their lies, delays, and avoiding facing the facts are all coming to a head. Believe me, things have changed drastically in the last few weeks. Hang tough, it’s forth quarter and the NFL suits have no heart or spine compared to what we have faced. They have no idea what it takes to get things done, but we do. Help is on the way and believe me, we are close to punching it in right over their cushy little desks and scattering their papers to the wind.
I too was OVERLOOKED, as I have been for ALL of the NFL supposed head injuries studies. But why would they want to speak to me? I have only had a total of 9 brain surgeries (and counting), since developing hydrocephalus during my last season with SF in 1981. After undergoing brain surgery #1 in September during the ’81 Super Bowl season, emergency brain surgeries #2 and #3 were quickly conducted 1 day apart May ’82 after the Super Bowl. Lo and behold, suddenly my head injury was congenital, and the 49ers refused to pay for the surgeries (during which time I was given last rites). Creditors on me for over 4 years ’til I SUCCESSFULLY sued the 49ers for Workers Comp in 1986. I was literally swinging a hammer during the day and bouncing at bars at night to make ends meet – in between additional surgeries of course.
Now I may be brain damaged, but I’m able to comprehend double talk when I read it, and if I am not mistaken, our good buddy, Henderson’s first bullet point states: diabetes is lower, and in sentence #2 states diabetes is much higher. This is typical of the double talk we have been given by so called experts for years. Look at the NFL’s head trauma expert, Dr. Ira Casson, who refuted Dr. Omalu’s study which discovered tau protein build up in the first 18 NFL brain autopsies he conducted (which included discovering it in Mike Webster’s brain in 2002). Dr. Casson is a rheumatologist (!) and was commonly known as Dr. Yes – as in ‘Yes, he can play.’
I am with you on the memory thing and am trying to hang in ’til Oct 18 – 20 to see Dr. Amen for a full, 3-day evaluation. On top of everything else, I’ve developed numbness in various body parts these last few weeks and hope to get some answers from Amen.
Hang in there, brother; the tide is about to change for the better.
And Jane, I completely agree with you. Those of us who were in the trenches were conditioned not to complain but it takes an incredible toll on our loved ones around us. I fought tooth and nail with the 49ers Work Comp and The Travelers to get them to:
1) Approve ME for the evaluation AFTER my primary care physician referred me 2 1/2 months prior;
2.) Approve paying for my wife to attend, seeing as I can’t remember what I did this morning, much less what happened 14 years ago when I first got married!
They hemmed and hawed and drug their feet, so I requested what the 49ers Work Comp and The Travelers Insurance have spent on me since 1981 for my 9 brain surgeries, 3 knee operations (including a GoreTex ACL transplant), multiple trips to the hospital having grand mal seizures, anti-seizure meds, neurologist, CAT scans etc. They’re still compiling this information for me and I call them weekly (have so for few months now).
I would recommend everyone’s spouses who have suffered our fates (even more so than the players have), do as we have. Put the onus on them. All anyone is worried about is bottom line, human carnage means nothing, so show them how much you can save THEM, by going to some of the clinics available such as Dr. Amen’s. They finally agreed that a paltry $3,700 evaluation is much cheaper than the alternative.
It is well past the time we all need to band together and take care of one another (that includes our families). The NFL sure as hell isn’t watching our backs, so I say to hell with them. Let’s take care of our own. What are they going to do – cut us?!!
George Visger
SF 49ers 80 – 81
Dave Pear
October 7th, 2009 at 8:45 pm #
Dear Mr. Henderson,
With all due respect, this Michigan Study is a fairy tale without a happy ending in real life. After reading it, one would get the impression that all is well for retired players.
However, this propaganda is misleading and not factual! In fact, it reminds me of the disability system for retired players that is illegal and violates ERISA Law.
Please let me explain: It seems that no matter how severely a retired player is disabled, the NFL’s own paid “neutral” doctor always states that the disabled player is able to perform sedentary work in the majority of cases.
What is sedentary work?
In fact, you were at my denial in 1995 for Total and Permanent Disability (T&P) as the Acting Chairman, so this question should be easy. But before you answer my question, allow me to remind everyone of what the paid NFL doctor had to say after his examination of my injuries.
Dr. Hugh S. Unger August 10, 1995. “From my physical examination, this patient is markedly incapacitated from both the cervical and lumber areas, all of which were secondary to injuries sustained while playing professional football.”
“In what type of employment can he engage?”
Dr. Unger: “Sedentary: no excessive standing, no bending, and no lifting over 7 to 15 pounds. Must be able to rest frequently.”
Dr. Unger rated my disability “80% or greater” because that was the highest level listed on the form. Is it usual or customary for an applicant who has an 80% or greater disability rating to be denied access to disability benefits?
Dr. Unger was given permission by the NFL Retirement Board to make an employment decision which was beyond his expertise as a doctor. He was only able to document the physical limitations of a patient. The whole vocational aspect of his decision is completely missing! He was not a qualified Vocational Specialist. Why would you ask a dentist to perform spine surgery?
Would you please provide acceptable types of sedentary employment that a qualified vocational specialist (who is not paid by the NFL) would recommend?
My own doctor (who is not an employee of the NFL) recommended that I stand for 20 minutes and then sit for 20 minutes and then when I am taking one of my frequent rest breaks, I need to have my legs elevated.
Do you see this as being a problem with prospective employment?
(My denial for T&P disability from the NFL Retirement Board is below)
October 10, 1995
San Francisco, California
A meeting of the Retirement Board of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan (the “Plan”) was held in San Francisco. California on October 1O, 1995
The following individuals attended:
Retirement Board
Management Council designated members:
Jack Donlan (holding Bill Bidwill’s proxy)
Eddie Jones
Taylor Smith
NFLPA designated members:
Tom Condon
Leonard Teeuws
Jeff Van Note
Commissioner’s delegate (Acting Chairman):
Harold Henderson
Guests and Advisors (13 of them!):
Doug Allen
Boyd Brown
Valerie Cross
Dennis Curran
Doug Ell (Groom Law Group)
Sarah Gaunt
Bruce Gould
Larry Lamade (Akin Gump)
Chad Monroe
Peter Ruocco
Gene Upshaw
Michele Yaras-Davis
Robert Williams
There are so many other issues I could comment on but I will refrain at this time because of the length of this comment. However, did I read it correctly that you are a graduate of Harvard Law School and Michigan State University? And this is a Michigan study!
A prudent person would find the figures in this study to lack credibility because real studies are conducted with objective methodology (sometimes, “figures lie and liars figure”). Like Neal Olkewicz said in his comment, I was never contacted for the survey and I have yet to run across anyone in my network of contacts who knew about this study before it came out.
We ALL look forward to your further answers to my questions on disability.
If the NFL had a pension that at least matched Major League Baseball (MLB) and a disability system that was unique to our industry (and was legal and legitimate), then there would be no real need for this blog and all the others like it.
The 32 owners don’t want this bad publicity and they certainly don’t want Congress to pass legislation telling them how to manage their business. And certainly, they never want to lose their antitrust exemption.
This dark cloud hanging over the NFL is only going to get darker until they cease ALL this gibberish and whitewash designed to mislead Congress.
Sincerely,
Dave & Heidi Pear
Bob Grant
October 8th, 2009 at 2:53 pm #
My exact question to Harold was: “What does the Michigan Study do for our older Retired Players?” I also pointed out that our men are dying off pretty fast and need something immediately.
I hope that more than just a few players will leave comments here. No matter what your position is, you should speak out. Don’t be like the people in our Country who are always complaining but who NEVER take the time to get out and Vote.
Bob Grant
Bruce Jarvis
October 9th, 2009 at 2:06 pm #
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was a response from Bruce Jarvis to Wayne Coffey (New York Daily News) and is re-posted here with their permission:
Wayne -
I have a short list of ideas off the cuff, but my general feeling about Mr. Henderson’s article is it’s a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” None of the statistics is verifiable, but by its tone the piece is designed to be believable. Problem is, if things were good, you wouldn’t be hearing the cacophony of hatred from so many players.
1) The Michigan study (in which I participated) did not drill down. The questions were superficial with regards to life-sustaining financial issues. As an example, they superficially asked about current income, but there was nothing about net worth or the ability to retire comfortably, percentage of or absolute amounts of debt, etc. The conclusion that Mr. Henderson puts forth is that retired players are better off than the general public on average. Here are four ways that can be a misleading statement (if it’s true):
a) a small group of extremely well-paid players can increase the mean while the median is considerably lower meaning the preponderance of players are hurting;
b) the group of recently retired (and hence much higher compensated than my generation of players) is larger because they are younger and fewer have died which causes the same skewing as in (a);
c) the current income of the group (even with the bias of (a) and (b)) may be above average, but what is the situation upon retirement – no one I have heard from in my age bracket is well off due to their meager pension from the NFL – NO ONE;
d) the vets DIE OFF EARLY AT AN ASTOUNDING RATE, a fact that the league lies about continuously. The NFL takes the axiom “there are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics” to its highest art form.
2) As stated before, all of the medical plans put forth (Spinal Plan, Joint Replacement Plan, etc.) have major flaws. There is no funding and the care for all but a few who live close enough to the Plan’s selected treatment centers allows for no family support and difficult follow-up. In the American medical system, physician referral is usually available in the capacity that most ex-players can find excellent specialists in nearby communities so what help is the NFL or NFLPA giving? The answer is they are helping themselves by public appearance of benevolence and care, a despicable subterfuge which serves their purpose at the direct expense of ours.
3) The NFL and the NFLPA want to make the Michigan study available. Why? Because it purports to show that the players are wrong, that they have no reason to complain or to cry out. Like you have said, the culture of football players learned from years of taking belligerent orders is to be silent, to suffer without complaining, etc. With that in mind, the increasingly militant movement of the vets shows that things are so bad that these guys trained to “take it” just can’t – and won’t – take it anymore. So if the NFL suddenly wants to bring “key information” into broad daylight, ask them for all the data on pension levels. When they won’t divulge ask them why, what have they got to hide? Compare that with Baseball and the NBA and ask them why these men subjected to several multiples of physical risk compared with the other two sports receive only 10-20% of the retirement benefits. Make them back up their statement regarding disability with publication of every single submission for benefits from the beginning of the Bert Bell Plan and its conclusion with names redacted. What you will find is that they won’t respond well because they propose transparency only when it lines their pocketbooks.
Wayne, I don’t have a lot of extra time, but I have tried to be responsive. I’m sixty. I run two businesses that employ thirty people. It’s an eight-day-a-week job. My body aches all day, and if I could retire to raise my beautiful nine-year old boy, I would. But the fact of the matter is, I can’t. Had I played basketball or baseball at the professional level, I would retire and tend to my body and my family in a much better way. I will continue to be helpful, however you know what my responses will be. They’ll be the same as the other vets that are alive, but hurting badly. Find the truth, follow the money (or in the case of our benefits, the lack of it) and don’t believe the NFL or the NLFPA, for they continue to intentionally deceive for their own good as they have for decades.
Bruce Jarvis
Buffalo Bills
1971 – 1974