Dave Pear's Blog

NOTE: See if your name is on the list at the end of this post!

Recently, some of the retired players received an announcement from the NFLPA’s offices about another very old settlement fund finally closing on Feb. 18, 2010. Dee Becker from the NFLPA sent out an announcement about this lawsuit that dates back to 1993 – Reggie White et al vs. NFL et al.

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The lawsuit was significant in that it came in the days before free agency and the 1993 CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). Several players were negotiating to move to different teams when their respective owners intervened behind the scenes in an effort to keep them from negotiating with other team owners. Imagine something like that happening today: Brett Favre wants to leave the Green Bay Packers and his agent starts discussions with the Minnesota Vikings. So the owner of the Packers just picks up the phone and calls the owner of the Vikings to dissuade him from doing so. The Packers get to keep Favre’s contract and then make Favre a low-ball offer or simply kick him to the curb with no place to go. And that’s the antitrust game in a nutshell. Unrestricted Free Agency and the CBA have become an integral part of players’ contracts today as a result of battles like Reggie White’s lawsuit. Unfortunately, it also allowed former NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw to pervert the process by negotiating the CBA for the full benefit of the active players while completely neglecting – and stealing from – the retired players. It was all about the money. Of course, it also meant that Superagents like Tom Condon (who just happened to have been sitting on the Disability Board for years and long rumored to have been the real power behind Upshaw’s throne) would get increasingly bigger pieces of those ridiculously sky-high salaries and bonuses that they’ve been negotiating for untested new rookies coming in every year since.

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We’re posting Dee Becker’s announcement and list below along with a copy of the most recent appeals ruling out of the District Court of Minnesota. Note that the Defendants List not only includes the NFL as a single entity but also lists the teams at the time individually. This clarification ruling includes the Michael Vick case.

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This suit is also interesting today because it covered a lot of ground with implications for the recent American Needle case before the Supreme Court right now, as well as the NFL’s recent decision to opt out of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) last year. A lot of the people who were listed on the original lawsuit can’t be located (it’s been over 10 years!) and won’t be eligible to receive a share of the settlement if they don’t sign in before that Feb. 19th deadline passes. If you know any of the people on this list, please let them know immediately.

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Oh – and one final note: Reggie White did NOT receive one dime from the lawsuit. It was done on principle and for the benefit of his fellow players on the field.

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TO: Retired Players Association Members

FROM: Dee Becker, NFLPA

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The NFLPA is attempting to locate the former NFL players who are listed in the Notice below because they continue to be eligible to receive payments in connection with the settlement agreement in the Reggie White v. National Football League case, which was entered into on February 26, 1993. The NFLPA has attempted to locate the listed persons in the past, but has been unable to do so. The NFLPA is making this final attempt because the Settlement Fund in this case is in the process of closing, with no further payments to be made.

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If you know of the whereabouts of any of the persons in the list below, please provide their contact information to Dee Becker at the NFLPA (phone number (800) 372-2000, email address Dee.Becker@nflplayers.com, fax number (202) 756-9313) as soon as possible, as the Settlement Fund will be closing on February 19, 2010.

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Please also forward a copy of the following Notice, which was published on the NFLPA website, www.nflplayers.com, to any of the listed persons for whom you have contact information. Thank you.

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PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the persons listed below remain eligible to receive a settlement payment in connection with the Stipulation and Settlement Agreement in Reggie White, et al. v. National Football League, et al., which was entered into on February 26, 1993. However, the settlement fund in this matter is in the process of closing, with no further payments to be made. In order to receive a settlement payment, the below listed persons must notify the National Football League Players Association, in writing, at the following address BY FEBRUARY 19, 2010:

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NFLPA

1133 20th Street N.W.,

Washington D.C. 20036

Attn: Dee Becker (White Settlement Fund)

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Written notice may also be submitted to Ms. Becker electronically, at Dee.Becker@nflplayers.com, or by fax, at (202) 756-9313. If such written notice is not received by the NFLPA by February 19, 2010, then no payment from the remaining monies in the Settlement Fund will be made to any such persons who have not contacted the NFLPA. If you are not listed below, you are not eligible to receive a payment from the remaining funds in the Settlement Fund.

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Plan B Subfund

Burnett, Rob

Chadwick, Jeff

Clark, Robert

Clasby, Bob

Hammerstein, Mike

Hill, Will

Martin, Tony

Redding, Reggie

Reisenberg, Doug

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Preseason Pay Subfund

Alexander, Ray

Estate of Lyle Alzado

Andrews, Mitch

Archer, Sam

Armenteros, Alex

Baty, Gregory

Estate of Brad Beckman

Bedford, Brian

Bennett, Charles A.

Bennett, Roy Mitchell

Berg, Steve

Bethea, Ryan

Biggers, Kevin

Bob, Adam

Bolton, Nathaniel

Bone, Warren

Bonner, Brian

Brockman, Lonnie

Brotzki, Bob

Brown, Jerry

Brown, Ron

Bryant, William

Burdick, Shaun

Bynum, Reggie

Calhoun, Paul

Calvin, Richard

Cannon, Willie

Carr, Derrick

Cartwright, Ricardo

Cephus, Marvin

Champion, Tony

Chapman, Ted

Cheattom, Carlo

Chipps, Dale

Clarkson, Larry

Clayton, Stanley

Cline, Michael

Collins, Linzy

Colonna, Dave

Colter, Cleveland

Crain, Kurt Bannon

Davis, J.J.

Davis, Richard

Davis, Wayne

Doyle, Philip

Duhart, Tommy

Emery, Larry G.

Ervin, Corris D’Angelo

Farris, Ervin

Ferguson, Phil

Fite, Jeff

Flesher, Tom

Flores, Sam

Floyd, Lucius

Foley, Tim

Franks, Davis

Freeman, Corlan

Futrell, Bobby Lee

Galbraith, Neil

Glover, Clyde M.

Grabisna, Erwin

Graham, Donald John

Grant, Eddie

Graves, Broderick

Gray, James

Grayson, Dan

Greer, Curtis

Hammerstein, Mike

Hammond, Spencer

Harkness, Chris

Harper, James

Harper, Robert

Harris, Greg

Harris, Ike

Hawkins, Roland

Hawthorne, George

Hayes, Mark

Hazard, Manny

Healy, Tim

Hemingway, George

Henley, Thomas

Henry, James

Herds, Tyrees

Hickerson, Eric

Highsmith, Fred

Hinckley, Rob

Hines, John

Hinton, Patrick

Holley, Bret

Holloman, Amonte

Holloway, Steve

Hopkins, Marcus

Hopkins, Mark

Hough, Scott

Howard, Stanley

Howard, William Dotson

Hudson, Gordon

Hunter, Malvin

Husar, Mike

Ihnat, Eric

Inglis, Tim

Irvin, Todd

Jackson, Artis

Jackson, Charles

Jackson, Harry

Jackson, Ray

James, Danny

Jeffrey, Tony

Johnson, Andre

Johnson, Greg

Johnson, Lee

Johnson, Lenny

Jones, Greg

Jones, Kenny

Jones, Max

Jones, Myron

Jones, Richard

Jones, Robert

Jones, Tony

Jones, Tyrone

Katoa, Andy

Kauric, Jerry

Kelleher, Tom

Kelley, Mike

Keys, Billy

King, David

King, Thomas

Kirk, Vernon

Knapton, Jeff

Knight, Ryan

Knox, Tyreese

Kropke, John

Kunkel, Greg

Lang, Bruce

Loveall, Calvin

Magee, Rogie

Maggio, Kirk

Marsh, Marvin

Massey, Tony

McCabe, Jerry

McCall, Kris

McCoy, Keith

McDonald, Keith

McDowell, Willard

McGill, Reggie

McGowan, Paul

McWright, Robert

Miller, Donald

Miller, John

Miotke, Frank

Mitchell, Alvin

Mitchell, Ben

Mitchell, Brian

Mitchell, Marion

Moore, Otis

Moore, Rex

Moore, Sean

Moore, Tim

Morris, Jim Bob

Morris, Robert

Morse, Bobby

Moxley, Tim

Muecke, Tom

Mullen, Keith

Murino, Louis

Murray, Walter

Nedved, Jeff

Newton, Falanda

Nord, Mike

Norman, Dempsey

Norris, Darron

Nua, Mark

Nunn, Clarence

O’Connor, Paul

O’Malley, Steven

Owens, Al

Owens, Billy

Painter, Carl

Parker, Chris

Patterson, Reno

Patton, Gary

Perkins, Nico

Peterson, Tim

Pettitt, Duane

Phillips, Kim

Phillips, Reginald

Porter, Mark

Powell, Alvin

Powell, Jeff

Presbury, Rob

Primus, James

Prindle, Mike

Proctor, Basil

Proctor, Michael

Reed, Harvey

Rentle, Caesar

Richard, Cisco

Richards, James

Riley, Andre

Riley, Bob

Robbins, Monte

Robison, Doug

Rogers, Glenn

Rosado, Dan

Roscoe, Chris

Ross, Scott

Roth, Jeff

Salmon, Craig

Sanders, Byron

Sanders, Charles

Sanders, Terrence

Sanfratello, Mike

Scheller, Sean

Scott, Michael

Searcy, Elliot

Septien, Rafael

Shapiro, John

Shulman, Brian

Simlen, Kerry

Simpson, Anthony

Simpson, Travis

Singer, Paul

Slater, Brian

Smith, Billy

Smith, Irvin

Smith, Rod

Smith, Roland

Smith, Sean

Smith, Tony

Snead, Willie

Solon, Dave

Sorrells, Tyrone

Southall, Comy

Spachman, Chris

Stallworth, Ron

Starr, Eric

Stephens, Ralph

Stewart, Curtis

Stonebreaker, Mike

Thomas, Albert

Thomas, John

Thompson, Ernest

Thompson, Shelton

Tobey, Bryan

Trainor, Kendall

Tunney, Jono

Estate of Darryl Usher

Valentine, Ira L.

Vargo, Ron

Vesling, Tim

Vines, Ken

Waiters, Gary

Waits, Alex

Walker, Arthur

Walsh, Dan

Warner, Kirk

Washington, Charles

Washington, Ed

Watts, Randy

Weathers, Monte

Weber, David

Weir, Robert

Whelihan, Tom

White, Brent

White, Gerald

White, Todd

Wiggins, Shawn

Wiley, John

Wilkins, Pete

Williams, Albert

Williams, Bert

Williams, Marlin

Wilson, Harvey

Winfield, Earl

Wolfolk, Kevin

Woods, Thomas

Woodson, Shawn

Yarano, Don

Young, Almon

Zdelar, Jim

Zeno, Marc

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We found the most recent ruling from the Minnesota District Court of Appeals filed in 2009 and have used DocStoc for easier access and viewing. (Click on the FULL SCREEN button to enlarge it for easier navigation – hit the ESC key to close. You can also click the DOWNLOAD button to save a PDF copy for printing and reading. There’s also a Menu button in the upper left corner with even more options.)

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