Dave Pear's Blog

We keep thinking about that old saying, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Or how about “Different day, same old $@&!”?

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We have several recent news stories that seem to revolve around the same theme: Most football players are consistently and systematically screwed from cradle-to-grave. There really isn’t a gentle way to talk about it. It becomes clearer by the day and if it doesn’t make your blood boil, we don’t know what will. When that recent CBS Sports story came out on Conrad Dobler’s blunt interview about Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees, the typical comments from uninformed fans made their way online about those old retired players whining again about their plight. If retired players truly want to advance their cause, one of our goals has to include the re-education of generations of fans who still have a misconception of retired football players living the high life after they leave the game. If we need to do it one fan at a time, so be it.

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The underlying theme that keeps surfacing in these recent stories simply reinforces something that we’ve been trying to point out to players and fans alike: EVERYONE involved in the football industry gets paid at every step of the way. Except the players themselves. Think of it this way: Do high school players get paid for playing? Nope? Do college players get paid? Nope. In fact, everyone else in college makes money from football except the players. The revenue from licensed merchandise is a megamillion dollar enterprise. Colleges get huge donations and public funding for those 50,000+ seat stadiums . They pay good coaches millions in salaries and bonuses (while most academic professors are lucky to pull down a low 6-figure salary). Heaven forbid that a college player receives a gift or money because he’ll probably get banned for life! And before you go on the usual rant we hear about “Oh but they get a college education on a scholarship” argument, the reality is that the majority of these guys wouldn’t be in college if they weren’t good at football (of course, there are always exceptions of players who actually went on to use what they learned in college). If they finally survive the injuries of college football and actually make it into the professional leagues, agents are right there with their hands in the players’ pockets to “help” them negotiate that contract with a professional team – for 3 – 5% of their contract, of course. Then most players retire with injuries from their generally short careers on the field, only to find that the disability fund that was supposed to be available to take care of them is virtually inaccessible but to a select few players because of a Byzantine – and some say illegal – (dis)qualification process set up to deny claims. Like we said: Almost everyone makes money from football.

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Our first story comes from Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal. Kaplan’s Monday morning piece corrects earlier reports of how the NFLPA did NOT pay departed Executive Director Gene Upshaw’s widow $14 million! According to the PA’s 2009 tax return, Kaplan discovered that they paid her… $16 million! And this was while they were complaining about not having enough money in their account to pay retired players their settlement money in one lump payment from the GLA lawsuit! But what the article also points out is confirmation that Upshaw had more sources of income than just his reputed annual $8 million+ salary from the NFLPA. Apparently, Upshaw was also having money from Players Inc. put into a trust fund all these years which probably explains why the retired players they were supposed to be representing didn’t have any money left to pay them until it finally took a judge and a jury to find them guilty of fraud after Bernie Parrish sued them.

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NFLPA paid Upshaw’s estate $16M out of trust

By DANIEL KAPLAN
Staff writer

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The NFL Players Association paid the estate of its late executive director, Gene Upshaw, $16 million that had accumulated in a trust set up for the long-running leader of the union, according to the group’s tax return filed last month.

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The return also shows that the NFLPA lost $13.5 million in the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2009, because of steep investment losses. That in part led to the first annual decline in assets for the union in at least six years, according to the group’s tax returns (see chart).

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The disclosures emerge as the NFLPA is locked in contentious collective-bargaining negotiations with the NFL. Players have openly talked about the owners locking them out after the 2010 season.

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Read the rest of the article by clicking HERE.

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Then we found an article on Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films, from Sam Farmer of the LA Times. Farmer writes about the impact that Sabol’s company has had on the way football games are filmed and their effect on the movie industry over the years. Once again, it gives you another story about the people who manage to make a lot of money from football and football players – active and retired. Bob Stein’s current lawsuit is looking to get the retired players their due for being shown in those classic game DVD’s that the NFL has been selling for $39.95 apiece!

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Steve Sabol’s NFL Films has every angle covered

A highly stylized, even artistic (think: Picasso) approach has helped NFL Films stay ahead of the curve for half a century, not only in how football is shot, but in its influence on TV and feature films.

Says Steve Sabol of NFL Films: “What we do is storytelling. It just so happens it is storytelling related to football.” (Steven M. Falk / NFL Films / January 10, 2003)

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Read the rest of the article by clicking HERE.

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And our final story comes from headline to another story just posted on Sports Business Journal that reads,

CAA Sports signs 3 projected to go in NFL draft’s first 10

CAA Sports is having a huge NFL draft again this year and represents three potential top 10 picks, having signed Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and quarterback Sam Bradford, and Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan. NFLDraftScout.com ranked McCoy No. 3, Morgan No. 8 and …

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Unfortunately, this article is subscription-only but you get the drift: Superagent Tom Condon’s agency will be representing the top 3 draft picks for the next year. So let’s see: At around $40 – $60 million a player times 3, that adds up to approximately $150 million in rookie draft salaries (plus who knows how much in signing bonuses) that the agency will pick up 3 – 5% in fees (plus expenses, we’re sure). Which puts a tidy minimum of $7.5 million in their pockets. Nice work if you can get it selling unproven players to the League for big bucks. Small wonder the owners want to change Gene Upshaw’s idea of a CBA and free agency.

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There is no other industry in America – or the free world for that matter – where everyone in the entire food chain makes money except for the very employees who make it happen. With the huge profits that the NFL and its owners make every year, there has never been any excuse for retired players (and even the majority of active players) to continue being treated like assembly workers in a production line in a third-world banana republic.

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12 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

1. Nolan Harrison
   February 2nd, 2010 at 1:08 pm #

   
   Gentlemen,

   Don’t forget to mention that the Trust was set up so that there would not have to be an immediate funding and drain on the NFLPA. It’s no secret that Gene Upshaw was the chairman of Players Inc. (now NFL Players) and would always receive a salary for his role as voted by the players, 25 years to his passing. Also there were documented years that Gene Upshaw did not take a salary. If you look at the whole article, you will see that an industry professional (towards the end of the piece) stated that the payment to the Upshaw estate was not out of the ordinary for someone who led an organization for 25 years.

   Guys, let’s leave this in the past and move forward with the new leadership. You all wanted a new voice, preferably an attorney, from the outside and that is exactly what we have. A spirited and passionate leader who is dedicated to former and current players. DeMaurice Smith has embraced the former players in words and actions through having current and former players involved in the CBA process. The NSC (National Steering Committee) has bi-weekly CBA update conference calls. DeMaurice Smith holds bucket list meetings that bring in former players from across the spectrum to give a voice to the needs of the group as well as implementation of many of the ideas the group comes up with. He has done this from the very beginning of his being voted into the position. The convention will be a combined convention for the first time since the 1970′s; I know it’s in Hawaii and a financial stretch for some of us even with the travel vouchers and steep hotel discounts, but the contract with the resort could not be voided without a significant payout, and you know there would have been an uproar if the NFLPA would have thrown that much money away. Next year, it will be back on the mainland and will continue to be combined.

   The point to all of this is that the fight is not with the current leadership or the current players. The fight is with the NFL and the ownership which consists of 32 billionaires who are threatening to lock the current players out, who want to reduce the current and former players revenue piece by 20%, and are continuing to find ways to divide us as a group, all while taking in $7 billion dollars of revenue and claiming financial hardship. Claiming that WE do not take enough of the risk! I know that does not sit well with you because it REALLY DOES NOT SIT WELL WITH ME! I FEEL the result of the risks I took, for TEN YEARS on a daily basis, as I know you all do as well!

   Let’s focus the fight where it should be focused – the NFL – and help DeMaurice Smith and the new leadership to put us in the best situation for us to win this war. I love the new slogan for our new organization, ONE LOCKER ROOM, ONE TEAM, ONE VOICE.

   Your brother,
   Nolan Harrison III
   1991 – 2000
   LA Raiders, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins

2. John Hogan
   February 2nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm #

   
   Nolan,

   What is the Union doing to get guys like Dave Pear and Conrad Dobler the justice they deserve? Are the disabled still on the team, or are they shut out of the locker room?

   John Hogan
   Disability Attorney

3. RobertinSeattle
   February 2nd, 2010 at 10:25 pm #

   
   Um – I would venture to guess the same as the NFL and the Alumni? Nothing. Nada. Zip.

   RobertinSeattle
   Still NOT a retired football player

4. Bob Grant
   February 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 am #

   
   I’m still waiting for one of the big Organizations to REALLY do something substantial for Retired Players. MLB has demonstrated what can be done.

   I sincerely believe that the only concessions we’ll ever see from the NFL and the NFLPA are the ones that we force them to make via the Courts, Congress, Bad Publicity and the continued dedicated work from the Independents.

   Our brothers who thought that working from the inside was the way to go have failed to take the aggressive stances that I believe are necessary for us to get the things that Retired Players should have received long, long ago. How can you believe that you are still in charge when we Independents reach more Retired Players in a single day than all of the Chapter Presidents and Steering Committee Members do in a year.

   Still, some of you say among yourselves that we’re mad men and troublemakers and that no one pays any attention to us. If you ask the average Retired Player to name one person on the Steering Committee or two chapter Presidents for a million dollars, you’d have to search high and low to find one who could collect a nickel. That is not meant as a personal attack on any of my brothers; it’s just meant to show that the “old model” isn’t working.

   There would be no need for Independents if the folks who said that they wanted to do something major for us had actually gone to the wall for us. The fact is that it has been pressure and action from the Independents that have driven the NEW positions that both the League and the PA have recently taken on, on the single concussion plank. With strong Congressional support, of course. The Cash Award that many of you have just received from the Parrish vs the NFLPA law suit was only possible because of one Independent man who was willing to step forward, fight and speak up for you before you were even willing to do so for yourselves. (The past is the past, I agree, but the FACT is that Gene Upshaw did conspire with Electronic Arts/Madden to cheat Retired Players out of money that was due them.)

   Now we have another new sellout crew who are begging you to join them so that they can lead you straight into the arms of the folks who have wronged us for years while they stuffed their pockets. As old folks used to say, “they are just running their mouths.” A few weeks back one of their leaders stated in one of the NFLPA’s bucket meetings that they were not going to sue anybody. Now another one of them says that they are willing to sue anybody, including the Alumni. Could it be that George Martin has kicked some of them to the curb? I know this Alumni leader said that because I was included in the meeting via telephone. At the trial up in San Francisco, another one of them declared that we would not win the suit. Well, he was all smiles when he got his check and then the ungrateful rascal turned around and started attacking Bernie even though he never would have made that deposit in his bank account had Bernie not started the suit. What else is there to say about a guy like that?

   Say what you like but you’ll never convince me that you can “Be in bed with THE MAN and on his payroll” and really get anything done.

   Bob Grant
   Independent/Activist/Advocate
   Parrish Team Member

5. Cody Jones
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:49 am #

   
   So, Bob, are you saying that George Martin can be trusted or that he is on the payroll and in the bed with The Man?

   Cody C. Jones
   Los Angeles Rams
   1974 – 1982

6. Dave Pear
   February 3rd, 2010 at 4:14 pm #

   
   For 25 years, Gene Upshaw stood behind a federal law that did not exist. Upshaw claimed that federal law prohibited a retired player from receiving both a pension and a disability benefit. When asked by Michael Leahy, a journalist for Washington Post Magazine, “Are you sure?” Gene spouted off, “Yes! It’s the law!” However, his own attorney, Lanny Davis, corrected Upshaw in the very next sentence and explained to the former Executive Director of the NFLPA: “It is NOT the law but it is discretionary, just like it is with most companies in Corporate America.” (Washington Post Magazine: Feb. 3, 2008 Pg. 26 par. 6).

   In MLB and the NBA, their contracts are ALL guaranteed along with great Pension & Disability benefits. Plus some medical insurance after their playing careers. The Executive Director is paid $800,000 in the NBA & $1,200,000 in MLB.

   Then you look at the NFL:

   1. Contracts for the players are NOT guaranteed. If you get hurt, all you might get is your signing bonus;
   2. The disability program is illegal, there’s no standard for receiving this benefit and it’s virtually impossible to qualify;
   3. The typical pension amounts to a monthly car payment (inexpensive cars) – hopefully with no down payment;
   4. No medical benefits after football.

   Upshaw was paid $8,000,000? $15,000,000? $20,000,000 annually? Who really knows. ALL we know for sure is according to the NFLPA 2009 tax returns, his estate was paid an additional $16,000,000 in 2009. Does that also include his offshore accounts and hidden accounts in UBS Bank in Switzerland?

   Just why was Upshaw paid so much for breaching his fiduciary duty toward retired players (remember Players Inc. lawsuit)? Why was it necessary for the Players Inc. lawsuit settlement to be paid to retired players in two payments while the Upshaw estate got the full pop in one check?

   Some active players may think that he did a great job for them but certainly NOT in comparison to the NBA & MLB.

   * NOTE to Active players: Please save your money because you’re going to need every penny once you retire and that could happen at anytime. Once your football injuries start to rear their ugly head (especially head injuries) and the next NFL Dr. “NO” claims that there is no scientific evidence to prove your disability, then the reality of your phony union will set in because you’re on your own! And boy, is it expensive! If you really want to know the truth, feel free to drop me an e-mail and I’ll gladly share some of the real costs with you.

   The Gene Upshaw Dire Need Plan, Player Care Foundation and the NFL Alumni Dire Need Plan are your only choices. Believe me – there is VERY little there and when you look at the release you have to sign that gives these rascals permission to look into every aspect of your life (your wife also has to sign) how desperate do you have to be to even consider signing this outrageous release?

   And why do you think there are so many dire need plans in the first place?

   So, how in the world was Upshaw able to command such a large salary for his non-performance? Upshaw had head injuries which he was able to cover up because of his PR people and LARGE legal staff inside and outside the NFLPA.

   Some of his statements like, “I would like to break your neck” or “I would like to put a target on your back” or “I do not represent retired players” (no kidding) or comparing over 2,000 retired players to “Dog Food” are signs of someone not in control of their faculties. In the Players Inc. trial, Upshaw probably tried over 100 times to get the case dismissed. But, even with ALL his high-priced lawyers that he paid for with our union money, he failed miserably. However, his friends would always say, “Oh well, that’s just Gene.”

   What about in the spring of 2008 when NFL management council attorney Harold Henderson and union boss Gene Upshaw signed a backroom side deal that eliminated retroactive benefits for some retired players? Is this why he was paid so much?

   The spoils Upshaw took from the NFLPA were extremely excessive. To say they were in line with other companies is ridiculous. Who else could have gotten away doing what Upshaw did and not be fired?

   So then they named the Dire Need Fund AND the NFLPA headquarters building after this charlatan. If he had even remotely done his job, there wouldn’t be a need for the Dire Need Fund.

   The truly sad thing is that nothing has changed. The same smiling faces and sell-out crowd are still in charge at the NFLPA. Oh – excuse me. I meant “at Upshaw Place.”

7. Bob Grant
   February 4th, 2010 at 1:57 am #

   
   Cody,

   I believe George was President of the NFLPA a few years back, for a couple of years while Upshaw was the Executive Director. He had an opportunity to do the things back then that he is talking about doing now and he did not deliver for us. I know that he and Gene were friends but he was supposed to act as President for the Players and not just be a disciple and good buddy of the man who legally worked UNDER him.

   As I understand it, during his tenure as President, George went to two of the Ladies who were working as Shop Stewards at the NFLPA and asked them for some off-the-record opinions on conditions at the office. “According to the workers, they believed their comments to Martin and Davis would be kept confidential. Two women, Rita Raymond and Valerie Thomas, both shop stewards in the union office, cooperated. Neither was a disgruntled employee. Both enjoyed working with the NFLPA, liked Upshaw personally, and had no idea that helping Martin and Davis would lead to their being fired.

   Thomas and Raymond were told they were being laid off as a reduction in force. Weeks later, they were informed they were fired for slandering the Union and that they would not receive any benefits. (So much for trusting George, huh?) Thomas and Raymond went to arbitration and the arbitrator ruled that they should be restored to their previous employment status with full benefits and back pay.

   A short time after returning they were fired again. George set those Ladies up “big time” for Gene and then he turned around and testified against them for saying things that he had encouraged them to say about cleaning the operation up.

   I don’t know; maybe he’s changed and can be trusted but he has some work to do to convince me and many other Independents.

   If you feel that George is “your Man” though, I have no problem with your joining him.

   As always, I encourage you and everyone else to think for yourself, investigate for yourself, and make intelligent decisions for yourself.

   I still hold that everyone around George does not speak well of him and my offer to give him personal proof when we meet still holds.

   I hope that George can do something to get us up to the pension and disability level of MLB but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting.

   I also wish that George would just go on and post a list of the names of the Retired Players who have actually paid that $100.00 membership fee to be an NFL Alumni Member for the year of 2010. “But WITHOUT the thousands of fans and hangers-on who pay for an Associate Membership.” If you can get the list, Cody. how about sending it to us here at DavePear.com?

   All of that said, I really don’t give “two hollers or a hoot” what George and that bunch does. I will just continue my work with Bernie Parrish and Dave Pear and see if we can get some more of our money from “these gentlemen bandits.”

   By the way, from the list, we noticed that George Martin, Bruce Laird and Jeff Nixon all received checks from the Parrish vs the NFLPA suit. I for one wonder if they’ll be contributing and joining in on our next rounds of suits against the NFL, the NFLPA and all of the companies that have joined them in using us without paying us over the years?

   Bob Grant
   Parrish Team Member
   Independent Activist/Advocate

8. Cody C. Jones
   February 4th, 2010 at 8:59 pm #

   
   Bob,

   I was not aware that George had served as president of the NFLPA. I did listen to Valerie’s take on the situation the other day. I’m not defending the Alumni, just trying to get a honest perspective on this whole situation. I have talked to George in the past and now I have some questions to shed light on him as a person. What do you make of DeMaurice’s behavior today?

   Cody C. Jones
   Los Angeles Rams
   1974 – 1982

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   February 5th, 2010 at 2:03 pm #

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10. Valerie Thomas
    February 5th, 2010 at 9:22 pm #

    
    Cody,

    George Martin had a lucrative career with the NY Giants from 1975-1988. During his career, Martin was a Team Player Representative, member of the NFLPA Executive Committee and served as NFLPA President from 1988-1989. After the death of Gene Upshaw, Martin was a candidate for NFLPA Executive Director (2008). In 2009, he was named/selected by the Board of Directors/designated/appointed/or “elected” as the Executive Director of the NFL Alumni Association, depending on who you talk to.

    In 1988 (after the 1987 strike), the highest NFLPA authorities approached the staff about business practices. They asked; we told. We trusted; they deceived. In 1988, Martin testified against me and others in an arbitration hearing. In 1995, Martin testified against me in an EEOC trial in US District Court, District of Columbia. In both legal hearings (administrative and judicial), the NFLPA was found guilty of wrongdoing. I was told that our conversations would remain confidential. I cooperated in an internal organizational assessment/investigation. Both jurisdictions found that my participation was protected activity by federal labor, employment and civil rights law.

    Then I was illegally fired in 1988; lost 11 years of income, pension, career. I was reinstated in 1999 (should have been 1997) and was retaliated against for the next 4 years. I was denied access to my job – and forced to climb public stairwells daily.

    In 2003, I was fired once again in retaliation for my union activities (to be treated fairly) and Title VII attorney legal fees, denied due process and cheated out of my job, benefits, pension and sports career because Mary Moran HR Director, NFLPA General Counsel Richard Berthelsen and NFLPA outside counsel Chip Yablonski, lied before a biased arbitrator, an immediate past NLRB Chairman.

    It is now 2010 and I am totally devastated. What Martin did in 1988 and 1995 is inexcusable. He even had the nerve to send me a letter apologizing to me and my family after I was fired in 1988 and thanked me for helping him and the NFLPA in the investigation! Trust? Trust is like love – there are different levels.

    During the recent Congressional hearings in Detroit, George Martin said “…I will not rest until assistance is given to each and every retired player in need.” Kinda sounds like the educational initiative, “No Child Left Behind.” Well, George, I’m in need of assistance. Perhaps when you finally get to meet with DeMaurice Smith, you can assist with my reinstatement and restitution?

    The ultimate answer for me about character and integrity is to continue to TRUST in the Lord because people can and will let you down. Martin does not set his own agenda and neither does Mr. Smith. Only time will tell and another year has already passed.

    Thanks again, Bob, for not allowing the NFLPA to bury me alive. Please take the time to listen to my interview on the Black Athlete Sports Network for more NFLPA history.

    Valerie Thomas
    Independent NFL Retired Players Advocate & Activist
    Former NFLPA Research Analyst and Paralegal

11. Cody C. Jones
    February 8th, 2010 at 8:04 am #

    
    Valerie, I listened to your interview on the LA Batchelor Show. I was shocked at how you and your fellow employee were treated by both Gene and Geroge. I was unaware that George had been the president of the NFLPA and what he did to you and your co-worker was despicable; I mean, the man has no conscience, no soul.

    I hope that court does everything to your satisfaction. Maybe George has taken too many hits to the head during his playing days. His behavior is sad. He reminds me of that old Richard Prior Movie, Which Way Is Up. He will figure it someday – hopefully soon – and do the right thing by you. Have a good life in whatever you do.

    Cody C. Jones
    Los Angeles Rams
    1974 – 1982

12. Dave Pear
    February 8th, 2010 at 3:32 pm #

    
    Valerie,

    I’m always sorry to hear about your nightmare with Gene Upshaw and George Martin.

    By their actions, they’ve both proven to be part of the problems for retired players and they’re not to be trusted.

    I support your battle for justice and will help in any way I can.

    Be strong and never give up.

    Thank you for your efforts to make transparent the dirty deeds done to you and your family by the NFLPA.

    It takes courage to stand up to these rascals and girl, you have courage!

    Regards,
    Dave & Heidi Pear