Groom Law Group: You’re Fired!
With the lead-up to Super Bowl and daily press conferences filled with posturing on both sides, some real news came out from NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith this afternoon regarding The Groom Law Group – THEY’RE FIRED! After years of being on the inside working both sides of the fence and writing one of the worst disability and pension plans in any industry, someone finally took notice and did what should have been done years ago.
.
For years, Bernie Parrish has been pointing out the deep conflicts of interest where The Groom Law Group has placed itself: They worked for the NFL, they worked for the NFLPA AND they wrote the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. We’ve written a lot about this on our blog – including several pieces from Bernie – covering my personal experiences with trying to apply for my disability benefits under Groom Law Group’s ridiculous rules. And my personal experiences are atypical of the way most retired players are treated when they apply for their rightful benefits. Groom Law Group has taken millions from all sides to the detriment of the retired players – they collected nearly $600,000 from the NFLPA alone in 2008 according to the PA’s LM-2 on file. (Look at the Related Posts below this post or just click HERE to see what a search brings up for Groom Law Group on our blog).
.
I can only hope that this will be the start of real change in the way retired players are treated and looked upon by its own Union. And perhaps it may not be too much to hope that retired players will finally be given an opportunity to participate and shape their own futures.
.
On a more minor sidenote, Smith was also asked about Drew Brees’ earlier comments regarding retired players. His answer: It is an “immoral decision” for today’s players not to acknowledge the players who came before them. Ben Lynch has more details on today’s press conference over at RetiredPlayers.org (Click HERE to read Ben’s coverage).
.
George Visger
February 4th, 2010 at 8:15 pm #
I must applaud De Smith.
As a nobody in the NFL but a very vocal skeptic of Smith (I have fired off letters to Senators and posted my thoughts on him on Dave’s web), I must say he is a man of his word. He called me yesterday as he stood in line at the airport, to give me an update on his plan. I can honestly say he is pursuing everything he said he would.
I told De yesterday that I am All In if he does what he says he’s going to do. We all know there’s a lot of work to correct the ruins he was left with but it looks like he’s going after it.
George Visger
San Francisco 49′ers 1980 & 1981
Survivor of 9 football-related brain surgeries
Winner of Workers Comp claim vs 49′ers
Dave Pear
February 4th, 2010 at 8:16 pm #
And furthermore:
• The Bell/Rozelle disability plan is illegal and violates ERISA Law;
• This NFL disability plan has caused untold pain and suffering to so many retired players and their families;
• The current disability plan CANNOT be fixed! It needs to be rewritten from start to finish;
• The NFL disability plan must be unique to our industry and allow disabled players access to their benefits;
• The NFL does not acknowledge serious physical injuries such as broken necks, backs, knees, hips, shoulders and the list goes on;
• NFL Quack Dr. NO Ira Casson has been exposed as a fraud! It is undeniable that repeated blows to the head cause brain damage.
Regards,
Dave & Heidi Pear
Pro Bowl 1979
Super Bowl XV
Social Security Disability 2004
Bernie Parrish
February 4th, 2010 at 9:13 pm #
Let’s not accept the NFL’s definition of “fired”. Elliot Pellman was “fired”. Dr. Ira Casson was “fired”. His MTBI cohort from Wayne State Dr. Viano was “fired” but they still work for the NFL harming retired and disabled players. Steve Saxon of Groom Law should have thought about De Smith firing Groom when he negotiated De’s employment contract with De when he was hired. Does this mean Saxon no longer gets to buy $6000 worth of Super Bowl tickets as he has every year for the past five years? Does this mean Groom will represent only the owners’ three members of the Retirement Board while Patton Boggs or Latham Watkins or Dewey Cheetum & How represents the players’ side of Tom Condon, Dave Duerson and Jeff Van Note? NFL history of firing quack doctors and lawyers has not been exactly what a reasonable man would expect it to be. Let’s not celebrate just yet.
De’s habit is tell them whatever they want to hear but do nothing; same result as Upshaw, just done with less outward hostility. To date, De Smith has given us no reason to trust him. Quite the contrary. De Smith enticed our Rhodes Scholar lawyer, Ron Katz, and Class Representative Adderley into their attempted $300+ million sellout of our retired players’ rights to sue EA, Madden and 90+ other licensees who are still in collusion with the NFLPA cheating retired players every day.
De Smith’s requests to audit the owners books are as phony as Upshaw’s repeated “demands”. I still find it hard to believe that De Smith – a white collar criminal defense expert no less – is so stupid he’s overlooked the owners legal faux pas from a few months back involving Green Bay.
I still see De Smith as no better than Gene Upshaw who was in collusion with the owners.
Bernie Parrish
Cody C. Jones
February 5th, 2010 at 1:07 am #
I agree with you, Bernie. De smith has kicked up a lot of dust. Let’s see what it looks like when it settles.
Cody C. Jones
Los Angeles Rams
1974 – 1982
Bruce Jarvis
February 5th, 2010 at 11:07 am #
To De Smith,
Basically what you’re hearing, Mr. Smith, is TALK IS CHEAP! Until the Bert Bell plan is rewritten so that people who receive retirement can also be compensated for serious head injuries and other disabilities… it is as Dave & Bernie and countless others have said: An illegal farce. The fact that “conflict of interest” agents have sat on the board too for many years and voted NO countless times is astounding. Fewer claims granted, less dollars to fund the plan, ergo more dollars for active players who pay a fee to the agent and more dollars saved for the owners’ pockets to swell.
Two years ago, I woke up with numb hands and was found by the top neurosurgeon in Seattle to have a spinal cord compressed to less than half its channel. After they drilled out the discs between C3-4-5 and fused them with titanium (to go with two others they discovered had been “autofused” by football), my disability claim WAS NOT EVEN CONSIDERED ON ITS MERITS by the board. The reason? The plan (as written by Groom Law Group and at the direction of the NFL & NFLPA) states that 15 years after playing, if you are receiving the meager NFL pension YOU CAN’T RECEIVE DISABILITY PERIOD! I’ve taken that to several of the top legal minds in the Northwest and they just shake their heads.
Every doctor who has treated us knows that most of the aging NFL veterans with serious injuries will become disabled in later life, so that is precisely why the plan was written to preclude us from receiving disability for the injuries we received building the League. Another word for that is spelled G-R-E-E-D!
So, Mr. Smith, understand why ONLY YOUR ACTIONS and those of the OWNERS will change our minds. We are waiting (as we have been for several decades)… and we are working with our own attorneys and political representatives.
The stench that is the making of NFL owners along with the historical participation by the NFLPA under Upshaw, et al is finally coming to light. Read the tea leaves, NFL owners. The bill that has been due for many years WILL BE PAID and a prudent strategy would be to get in front of this with a global settlement of what is owed us from the past (all claims) and a reasonable and fair re-worked Bert Bell Plan.
Don’t believe it? Call the CEO’s of big tobacco and see how their screw job turned out.
Bruce Jarvis
Buffalo Bills
1971 – 1974
Bob Grant
February 6th, 2010 at 2:15 am #
Director Smith has been wise enough to include us as Independents since May of 2009, in discussions regarding changes that must be considered. Many see us wrongly as “wild men and trouble makers.” I would include in that misinformed group most of the Presidents of the NFLPA Retired Chapters as well as the Members of the Retired Players Steering Committee.
I assume that this announcement firing Groom Law Group means that they are absolutely, completely, totally out of NFLPA business and that they’re not going to be paid a penny more.
De has started work on a few of the planks that he and I first discussed back in May of 2009. Still, there is much, much more that needs to be done because the FOUNDATION set up for Retired Players by the NFL and the NFLPA is rotten and replacing IT is what is needed and is what we as INDEPENDENT ADVOCATES are going to push for until we have a new and solid foundation in place.
The old model set up for Retired Players inside of the NFLPA has to go. It’s obviously too late for many of us because we won’t be among those who live to see Justice and Reform through. “Revolution ain’t pretty.” Hopefully De is a Revolutionary who is truly willing to remain open, as Upshaw never was.
We as Independents are not going to sit back, go to golf tournaments, raise money for everyone but ourselves, tolerate our good men being denied their deserved disability, accept a pension arrangement that is shamefully less than Baseball’s, allow all who have stolen money from us to get away with it and deny a pension to our Brothers who played 1, 2 and 3 years.
One way or another, we’re going to win our fight for Retired Players, be it in the Courts, Congress or the Media.
I hope that the Director will continue with needed changes and that he will also continue including the Independent Leaders in the discussion.
Bob Grant
Independent Activist/Advocate
Parrish Team Member
Retired Baltimore Colts – Washington Redskins