(Pocket) Change We Can Believe In?
A Message to NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith -
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No More Band-Aids!
You were recently quoted in the media saying, “I’ve seen consistent improvements in pensions and healthcare for our players and former players.” Are you serious?!! Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA Leadership were convicted and found guilty of “Breaching their Fiduciary Duty” and “Breach of Contract” towards retired players in a Federal Court. And certainly the NFLPA and the NFL are also guilty of Breaching their Fiduciary Duty over disability benefits. The pensions for many retired players amount to not much more than a monthly car lease payment (minus the down payment because their pensions are too small for a real car payment). Upshaw once bragged publicly in the media that under his brutal dictatorship, pensions had increased almost 50% for many of the older retirees. What he failed to mention was that their monthly pensions jumped from a shameful $139 a month to a whopping $179 a month for guys like Herb Adderley. Never mind the fact that many of our men took early pensions based on the myth perpetuated by your plan actuarial numbers done by owners through AON Consulting that stated most of us were going to be dead before the age of 55.
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When will retired players begin to receive restitution? Until that happens, NOTHING will have really changed!
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Gene Upshaw’s estate was paid $16,000,000, the NFLPA Leadership renamed their Building “UPSHAW PLACE” and you also renamed the dire need fund “The Gene Upshaw Dire Need Fund.” If you had truly been listening to the voices of the majority of retired players, you would have realized that it was like naming the Holocaust Museum the Adolph Hitler Memorial. What were you people thinking?
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And now that Mr. Conflict-of-Interest Tom Condon is no longer on the disability board (while also being a big time agent for players and advisor to his best friend Gene Upshaw for 20 years), is the NFLPA Leadership going to rename a benefit after him just like they did for Upshaw? How about The Tom Condon Severance Fund? Just how many retired player have been duped out of this money over the years?
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From where we stand outside the ivory towers, absolutely NOTHING has changed for retired players. Will we see REAL change before all of us are dead?
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If you people at the NFLPA truly want the retired players on your side during these CBA negotiations, here’s a very simple visual reminder:
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And once again, just so NO ONE can accuse us of making vague demands, here’s a very clear message: The only change retired players want to see is a check in each of their hands for the money that has been stolen and denied to them for decades, along with medical benefits that should have come with the job just like any other Union job out there. What would we call that? A good start.
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Mr. Smith, there’s a revolution going on right now before your very eyes. It’s called the Internet and more and more of us are now going online every day and comparing notes on what the ruling minority have been hiding from retired players for too long. You only have one question to answer: Are you truly WITH us or are you AGAINST us? It really is that simple.
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Sincerely,
Dave & Heidi Pear
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