Brent Boyd: Groom Law Group Still Front and Center
Many of you have followed Brent Boyd’s years of fighting with the NFL for his earned disability benefits. Brent has kept us updated on his current appeal to the Disability Board for a new review of his case. Brent now has more medical evidence from recognized clinics like The Amen Clinic to support his case of football-related disability.
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In one recent conversation, Brent used a brilliant analogy: “Imagine if today’s young generations of minorities went back to all those great people who fought for civil rights in the 50′s and 60′s – often with their lives – and told them, ‘Thanks for all you did for us. Oh – and by the way, you guys still have to ride at the back of the bus, use a separate bathroom and drink out of that water fountain over there!’ That’s exactly the way the NFL is treating its retired veterans.”
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Current players get larger contracts with easier pension qualifications while the retired players keep getting sent to the back of the bus. And just as often (as you’re about to see in some of Brent’s documents), they still keep making up the rules against you when things don’t go their way. Brent’s attorneys filed an appeal on his last rejected application and just as it’s coming up for trial, the Disability Board decides they want ANOTHER doctor to examine him AND they secretly reject his claim once again. After three other doctors of their choosing had already ruled in Brent’s favor. And who’s front and center in all of this? The Groom Law Group. The same people who WROTE the plan and are now helping the NFL and the Disability Board continue to re-define the rules to deny him his earned benefits. A few years back, retired players were told that if you had already qualified for Social Security Disability (most people know how difficult it is to qualify for SSI), you would automatically “qualify” for NFL benefits. But then “discretionary” qualifications got added back into the process in side deals made between Gene Upshaw and Harold Henderson.
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Something many of us have begun to wonder: If the owners and the Union collected over a billion dollars for this pension and disability fund years ago and it’s supposed to be sitting there for all retired players to draw from through a fair and objective process, what would motivate anyone to deny benefits? If the fund is actually locked in and untouchable by outside interests, what motivation would the NFL, the NFLPA or the owners have in bothering to deny benefits to any players at all? Are the funds actually there? Can retired players demand an outside third party (an auditor) to actually declare that they’ve audited and verified that the plan is truly fully funded and exists?
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Here’s Brent’s original filing from back in February uploaded to Scribd for easier 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.)
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Brent Boyd Original Motion & Complaint Feb. 2010
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If you need to see a copy of the current plan, click HERE.
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Groom Law Group sent a response April 15, 2010.
Boyd Brent Groom Law Group Response
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And here’s the denial letter sent May 20, 2010 from Sarah Gaunt at the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan, following an unannounced Disability Board meeting:
Brent Boyd Denial Letter from Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Plan May 2010
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We’ll be posting more documentation from Brent’s case as it becomes available. The more everyone can compare notes on how the process currently operates, the more we can all see how this system has been set up against all the retired players. Feel free to comment on anything that jumps out at you or if there’s something that doesn’t match what may have happened in other cases. With the ability to share everything with everyone online, we can push everyone for more transparency in the entire process.
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