Dave Pear's Blog

EDITOR’S NOTE: A copy of NFL Alumni COO Ron George’s Memo to Chapter Presidents arrived in our Inboxes this morning. Here it is in its entirety:
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From: Ronald George
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012
To: Chapter Presidents
Cc: George Martin; Joe Pisarcik; Randy Minniear
Subject: FoxSports Article
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Dear Chapter Presidents,
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Below you will find links to two articles written by FoxSports.com that were posted today.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/NFLAA-president-George-Martin-investigation-financial-questions-012412
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and
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http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/George-Martin-National-Football-League-Alumni-Association-candidacy-vetted-012512
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The Executive Director, along with Venable, LLP, the Chairman of the Foundation and President of the Association have been dealing with the authors of these articles since December 20, 2011 on the subject matter contained within the articles. It was made clear early in the discussion with FoxSports, Alex Marvez and A.J. Perez specifically, that the intent of these articles was to discredit the Executive Director and President of the NFL Alumni, as well as undermine the mission of the Association.
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While Mr. Marvez and Mr. Perez were provided extensive information which highlights many of the inaccuracies in the articles, this information was not presented. Moreover, the articles clearly paint a one-sided and negative portrayal of the confidential internal operations of the organization.
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The Executive Director and President, along with Venable, LLP, President Pisarcik and Chairman Minniear will continue in their detailed and in-depth analysis of the situation.
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Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please contact Mr. Martin, Mr. Pisarcik or Mr. Minniear directly.
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Regards,
RG
Ronald L. George | Chief Operating Officer | NFL Alumni
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11 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

1. formerfan3
   January 27th, 2012 at 9:47 am #

   Since George Martin took over the management of the two organizations, NFLA & NFLAA, he has completely ignored a major part of his responsibility: To keep the National Football League Alumni, Inc. (501(c)(3) charity) separate from the new National Football League Alumni Association.

   The two organizations have different legal purposes which conflict with one another. The NFLA, Inc. (charity) can NOT inure excessive benefits to player members, while the NFLA Association’s main purpose is to secure and improve player benefits.

   In my humble opinion, under an IRS audit, the charity would lose its non-profit tax status that it currently enjoys because of numerous ways that GM and his staff have used the major assets of the charity (membership dues, Super Bowl Event Revenue, annual NFL royalties, contributions and Super Bowl tickets) for the benefit of the NFLA Association, whose sole purpose is to benefit players and sustain his leadership of that organization.

   The most valuable asset of the charity, the NFLA Logo, for which the League has historically paid $678,000 per year to the charity, is now under George’s control – and the NFL’s indirectly – because of their funding of the Association. The League has been trying for years to get this logo and at one time thought they did own it, but found out differently.

   Good business practice requires fair value to be paid for assets acquired and this requirement has totally been ignored, as the Association has systematically acquired or used all of the above mentioned charity assets for its own benefit.

   The final phase of the transfer of assets was the closing of the charity’s office in Florida on December 31st when all remaining assets were shipped to the Association offices in New Jersey.

   The lives of a small group of long-term charity employees were seriously affected when the Florida office was closed to provide co-mingled responsibilities for the Association’s staff in New Jersey.

   The charity has sustained itself and provided millions of dollars for youth charities for over 30 years by obtaining corporate sponsorships for chapter golf tournaments and Super Bowl events under the motto of “Caring for Kids.” George Martin is aware of this history and knows how difficult it is to raise funds for player benefits and decided to use the charity side to raise such funds.

   While much should and could be done for former players, it should not be done while damaging the charity side. There is so much good for former players that could have been done with the over $4,000,000 loaned from the NFL. Salaries alone for the top 3 at the New Jersey office, George Martin, Ron George and Kari Martin have eaten up a good portion of that money. Squandering the funds on opening a new extravagant headquarters in NJ was certainly not necessary. They could have continued with the low-key, budget-conscious headquarters that was in place without wasting so much money.

   There is so much more that should be looked into as far as how this organization has been run and the money wasted since Martin took over.

   Deborah Ganz

2. NFL Alumni's Ron George Responds to FOX Sports – Dave Pear's Blog
   January 27th, 2012 at 11:52 am #

   [...] Read more from the original source: NFL Alumni's Ron George Responds to FOX Sports – Dave Pear's Blog [...]

3. Lee Folkins
   January 28th, 2012 at 6:11 am #

   

   Great football players are not necessarily great managers. That doesn’t mean that great football players can’t be great managers.

   We all get judged by results, including managers. It seems pretty clear what the results are and appropriate judgment follows.

   Lee Folkins
   Green Bay 1961
   Dallas 1962 – 1964
   Pittsburgh 1965

4. Bob Avellini
   January 28th, 2012 at 10:06 am #

   

   I do hope that all retired NFL Players take the time to read the two attached articles written by Fox Sports so that they can make a judgment of the direction of NFLA under the leadership of George Martin.

   Let’s not wait another twenty-something years pass (as we did with a Gene Upshaw led NFLPA) before we realize that not enough is done in the best interests of the all Retired Players.

   Bob Avellini
   Chicago Bears & New York Jets
   1975 – 1984

5. Jim Bradshaw
   January 28th, 2012 at 12:02 pm #

   

   To quote a famous GB coach,

   “WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON HERE?”

   Jim Bradshaw
   Pittsburgh Steelers
   1963 – 1967

6. Joe Schmiesing
   January 28th, 2012 at 3:30 pm #

   

   Are copies of the financials for both the NFLPA and the NFLAA available?

   Joe Schmiesing
   St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Lions,
   Baltimore Colts, New York Jets
   1968 – 1975

7. RobertinSeattle
   January 28th, 2012 at 5:40 pm #

   

   In answer to Joe’s question about audited financials:

   Once again this spring, we’ll be eagerly awaiting the NFLPA’s LM-2 filings with the IRS to take look at most of their financial dealings. If you type in ‘LM-2′ and Hit ENTER in the Search bar in the upper right corner of this Blog page, it should bring up some of the past filings we’ve posted.

   As for the Alumni, here’s a short summary from Answers.com:

   “Many tax documents filed by a 501(c)(3) organization must be made available to the public upon request.

   “These may include the application for tax-exemption, the letters determining the exception (with related supporting information and correspondence), and the annual tax returns, if any, for at least three years after the required filing dates. IRC 6104.

   “Failure to make the required disclosures, upon request, shall result in an obligation to pay the requester $20 per day until the disclosure requirement is satisfied, to a maximum of $10,000 for annual returns, under IRC 6652 (c)(1)(C) and (D), but $100,000 limit on exemption determination materials (IRC 6723). However, the penalties do not apply if there is a “reasonable cause” for the failure to respond to the request. IRC 6652(C)(3).”

8. Odie Harris
   January 28th, 2012 at 6:32 pm #

   

   Dave -

   Send me these four guys’ email addresses so I can tell them to step the hell down because they’re giving all of us a bad name!

   This is pitiful.

   Odie Harris
   Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns,
   Phoenix & Arizona Cardinals, Houston Oilers
   1988 – 1995

9. Burt Grossman
   January 30th, 2012 at 3:01 pm #

   

   Speaking of journalistic integrity…

   How does FOX Sports break this story about the shady dealings and financial problems at the NFL Alumni and not Jeff Nixon?

   Burt Grossman
   San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles
   1989 -1994

10. Ken Topper
    January 31st, 2012 at 3:37 am #

    This is just typical of anything the retired players attempt to do. They are an unorganized, fragmented group with no clear leadership. Until they decide as a group that their retirement issues are important, nothing will change. The NFL puts “lipstick on a pig” and sells that to the public but really, even if the League wanted to take more responsibility no one is minding the store.

    Local Alumni chapters are a joke and any time they gain a little momentum, it dies because there is no clear mission or structure.

    Ken Topper

11. Deborah
    February 1st, 2012 at 3:05 pm #

    In response to Mr. Grossman, it has been rumored that Jeff Nixon is paid by the NFLA.

    Some of the NFL Alumni local chapters are very strong and have raised millions of dollars over the years for children’s charities in their local areas. For many years, the national office had people in place who worked very hard to improve relations with the local chapters and to try to provide assistance to them in any way they could. However, since George Martin and Ron George have taken over, there seems to be very little interest in helping local chapters.

    Deborah Ganz