Dave Pear's Blog

The annual RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) meeting was held last week in Chicago. A new study based on live brain scans of professional football players was announced and discussed at one of their presentations. Here’s the news release that you’ll probably never see on the NFL’s website:

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While The NFLPA is continuing to implement cuts to overhead and expenses, as well as advising its active players to start saving as much money as they can, the NFL is apparently cutting any and all outlays that don’t put money in their pocket.

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We’ve been informed that invitations have been sent out to members of the NFL Alumni for Gene – er, George – Martin’s coming-out party for The new, NEW NFL Alumni Association. Apparently, advance RSVP’s had to be called in by Nov. 11th for the first 180 people attending as they’re expecting an overflow attendance and parking is limited at Giants’ Stadium (?!!) to the first 180 to sign up. We thought the stadium could handle 78,000+ fans… Click on the brochure pages below to enlarge for reading (our highlights added).

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Last Thursday, I made the trip down to the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach for my scheduled brain scan. Dr. Kristen Willeumier was there to greet me and helped me to understand the entire process involved with my brain scan. They did some tests on mental acuity and Dr. Amen happened to be at his main clinic between road trips for his current book tour and managed to take some time to meet personally with me as well. The entire experience was easy and relaxed and I was back on a plane heading home to Seattle that evening.

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For the first time, the NFL and the NFLPA extended an invitation to “The Independent Retired Players” to attend and participate in a meeting called to discuss the problems that continue to plague Retirees. Bob Grant, an Independent Activist and Advocate for our cause, was asked to attend on behalf of the Retired Players.

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Harry & Donald Carson

At a time when former players are communicating more than ever and becoming better informed on the various issues involving “us,” I want to urge all players to take advantage of the available resources being offered. Regardless of where you stand on the issues of retired players there is one thing I emphatically know for certain. We all subjected ourselves to hits or blows to the head! Whether it was in practice or in games, we all were subjected to head trauma. Personally, I was diagnosed in 1990 with Post Concussion Syndrome. The date is significant because it was 2 years after I left football and was deemed to be a permanent condition. For almost 20 years now I know what I’ve been dealing with and I have my ways to manage it. Unfortunately, I know so many former players who never thought of the head traumas they sustained as a player but are now having serious neurological issues (depression, mood swings, sensitivity to noise/lights, forgetfulness, etc.) well into the next phase of their lives.

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We’re just simply going to post an order from Judge Alsup that was sent out on Aug. 7, 2009 and the answer from Bernie Parrish filed after that. Bernie informs us that in no way is he trying to hold up or stop the settlement from getting into the hands of the retired players. His concerns have been with some of the terms in the settlement agreement and the way in which it was written and proposed. We’ve never quite understood why documents coming out of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP kept omitting Bernie Parrish’s name from all court filings and orders when Bernie was clearly always the original lead plaintiff (even as Kessler & Co. continued to do so right through the proposed settlement documents). (Click on each page to enlarge for easier reading.)

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After what seems like an eternity, Manett Phelps & Phillips and McKool Smith filed Motions in the Parrish, Adderley, Roberts vs. the NFLPA/Players Inc. class action lawsuit late last week for final review and court approval on August 20, 2009 by Judge Alsup. The documents just became available online so we’ve loaded them up on DocStoc once again for easier viewing and searching. The main part of the Motion outlines the basics of the case and subsequent settlement. The Exhibits outline the payment plan and schedules with the first payment scheduled for July 13, 2009 (they’ll miss that one!) and the second set for June 5, 2010.

It’s always interesting digging into the details: Turns out the settlement will be managed and distributed by Garden City Group which just happens to be right here in Seattle. Half of the funds (around $13 million) were placed into escrow on July 13th, the day this Motion was apparently filed. And then barring no problems, the balance will be placed into escrow on June 5, 2010 for distribution shortly after that. Another interesting detail from Page 7 of Exhibit 1: Players who elected to Opt-Out John Baker, Richard Yelvington, Lynn Chandnois, John Demarie, Dan Goich, Daniel Direnzo, James “Scottie” Graham, Deacon Jones, Steve Largent, Brig Owens, Ben Pucci, Donald Testerman and Andre Collins were all excluded from suit.

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Mr. D Smith Goes to Washington

If there was ever a story that probably comes close to describing NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith’s journey to his new office, it would have to be the old movie classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (read about it on IMDb HERE). IMDb summarizes it this way: “A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the US Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn’t back down.” And if you’ve never seen the movie, this is one classic well worth watching. (Click on the poster to enlarge it for better viewing and printing.)

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While the cat’s away, the mice will play. There seem to be lots of conflicting public comments floating around these days. Since when did Miki Yaras-Davis become a spokesperson or advocate for retired players benefits and rights?

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The NFLPA/Players Inc. lawsuit has just been leaked as settled for approximately $26 million! Read more on ESPN (click HERE).

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A while ago, we discovered through the NFLPA’s 2007 LM-2 filing that they had spent $12,461 that year for document shredding, just ahead of the Players Inc. lawsuit. (Read that story by clicking HERE.) (We’re anxiously awaiting the release of the 2008 LM-2 to look for new spending goodies from last year.)

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Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire just signed the nation’s most comprehensive return-to-play concussion law for high school sports. The law was named for Zackery Lystedt, a 16-year old high school football player who went back to play following a concussion and subsequently suffered a life-threatening brain injury. All athletes under the age of 18 will now need a licensed health care provider’s approval before being allowed to return to the game after a concussion. The law will also require each of the state’s school districts to work with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to develop standards for educating parents, players and coaches of the dangers of concussions and head injuries. (Zackery finally is only partially recovered after over a year of rehab.*)

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a broader acknowledgment of the long-term effects of concussions and brain injuries from sports in general and football in particular. The NFL has spent much time and money burying their study results for their own ends, including their actuarial numbers which a subsidiary of insurance giant AON has reputedly been conducting for years. Of course, Directors and Officers of AON have also been owners of the Chicago Bears for decades… (Read our earlier posts HERE and HERE or you can simply do a search for Aon on our blog by typing it into the search bar at the top of this website.)

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Our last post talked about Richard Berthelsen’s courtroom denial (read it HERE) with crafting the NFLPA’s Group Licensing Agreements (GLAs). Here’s another little piece of history for all of you that Dave just dug up from his files. Dave was still living in Bradenton, Florida back in 1993 when he forgot to mail in the renewal for his membership with the NFLPA. Back then, it was $50 a year and they sure made a heavy-handed pitch to make sure everyone renewed. And in 1993, guess who was General Counsel for the NFLPA under Gene Upshaw? Richard Berthelsen (unless he lied on his biographical material on the Sports Lawyers Association website). Wonder who wrote those nifty and lucrative GLAs back then?

And we quote: “We have a group licensing program which could result in licensing fees for our retired players. More that 1500 members have given us their group licensing rights to date.” Wowee! Everyone sure made a lot of money from that deal, didn’t they?

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