As I had mentioned in an earlier post, a deposit showed up last Friday in my bank account that wasn’t quite as much as my normal disability payment (and they always show up on the first of the month). It wasn’t until yesterday that a letter arrived in my mail to explain what several of our readers had also just received. No doubt, some genius in the front office figured they’d better get these payments out just before yearend so they could get some tax benefits for 2011. . For those of you who still haven’t received your letter yet, we’ve uploaded a copy to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to go Full Screen for easier reading (and just hit the ESC key to close): . Dave Pear’s Disability Increase Notice . We also understand that the new Legacy Benefits will be calculated retroactively to Aug. 1, 2011 but we’re not sure when those retroactive payments will start showing up or exactly when the first increased pension checks will start arriving. We hope everyone will continue to share their own experiences with the other retired players and their families. Once again, it looks like the retired players are the last to be informed and the last to be paid. That’s why they pay DeMaurice “Upshaw” Smith those big $1 million bonuses.(Click comic to enlarge) . .
So this just came in from Sam McCullum yesterday afternoon. And now it turns out that they don’t want you to sign ONE form before you get YOUR money. Nope. They plan on sending you TWO forms. We caution everyone to wait until everyone’s had a chance to review these documents. We wonder if the active players had to jump through any hoops before they got their checks. Somehow we don’t think so… .
By the way, Sam mentions the word ‘hide‘ (as in ‘hiding your money’ from child support and ex-wives) in his update (my red highlights below). He advises us like we’re a bunch of criminals. .
At the rate this is going, is Sam talking about March of 2012? Or 2013? And will our checks include interest from August? Someone is making interest. . continue reading »
Most members of the NFLPA received the first announcement in their Inboxes earlier today along with different variations from many sources. The second, more detailed announcement comes out of the NFL Communications office. If you note in the league’s release, credit is graciously being given to several retired players who took part in later discussions held directly with Commissioner Goodell and the owners, something that’s clearly missing from the NFLPA’s announcement. In fact, the NFLPA and its representatives did NOT attend that meeting held in Washington DC. . We’re posting both announcements here exactly as received: .continue reading »
It seems that the PA is still managing to put out as much as they can without saying anything while still blaming everyone else for holding the process up. Oh wait – they’re in Washington DC! That’s what EVERYONE does up there! We forgot! .
So over the past week, we’ve received a few more ‘communiques’ from our local NFLPA chapter via Sam McCullum and it always seems that the guy in the room with no vote or real voice on any matters has the clearest take on everything. Jim McFarland – retired players’ representative – has provided some of the clearest analysis on what’s proposed in the final CBA for the Legacy Fund and how it will affect pre-93 players. Here are the e-mails and comments starting with the latest first. We also included a copy of that meeting proposal document referenced in the most recent e-mail and have loaded it up to Scribd for easier reading and printing. . One more thing: And the NFLPA and Sam McCullum says none of you should be reading any of the blogs to get your information. Of course, they didn’t attend what may have been one of the most important meetings of the year regarding retirees because they didn’t want to hear what everyone else wanted them to hear so they can’t tell you about it. (?!!) .continue reading »
An old teammate and someone I considered a friend passed away over the weekend. Last week, it had been reported – erroneously – that Lee Roy Selmon had died of a stroke in Tampa (click HERE to read the story). But then I received a phone call this weekend from a mutual teammate, Council Rudolph, that Lee Roy had indeed finally succumbed a couple of days after his initial stroke. (Story HERE.) We all played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late 70′s and Lee Roy went on to make it into the Hall of Fame, eventually settling into a post-football career as very successful restauranteur and philanthropist in the Tampa Bay area. .
But what has bothered me a lot after I first read about Lee Roy’s passing were a few journalists who insisted on comparing Lee Roy Selmon’s life to the late Dave Duerson (who committed suicide back in February this year). I have no doubt that Lee Roy and Duerson both died as a result of their brain injuries from professional football. But that is where the comparisons should end. .
Lee Roy and I were teammates in Tampa Bay from 1976 to 1978. Lee Roy was a truly nice guy and everyone liked him (unless you had to face him on the field!). However, to pass away at the age of 56 is way too young. We all know that concussions and strokes go hand-in-hand. His brother Dewey is also a nice guy and he played for the Buccaneers too. But Lee Roy was a very private person so it may be difficult to find out any of the details concerning his death. We can only hope that his family might share a little information about his stroke so that it may help many of us who are also facing a similar fate. .
Here’s one more piece on Lee Roy’s big heart and generosity: .
. Your wonderful Union at work. I received this short update from the Seattle Chapter’s Sam McCullum earlier this morning with a memo attached from Dee Becker in The Washington office. Basically, it’s more nothing. McCullum says that it’s basically all the NFL’s fault because their Alumni and George Martin are still trying to interject themselves as representatives of retired players while Becker is saying, “Gee, we already know what’s best for retired players and we’ve already decided on how to distribute this Legacy Fund money. So you might as well just shut up and take what you get!” . So I guess the thousands of retired players who have actually spoken up for their own voice and their own vote are chopped liver (or dog food as Gene Upshaw used to say)? Meanwhile, why is it that Disability Attorney John Hogan continues to dig up details just by reading the published CBA? (Click HERE to read John’s post.) .
And for your weekend entertainment, we also added a video of James Brown‘s old classic, Talking Loud and Saying Nothing to the end of this post. . .continue reading »
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave has still been included in this ongoing local (Seattle) e-mail chain from yesterday as he’s still a dues-paying member of the NFLPA. We’re posting these four latest e-mail exchanges here in unedited format for viewing and we’re also posting a separate rebuttal in a second post (click HERE). . . From: Harrison, Nolan [mailto:Nolan.HarrisonIII@nflplayers.com] Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:35 PM Subject: RE: Former Player’s Benefit Increase? .
There will be an official benefits statement coming from both parties. A couple of things that were accidentally left out of the CBA summary (sorry, everyone is rushing to meet the memberships demand for information) was the improvements to Plan 88 more on workers comp and long term care. . continue reading »
. Spencer Kopf put in a full hour interview with Sports Life Radio on Tuesday evening and we have the link to the entire piece (just click on the Red PLAY arrow and the interview will start): .
And once it starts playing, you can turn the volume up using the volume button: . . So here’s Spencer’s interview: . . BTW – Robert also did a one-hour interview on last week’s show (and didn’t want to post it up): . .
I just received a couple more group e-mail exchanges earlier today between Markus Koch and David Meggysey that were exchanged among several of us in the Seattle NFLPA membership (including me). So since it’s been broadcast out to several of us already, I may as well share this with everyone here. .
I have one clarification to make about Meggysey’s comment regarding my being “invited” by De Smith to participate and discuss retirees’ issues with the NFLPA directly: IT NEVER HAPPENED! Which is another reason the retirees have now stirred up this “hornets nest” as Markus put it so well. We’re tired of being lied to, misiniformed and then shortchanged on all of our earned disability and pension benefits. We’ve never been allowed a seat at the table let alone a real vote so it’s time we took charge of our own money and leave the NFLPA to continue looking after the active players. That was the whole point to our recent lawsuit: The Union was decertified and nonexistent during the recent lockout which is why individual players like Drew Brees and Tom Brady were suing the League and owners individually. The Union did NOT – and could not – represent the active players because they no longer existed. Same went for retired players that they’ve claimed to represent as a Union. So now they’ve re-certified as a Union, they’re trying once again to tell all of us that “Oh yes. We took care of you guys already. Everything has already been negotiated for you behind closed doors and you’ll be hearing all about the great things we negotiated for each of you in due time. Trust us. And wait some more.” .continue reading »
When I played football for the University of Washington Huskies and then went into the NFL first through the Baltimore Colts, on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and eventually with the Raiders, we all wore Riddell helmets. Little did I know that Riddell was an official paying sponsor of the NFL and was the supplier of choice for each of the teams for many years. This relationship made a lot of money for Riddell because kids playing Pee Wee, high school and college football were led to believe that Riddell was the best protection money could buy. And why not? All their heroes in the NFL were wearing them. .
Here’s one of my Topp Raiders cards with that older 70′s helmet – definitely not close to anything like the young players have today. (And the older guys from the 50′s and 60′s played with those leather “helmets”!) We were all coached to use our heads and helmets as part of our play and most of the older players still talk about stingers and having their bells rung several times in every game. And the League even went so far as to create their MTBI (MILD Traumatic Brain Injury) Committee headed for years by their own appointed Dr. No: Dr. Ira Casson who continued to spew their propaganda all the way up to Congress as recently as a couple of years ago. .
Our friend, George Visger, played for two years with the 49ers, ending his short career with a Super Bowl ring and 9 subsequent, life-changing brain surgeries that followed. And no disability or pension benefits because he only played for two years so he didn’t even meet the Disability Plan’s 4-year hurdle that all pre-93 players needed to qualify! Do you think his helmet was good protection? . Bowing to heavy pressure in recent years, the League has been making changes to the rules to protect its players from the effects of concussions. They also fired Dr. No and replaced him with a real expert and advocate in the field: Dr. Rich Ellenbogen. But what about all those decades of denial while continuing to misinform its employees with fake studies? And they did that while also sending a false sense of security to school and college players making it all look and sound eerily like the long era when the tobacco industry was telling the public that cigarette smoking was harmless. .
And that is why Heidi and I decided to join a lawsuit that holds the League and Riddell responsible for hiding and perpetuating the long-term damages from concussions. The suit was officially filed this week and we’ve just uploaded a full copy to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to go Full Screen for easier reading (just hit the ESC key to close): . Full Concussion and Helmet Lawsuit Filing Aug 3 2011 . NOTE: I’m not a lawyer and I am not here to solicit your business. But if you want more information, my contact person on this lawsuit is: .
Jason Luckasevic Goldberg, Persky & White
e-mail: Jluckasevic@gpwlaw.com
1030 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (412) 338-9460 – direct .
This is your Disability Board. This is your Disability Board at work. . Former Seattle Seahawk Sam McCullum has declared himself as Dave Duerson’s replacement on the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Disability Board. And he’s not shy to talk about it. McCullum’s been sending out his thoughts on disability and entitlement to the local chapter of the NFLPA and it’s inflamed (a mild way to put it!) a lot of retirees to say the least. Here are some clips from his latest e-mails (EDITOR’S NOTE: our highlights in RED): . “I can tell you this that the NFLPA and the league were in negotiations yesterday to finalize a number of open issues. I spoke to the folks about the benefits that are still pending, and was told I would learn a lot more at the meeting I will attending starting Wednesday. So time permitting I will send out an update on Friday. . continue reading »
EDITOR’S NOTE July 25, 2011: Looks like the CBA is being ratified by the active players today and now the battle is just beginning for the retired players. Hall of Famers listed in our Declaration of Independence have been receiving calls all weekend directly from people at the former NFLPA asking them why they signed on to this movement. And some retired player reps inside the former NFLPA offices are sending out messages and calling retirees to try and keep everyone confused and herded into their corner. So NOW you start calling retirees? AFTER the negotiations are done? Retired players were not allowed into final discussions and negotiations even after the judge ordered both the League and the active players to acknowledge and include them equally. So now the negotiations are over and no one can even provide details on what exactly has been “negotiated” as table scraps for retirees and they want each of you to simply roll over and take what they toss you as an afterthought? The NFLPA has already been found guilty of breach of fiduciary duty in the past and have done little or nothing to improve the lives and conditions for its retired player community as a whole. Retired players want to manage and gain full access to their own disability and pension benefits. NOW. Please be sure to sign the Retired Players Declaration of Independence – ClickHERE. And be sure to pass it along! . I just received my shiny new NFLPA membership card and letter a couple of days ago and boy, can a lot of stuff change in a year. First of all, the CBA is still being debated among the player reps inside the PA so the ‘Union’ is still basically decertified. Which should mean that they can’t represent the players – active OR retired. And one of the reasons why individual players like Drew Brees and Tom Brady had to file suit against the League and the owners individually. So what’s a poor Union to do? Well, take a look at the letter I just got from Nolan Harrison, Senior Director NFLPA Former Players, (on NFLPA stationery, no less) sent along with my new card (click on the thumbnails to enlarge for easier reading): continue reading »
As retired football players, we’re all sick and tired of everyone trying to tell us what’s best while not giving us a voice or a vote in how it’s done. With the CBA close to being finalized, the so-called Union, the NFLPA, is once again trying to walk away with our retirement and disability benefits as an afterthought to what they’ve negotiated for their active players. And with the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies coming up, a large group of Hall of Famers have signed a Retired Football Players Declaration of Independence (click on any images below to enlarge for easier reading and printing): . . We’re asking all retired players to read and sign on as well – I have already (PLEASE pass this along to all the other players you know): . .
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And if you know retired players who don’t have Internet access or e-mail, you can also download a copy of the Declaration by right-clicking HERE and saving the PDF version that you can then print out and distribute to fax in or send by snail-mail. Thanks for all your support! .
So this just came in from Sam McCullum yesterday afternoon. And now it turns out that they don’t want you to sign ONE form before you get YOUR money. Nope. They plan on sending you TWO forms. We caution everyone to wait until everyone’s had a chance to review these documents. We wonder if the active players had to jump through any hoops before they got their checks. Somehow we don’t think so…
It seems that the PA is still managing to put out as much as they can without saying anything while still blaming everyone else for holding the process up. Oh wait – they’re in Washington DC! That’s what EVERYONE does up there! We forgot!
An old teammate and someone I considered a friend passed away over the weekend. Last week, it had been reported – erroneously – that Lee Roy Selmon had died of a stroke in Tampa (
