Dave Pear's Blog

Seriously. Most of our readers have no idea about some of the stuff that comes through to us while running this blog. For those of you who post comments, you’ll know that all comments are held for moderation in order to filter out spam (we get lots of them after spammers realized how much traffic we get), bad language and just plain dumb comments. Once in a while (although not much these days, we’ll get a weird one from some strange source or another (remember these two posts from back in 2008 HERE and HERE).
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Anyway, after posting the piece on the new OSHA study summary on long-term problems from brain injuries pose for football players, we found this strange comment awaiting approval (as always, click on thumbnails to enlarge for easier viewing):
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Last Friday, the NFLPA wrote a sanctimonious letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell regarding their indignation over the League’s use of replacement referees in this new season. The NFLPA has continued to whittle away at retirees’ benefits and rights with each passing agreement all while trying to point out what a great job they did for retirees – and let’s not forget overlooking the widows – in the new CBA. Their hypocrisy deserves a cynical and sarcastic response for all the Union’s whining after the CBA was signed (and let’s not forget that DeMaurice Smith was bragging about what a terrific deal he had cut right after it was signed last year; it earned him a new multimillion dollar contract and bonus).
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So we’ve reproduced the NFLPA’s letter below (on the left) and written a similar letter back to him – and the NFL – on behalf of retired players (on the right). Enjoy! Click on each image to enlarge for easier reading and printing.
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The Super Bowl show is now in full swing and today, George Martin and the NFL Alumni Board showed up for a full-court press conference to show unity behind their beloved leader. FOX Sports was in attendance and A.J. Perez covered it (comic book version at the bottom of the post) :
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NFL alumni board defends director

by A.J. Perez
Feb. 2, 2012
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Members of the NFL Alumni Association board of directors voiced their support for executive director George Martin at a news conference Thursday, a week after a FOXSports.com report revealed possible mismanagement of the financially strapped organization.
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“People can write whatever they want to write,” said Harry Carson, a former teammate of Martin’s on the New York Giants who pushed vigorously for Martin’s appointment in 2009. “You see all the individuals sitting here. We are backing this man 150 percent. We are his teammates and we are doing everything that we can to help our team, the retired players community, be successful.”
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FOXSports.com reported that the NFL Alumni Association — which began to advocate for retired players in conjunction with Martin’s hiring — has slid deeper into financial disarray and has been propped up by NFL loans totaling more than $4 million over the past two years. Martin also funneled contracts to family members, according to the report, and the charity he founded received free Super Bowl tickets.
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Five board members spoke on Martin’s behalf when asked about the report during the news conference. Afterward, one of the board members, former Baltimore Colts running back Tom Nowatzke, told FOXSports.com that the NFLAA ethics board addressed one of the conflict-of-interest claims made in the article: Martin’s use of his wife and daughter-in-law’s catering firm.
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Guys,
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A few comments from the notes I took down during the Santa Clara Law Sports Law Symposium:
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I was able to catch De alone for a few minutes outside at the coffee urn. He acted like he didn’t know who I was. Maybe he doesn’t??? In any event, I told him that I would really appreciate the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss disability. He told me to send him an e-mail!
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I received compliments from at least two guys who were amazed that I could hold my tongue during my presentation! I did directly ask him one question in my presentation – and he never answered it. It was about the new neuro-cognitive benefit – which I think is more PR or window dressing than a measure which will actually help any retired players.
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I thought he was taking down a lot of notes during my brief presentation – in fact, one of the audience members said that he was. However, when I looked over at him after I was finished, all I saw on the paper were doodles!
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De was the keynote speaker before our panel – the topic was concussions. However, other than saying that concussions were the NFL’s most significant health issue in the past five years, he did not speak at all about concussions. Rather, he said, “We need a broader discussion on health issues…(including) diabetes and heart disease… (as well as obesity).”
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One former player said that his talk was more like a commencement address, as it was filled with generalities and platitudes: “Our proper goal should be what is right and what is fair.” (Duh!) He also said to be, “…radical in your thoughts, unyielding in your criticism, with the goal of seeking justice.”
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Someone in the audience called out “My cow died!”
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De continued, unfazed, until the guy yelled out again “My cow died!”
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Somewhat rattled, De asked “What do you mean?” To which the heckler replied “I don’t need your bull anymore!”
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Now I can Dig That!
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Not a word about retired players. Not a word about the Legacy fund. Most unfortuately, there was no time for questions and De made a dash for the door with Delvin Williams and Irv Muchnick trying to ask him questions.
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Well, at least he showed up…
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John Hogan
Disability Attorney & Retired Players Advocate
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OK – many of you readers have had some time to look over that LM-2 we posted on Monday (click HERE to go to that post). We’ve already been receiving some e-mails on different tidbits that some of our readers have discovered:

And a little Friday humor to kick the weekend off:
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Gets Pranked By Seattle Seahawks Raheem Brock And Chester Pitts

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In a bid to end the lockout, Seattle Seahawks Raheem Brock and Chester Pitts take their talents from the field to the phone with a prank call to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Expect Barack Obama impersonations and ‘gajillion’ dollar requests to aid in their mission.
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Holy cow! You’d think we never went into the off-season already. Or maybe we just had to wait until Super Bowl was over to get more media attention. But the coverage on concussions has become a loud theme everywhere, especially following the suicide of Dave Duerson last week. Duerson had left instructions with his family to ensure that his brain was donated to the Sports Legacy Institute to look for the presence and extent of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), the marker for dementia and other brain problems. We had published a critical post on the NFLPA’s three representatives on the 6-member Board for the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retired NFL Players Retirement Plan, of which Duerson was a long-standing member. (You can read that May 2010 post by clicking HERE.)
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The New York Times‘ Alan Schwarz had two recent articles focusing on Duerson’s death and CTE:

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Like many of you, Dave has recently received his new membership package from the NFLPA, complete with a slick new “Union Membership” tag/card. This new card re-affirms the NFLPA’s affiliation with the AFL/CIO and the Federation of Professional Athletes. And we also checked into the new Drunk Driver Protection Program with a toll-free number to call to for a limo to avoid getting penalized by Roger Goodell for bad behavior (non-emergency use by retired players is also available – for a measly $85 an hour!). And, of course, the NFL School of Legends logo is there as the new replacement program for that failed Group Licensing Agreement from Gene Upshaw. All these fantastic new programs and the NFLPA still gets absolutely no respect from the retired players. What’s a poor Union to do?

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I was reading a Wall Street Journal article that circulated a couple of weeks ago and really had to take some time to digest it all.

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When it comes to dealing with its senior retired players, it seems that the NFL and the NFLPA have consistently been running on a strategy of doing too little too late. And that’s the only thing they seem to do consistently. First, concussions couldn’t possibly cause any long-term problems. Then, they decided they DO cause long-term damage (but only to active players!), so they fired Dr. No and quickly created all those new rules and fancy posters warning all the current players about the dangers of concussions. Those new rules came all the way down from the Commissioner’s office and – if followed to the letter – would completely change the game of football. Even a lot of the players have come forward to point out how ridiculous and confusing this has become – all in a short span of just a few weeks. Sheesh!

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Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith practically dance in lockstep around all the important issues when it comes to paying retired players’ benefits. They may as well be on Dancing with the Stars! (Thanks for this, John.)

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We keep re-reading Gordon Wright’s case with its overwhelming evidence that he did indeed qualify for his 1968 season (click HERE to read that earlier post) and how the Disability Board, its directors AND the lawyers are still saying they’ve declared the last word on his case. We can only shake our heads in disbelief and answer with some Monday Morning Humor on how the NFL’s Disability and Pension Benefits Program is stacked up against you.

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