Dave Pear's Blog

Wearing my Riddell helmet

To My Fellow Retired Players,
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There are so many law firms who recently have filed concussion lawsuits since my attorneys originally filed the first two lawsuits EVER on concussions. I am glad to see that others have joined this litigation to hold the NFL accountable for hiding the long term risks of brain injury from all of us.
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In my opinion, if you have cognitive problems, you should join one of these lawsuits.
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The unique thing about the lawsuits being filed by my attorneys is that they ALSO sue Riddell and NFL Properties. This is something others have chosen not to do so far. I’ve also signed with Hausfeld LLP in their lawsuit against the NFLPA.
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In the end, let’s hope all these attorneys will unite and work together for the many debilitated retirees and are successful for each of us in the end. And I truly hope that we will also collect from Riddell for their part on the concussion epidemic.
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For more information, you’re welcome to contact my attorney, Jason Luckasevic, at (412) 338-9460 or (412) 400-6570 or e-mail him at jluckasevic@gpwlaw.com
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Regards,
Dave & Heidi Pear
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We also received this word of caution from Jim Mitchell at Hausfeld LLP regarding the growing number of law firms and the various claims of being lead attorneys. This is advice well worth following:
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Dear Retired Players:
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In order to clear up some misinformation that is currently being circulated within the retired players community about the concussion suits, please be advised that if you have signed onto a concussion suit with one firm, it is important not to sign up with a second firm. All of the personal injury concussion suits will be consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and a leadership structure for all the cases will be established by the Court. If any law firm is advising you that they are the “lead” firm in the concussion matter, please be advised that this is untrue. NO single law firm has been granted leadership of the concussion matters despite rumors to the contrary. To date, 29 different concussion suits have been filed. A leadership structure is currently being negotiated by numerous firms and will likely result in a joint leadership role for many of the firms involved.
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Hausfeld continues to press ahead with its own personal injury concussion case (Boyd v. NFL) which was filed on behalf of over 100 former players.
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Hausfeld will be amending its concussion complaint in the next week or so and will add any and all former players who have not yet signed onto a case.
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If you have any questions or would like to know if you have previously signed onto a concussion suit, please call me at (202) 540-7148 to discuss. Hausfeld maintains a master list of ALL former players who have signed onto a concussion case, whether it is with Hausfeld or another law firm.
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Thank you.
Jim Mitchell
Hausfeld, LLP
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To all retired players:
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On Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. your case will be argued against the NFLPA in front of Judge Susan Nelson in St. Paul, Minnesota. The NFLPA filed a Motion to Dismiss and this hearing will be to determine if your case is dismissed.
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If you will recall, in September and October of 2011, 47 former NFL players, including 27 Hall of Famers (26 of whom who are listed in the NFL’s official encyclopedia as 300 of the greatest players in NFL history), representing every decade in pro football since the 1940′s, filed a class action lawsuit against the NFLPA. The class representatives represent virtually every position in football, and every category of NFL player – including vested, non-vested, Hall of Famers, forgotten players, and legends of the game. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all former NFL players and seeks to increase the retirement benefits of all players – vested and non-vested
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The NFLPA is asking that your case be dismissed against them. We will argue that your case deserves to be heard by a jury.
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It would be great if the Judge could see a courtroom of retired players who are all in support of having your case get heard by a jury. So if you are available to make it to Minnesota to attend the hearing, I ask that you mark it on your schedule and come show your support for your case. It is particularly important that you attend if you live locally.
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The address is below. Please let me know if you plan to attend. Thanks.
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Best regards,
Shawn D. Stuckey, Esq.
(former NFL player – New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
Courtroom 7B
United States District Court
774 Federal Building
316 North Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55106
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(Eller/Bednarik et. al, v. NFLPA and Gault/McElhenney et. al, v. NFLPA) Case No. 11-CV-2623 SRN/JJG (D. Minn.)
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave will be heading in to the hospital tomorrow morning (Tuesday) for his scheduled total right hip replacement. We’ll keep you posted on his progress. In the meantime, we’ve been following the growing number of new concussion and helmet lawsuits over the past couple of months from all across the country. It’s been hard keeping up with all the details and lawyers and players behind each suit. Last week, many of them were consolidated in a Federal Court in Pennsylvania under Judge Anita Brody. Dave asked one of his attorneys, Jason Luckasevic, from the firm Goldberg Persky & White, to provide an overview and summary of what has happened so far.
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Yesterday, a story made its way across the sports networks about an 11-page letter from attorney and player/agent advisor David Cornwell criticizing NFLPA Executive Director’s performance in general and his handling of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in particular. Interestingly, one of the first posts about this memo actually came from the NFL.
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Some of you may recall that when Gene Upshaw passed away suddenly just before the beginning of the Players Inc. trial and the NFLPA subsequently went through a long search process for a new Executive Director. Among some of the leading candidates were retired player Troy Vincent and attorney David Cornwell. DeMaurice Smith emerged as the winner much to the surprise of many people. Cornwell takes issue with Smith’s version of his successes in running the PA and the CBA negotiations, as well as how he’s kow-towed to the League on player discipline issues. Most retired players could add at least another 11 pages to your letter, Mr. Cornwell!
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Cornwell takes issue with NFLPA leader Smith in 11-page letter

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FOX Sports‘ A.J. Perez and Alex Marvez kick off Super Bowl week with a scathing exposé on the inner workings of the NFL Alumni and its Executive Director, George Martin.
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One question we keep wondering about: Just exactly how many retired football player members does the NFL Alumni actually have? The one thing even the NFLPA manages to be transparent about is its membership roster and they even provide an online list for all to see. But George Martin and his management team continue to cite numbers in the thousands, claiming that their membership is the largest collective group of retired players. But this article cites around $80,000 collected from May through September 2011. At $100 per member, simple arithmetic tells you that’s 800 members. But when you factor in the $5,000 fees from the remaining chapters who may have sent in their dues during that same period, one has to wonder how much of that $80,000 actually comes from individual memberships? We’ve heard from all too many sources that the membership has dropped to below 500 actual dues-paying retired players, with the remaining members classified as “Associate Members” that include fans and other non-retirees. Heck, if the NFL has given the Alumni $4 million in interest-free loans since George Martin took over, maybe it might have been cheaper to just pay each of the estimated 15,000+ retired players (just one estimate) $100 apiece to be members of the Alumni?
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OK – so here we go again. We posted Dan Pastorini’s story about wanting to opt out of the NFL Alumni’s Group Licensing Agreement (click HERE to read that earlier post). On their membership page online, the GLA was automatically attached as a part of the membership process with no option to opt-out of the agreement in order to join the Alumni. Dan pointed that out to the rest of us. And that’s when the knives came out.
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Look, we don’t care who said what and exactly what the details may have been between Dan Pastorini and George Martin. And quite frankly, like most people, WHO REALLY CARES?!! But then two Alumni members, David Carter, President of the Houston Chapter, and Rod Smith, Carolinas Chapter President – both members on the Alumni Board of Directors apparently – decided to give a detailed He-Said-He-Said version of what transpired between Pastorini and Martin. And then Jeff Nixon decided to jump in on the Alumni blog and make it personal with Dave and me. Again. We only hope they’re paying you well over at the Alumni now, Jeff…
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Here’s the real issue and this is what we’re absolutely 110% in agreement with Dan Pastorini: Attaching a completely unrelated and unsolicited Licensing Agreement to what’s supposed to be nothing more than a simple membership enrollment is just plain wrong! In fact, it’s downright sneaky, unethical and it actually violates consumer law!
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Jeff Nixon decided to call Dan Thursday and Dan shared that conversation with us on Friday:
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“Jeff Nixon told me that George had admitted ‘He may have made a mistake’ in tying the GLA to their membership enrollment.”
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“If I almost missed it when I was signing up, then I wonder how many other players had already missed that GLA footnote? And that was my point! It was all a matter of principle.” Dan said. “As a matter of fact, if George is finally coming out and admitting that it was a mistake in adding the contract and they’re now planning on removing that hook, what about all the guys who have already inadvertently signed their GLA? I think the Alumni needs to invalidate all those copies of the GLA that they’ve acquired through their membership forms and then offer their GLA to its members separately. It’s not me I’m concerned about now. It’s any of the other guys who have already been locked into this GLA without their full knowledge or consent.”

Just sign here...

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Dave -
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After reading over the NFL Alumni’s Group Licensing Agreement, I decided to notify them that I couldn’t – and wouldn’t – accept their GLA which has developed virtually no revenue whatsoever for retired players. In fact, it looks to be clearly designed to impact and damage the Dryer v. NFL lawsuit on behalf of all retired players. Next thing you know, I’m being told by George Martin himself that I could no longer be a member of the NFL Alumni!
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I’d like to suggest that other retired players might not want to be NFL Alumni members …unless they want to support the NFL’s ongoing poor treatment of retired players. We don’t want to be paying for George’s new Escalade and we sure don’t want another repeat of Gene Upshaw’s GLA “One-for-You-and-One-Million-for-Me” deals. (Click on Dan’s membership cancellation to enlarge for easier reading.)
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Dan Pastorini
Oilers, Rams, Raiders & Eagles
1971 – 1984
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dan sent us some additional clarification on his Alumni membership:
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I tried to pay my dues online but it wouldn’t let me unless I checked the GLA box! I then e-mailed them and asked why I couldn’t join without agreeing to the GLA. They informed me I could send a check. Then I got George’s e-mail stating I was no longer a member.
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Dan
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We uploaded a copy of the NFL Alumni GLA to Scribd for viewing and printing and to make it downloadable. You can also click the Fullscreen button on the left side of the menu to enlarge it for easier navigation (hit the ESC key to close)
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NFL Alumni Group Licensing Agreement
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Football damaged my brain and it didn’t have to happen

GEORGE VISGER, a former 49er, tells his story
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Due to the size and speed of today’s football players, the kinetic energy they generate during hits can have long-term consequences. Here’s my story:
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My football career began at age 11 in 1970 when I suited up for the West Stockton Bear Cubs, the first Pee Wee Pop Warner team fielded in Stockton, Calif. Of the 29 kids on the team, three went on to sign NFL contracts in 1980 (myself — sixth round, New York Jets; Jack Cosgrove — eighth round, Seattle Seahawks; Pat Bowe — free agent, Green Bay Packers).
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During my third year of Pop Warner, I was hospitalized when I knocked myself unconscious during a tackling drill. The exercise was a needless bull-in-the-ring drill that was more of a gladiator competition for the coaches’ amusement than a means of teaching useful techniques to young players.
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The coaches had us form a big circle about 25 yards across and numbered the 40 of us 1 to 20 on each side. When your number was called, you and the player on the other side with the same number sprinted directly at each other and hit head-to-head.
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Concussions followed throughout my high school career, though I never missed a game or practice. In my senior year, we went 11-0 and ranked No. 3 in California. I was selected to the All-America Top 100 Team.
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I entered the University of Colorado on a football scholarship in 1976 as a 6-foot, 5-inch 235-pound defensive tackle, majoring in biology. I was a starter for three years and suffered a number of minor concussions, but I never missed a play except after leg injuries.
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Turning pro

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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.
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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):
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Dave Pear’s Disability Increase Notice
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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)
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Happy Holidays, Football and Sports Concussion Establishment: 2012 Is the Year of the Tobacco-Style Lawsuit

Posted with the express consent of Irv Muchnick from his blog Concussion Inc.:

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We now have a publicly available copy of the Settlement Agreement details and the subsequent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) made when the CBA was ratified. The individual active players (Brady et al) agreed to drop their suits that were filed against the NFL when the Union decertified during the lockout. We’re posting this for weekend reading and look forward to your comments and observations. Note that it was Jeffrey Kessler who filed this without any seal.
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We’ve uploaded the entire 201-page document 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):
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Brady Settlement for 2011 NFL/NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement
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We’re sorry but we just couldn’t help it. Comparing recent news involving two big-name coaches like John Madden and Joe Paterno Last week, John Madden came forward like the great leader he is and declared that they would now be taking players out of the game when they get concussed. In the Electronic Arts video game that bears his name. Nice. Is that much different than the Wall of Silence that we’ve seen from coach Joe Paterno surrounding the juggernaut of charges still mounting against his BFF Jerry Sandusky that include child sex abuse and rape? Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, both of them continue to believe in the sanctity of football to protect those at the top from any accountability. It’s this arrogant air that finds the rest of us scratching our heads wondering what planet these people are living on.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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Here we are coming up to the end of November and as you can see from a lot of the comments on earlier posts, everyone would like to know where those big, fat pension increases have gone. This morning, I received another local NFLPA communiqué from Sam McCullum and once again, it’s a lot of nothing in a long string of paragraphs. The only good advice he passes along is, “Don’t go spending it until you get it!”
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A WORD OF CAUTION: This recent e-mail talks about signing a “Declaration” before you can get your money. All of our lawyers have cautioned us NOT to sign ANY declarations or agreements until it’s been carefully reviewed. (Remember those nasty GLA agreements that they had us sign so we could get paid “our share of the video game licensing revenues?” Yeah, right!) We expect to be posting a legal advisory on this declaration as soon as it’s available - you don’t want to be signing away any of your rights to sue the NFL OR the NFLPA through another typical weasel-worded ‘Declaration.’ If anyone gets an advance copy, please feel free to share it with us.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Several weeks back, the NFLPA put out a request to local chapters for three questions to send along to their big meeting in Washington DC. Disability Attorney John Hogan actually had a few questions to point out in the new CBA. John also has some observations from a recent case that was “approved” by the Disability Board:
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1. The CBA contains some significant changes in disability – specifically, there will no longer be a requirement to show that your disability is ALL football-related. Why weren’t these changes made retroactive so that guys who are disabled but denied football degenerative might be able to get a better deal?
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