Dave Pear's Blog

With all the recent coverage on drugs in the NFL – both “legal” and illegal – I’ve been getting a lot of media inquiries coming in about my personal experiences from playing back in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Like a lot of things from the past, many have now come to roost as part of NFL culture today. Painkillers and Novocaine shots were accepted treatments in the locker rooms of my day and it’s a small wonder that the young players today seem to feel that they’re expected to do whatever it takes to make themselves worth those big salaries they get from the NFL. You reap what you sow and the steroid problem is at least as much a consequence of the NFL’s drug culture over the decades as it is the product of the competitiveness among today’s players themselves. What did they think would happen?

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Here’s one recent article from USA Today about another drug investigation (108 prescriptions?!!):

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Dear Roger Goodell,

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Thank you for signing the $200.00 reimbursement check for my total left hip replacement of April 29, 2008. Boy, it sure did take a long time but I guess it’s better that nothing. By the way, I’ve had 2 more surgeries since then. On August 11, 2009 I had 4-3½ inch screws along with 4 nuts and 2 bars removed from my spine at L3-4. And on March 4, 2010 I also had a hydrocele repair. I have more out-of-pocket expenses for these surgeries. (Click on the thumbnail to see this big check.)

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My question is, “How is a retired player suppose to pay for ALL the out-of-pocket expenses for major surgery and then hope to get reimbursed?” This is counterintuitive to any insurance benefit I have ever heard of. I certainly know from first-hand experience that Medicare certainly doesn’t work that way!  Is this the way YOUR health insurance plan works for you? Most retired players aren’t able to cover out-of-pocket expenses with money they don’t have to pay for their surgeries from playing football in the NFL.

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Once again, the Groom Law Group has the audacity to continue fabricating another crafty document where even the smallest benefit is unreachable for the vast majority of retired players and especially for those who need it the most.

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A Message to NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith -

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No More Band-Aids!

You were recently quoted in the media saying, “I’ve seen consistent improvements in pensions and healthcare for our players and former players.” Are you serious?!! Gene Upshaw and the NFLPA Leadership were convicted and found guilty of “Breaching their Fiduciary Duty” and “Breach of Contract” towards retired players in a Federal Court. And certainly the NFLPA and the NFL are also guilty of Breaching their Fiduciary Duty over disability benefits. The pensions for many retired players amount to not much more than a monthly car lease payment (minus the down payment because their pensions are too small for a real car payment). Upshaw once bragged publicly in the media that under his brutal dictatorship, pensions had increased almost 50% for many of the older retirees. What he failed to mention was that their monthly pensions jumped from a shameful $139 a month to a whopping $179 a month for guys like Herb Adderley. Never mind the fact that many of our men took early pensions based on the myth perpetuated by your plan actuarial numbers done by owners through AON Consulting that stated most of us were going to be dead before the age of 55.

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When will retired players begin to receive restitution? Until that happens, NOTHING will have really changed!

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Over a week ago, I wrote and sent a letter with questions for Mary-Ann Fleming, Director of Disability Benefits for our Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. You can read that earlier post by clicking HERE. The letters were mailed out by USPS Priority Mail to her and Larry Lamade at Akin Gump. Copies of the letter were also sent out to the NFLPA representatives on the Disability Board, as well as Roger Goodell (Chairman of the Disability Board) and DeMaurice Smith at the NFLPA.

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USPS receipts indicated that the letters were received by Mary-Ann Fleming’s office as well as Larry Lamade’s office. I received this FedEx response from Mary-Ann Fleming’s office late last week and I have yet to hear back from Larry Lamade. (Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the letter for easier reading.) Looks like Ms. Fleming is away on business and vacation for a couple of weeks. We’ll keep everyone posted as things develop.

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It looks like the NFL and its Commissioner Roger Goodell are swift and decisive when it comes to handing out punishment for players who step out of line with the League’s high standards of conduct. In keeping with these high standards, just who is supposed to be handing out punishment when the NFL steps out of line? And just how severe should the consequences be?

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Back in April 2008, Dave had his left hip replaced and he’s scheduled to have his right hip replaced later this Fall. At that time, the NFL announced their Hip Replacement Program with great fanfare and retired players were once again hopeful that they would be seeing something new. You can read all those past posts on Dave’s Hip Replacement adventure with the NFL by clicking HERE – you can scroll through the list of past posts on Dave’s hip replacement story.

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In recent months, several retired players have been comparing notes with us on the current state of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. Dave just sent a letter with those questions to Mary-Ann Fleming, the NFL’s Director of Player Benefits.

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Most of you have been following our recent coverage on the missing Severance Pay that more and more retired players have come to realize that they’ve never received. The NFLPA has just put together an outline of steps that former players can follow on Severance Pay. Andre Collins, Director for Player Benefits, submitted these instructions this morning.

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We understand from some of the former players who have recently approached the NFLPA for assistance are reporting that the Union has taken a much more proactive direction in providing help with locating paperwork and advice. We’ve attached the pertinent pages from the current CBA to the end of this post. You can also click HERE to read an earlier post from Irv Cross with the section from earlier CBA’s to see if you qualify. Many of you also have written in or called us directly and we’ve forwarded all of your information directly to the NFLPA.

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Up here in Seattle, we still remember when the King Dome was imploded (March 26, 2000) to make way for the new SafeCo Stadium that is now home to the Seattle Mariners baseball team. Earlier this morning, the old Texas Stadium was finally imploded now that Jerry Jones’ new Coliseum has finally been finished. So here’s a news clip of the Texas Stadium implosion. And with all the serious stuff about Dr. Amen’s brain scan study and concussions, we’re also including a little bit of humor from Mark Gungor on the difference between men‘s and women’s brains. Have a great Sunday!

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Wayne Hawkins has been fighting a losing battle with dementia and his wife, Sharon, finally got him in to the Amen Clinic recently. When she read Larry Kaminski’s recent post about his visit, Sharon sent us an e-mail about Wayne’s visit. She graciously allowed us to share this with all of you. Our thoughts are with you and Wayne, Sharon!

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Hi Dave,

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I just read Larry Kaminski’s story of his experience at the Amen Clinic.

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I hope most of you have been following our posts on Burt Grossman’s Severance Pay debacle with the NFL. It’s just more standard business practice for the League and its owners.

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As retired players, most of us have been denied our disability benefits even when the NFL’s own doctors state that you’re 80%+ disabled (as was my case in 1995). Many of us then turn to early retirement and take what little they force you to accept just to make ends meet. Now it looks like they have a pattern – no, a policy – of making sure their retired players don’t receive the Severance Pay that they’ve been promised under written contract.

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What I can’t understand is why they have to continue this type of behavior. The last 5 years have been among the most lucrative in the League’s history and the latest broadcast revenues are beyond anything that MLB and the NBA could even begin to imagine! Yet these people pay their employees the least of any major professional sport for one of the most physically demanding jobs. With health care reform going through Washington DC right now, we can only hope that as an employer, the NFL is finally held accountable for paying their fair share.

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A couple of recent articles caught our attention today, one of them discussing the Madden Curse – what happens when you find yourself featured on the cover of the latest edition of Electronic Arts Madden Football:

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To Grace Or Not to Grace The Cover: Is Madden Curse For Real?

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Aaron Hewitt: Dave at Home

Yesterday, I was reading a recent article on Bleacher Report titled Dear NFL: Eight Changes That Need to Be Made Now (click HERE to read their eight changes). It got me thinking again about the real changes that need to be made for retired players:

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Dear  NFL, NFLPA, NFL Retirement board,

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There were few people who didn’t like Merlin Olsen. He passed away early today in Salt Lake City at the age of 69 after a long battle with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs.

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Merlin was a class act and his talents went beyond the football field. He remained a familiar face announcing games for years after playing the game. And he was a Hall of Famer. After playing in Super Bowl XV in 1981, I remember Merlin as one of the announcers! Olson also went on to successful acting career in such television series like Little House on the Prairie. Here are a couple of lead stories in today’s news: Click HERE and HERE.

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And here’s a video tribute to the Fearsome Foursome:

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We want to take a moment to inform our readers: George Visger’s brother died in a car accident last Friday and Memorial Services are being held today.

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From George: Below is the information that people can use to donate to the Melvin J. Visger Memorial Scholarship fund. We coordinated with Ted Leland at UOP yesterday after they said people were asking where to send money when they heard my brother died. Donations will fund an endowment account and will go to a Stagg High student each year in memory of my brother, Mel.

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One of the more common questions coming in from recently retired players (the last 10 – 15 years) has been about severance pay. In our last post, both Lionel James and Burt Grossman mentioned that they weren’t even aware of any severance pay clauses. Irv Cross sent in a response through the Comments and we decided to put it up as a general post so it would be more visible to everyone. Thanks, Irv!

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What we can’t figure out is why players are so uninformed – or misinformed – about their benefits and pay? In my own inquiries about disability and pension benefits, I’ve had the phone hung up on me by people I was sent to at the NFLPA and I even ended up talking to the League’s attorney, Larry Lamade, over at Akin Gump when my own Union couldn’t provide me with a current copy of the retirement plan. And now former Bucs’ President Gay Culverhouse has set up an advocacy program, Players Outreach, to provide some missing guidance through this maze that our paid Union people should have been providing all this time.

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Burt:

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With the lead-up to Super Bowl and daily press conferences filled with posturing on both sides, some real news came out from NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith this afternoon regarding The Groom Law Group – THEY’RE FIRED! After years of being on the inside working both sides of the fence and writing one of the worst disability and pension plans in any industry, someone finally took notice and did what should have been done years ago.

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For years, Bernie Parrish has been pointing out the deep conflicts of interest where The Groom Law Group has placed itself: They worked for the NFL, they worked for the NFLPA AND they wrote the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. We’ve written a lot about this on our blog – including several pieces from Bernie – covering my personal experiences with trying to apply for my disability benefits under Groom Law Group’s ridiculous rules. And my personal experiences are atypical of the way most retired players are treated when they apply for their rightful benefits. Groom Law Group has taken millions from all sides to the detriment of the retired players – they collected nearly $600,000 from the NFLPA alone in 2008 according to the PA’s LM-2 on file. (Look at the Related Posts below this post or just click HERE to see what a search brings up for Groom Law Group on our blog).

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I can only hope that this will be the start of real change in the way retired players are treated and looked upon by its own Union. And perhaps it may not be too much to hope that retired players will finally be given an opportunity to participate and shape their own futures.

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