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Posted with the express consent of Irv Muchnick:
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NFL Players Boss DeMaurice Smith, Eric Holder’s Pal, Major Bad Guy in National Concussion Saga

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by Irvin Muchnick, 2011-08-12
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And now for a heartwarming anecdote from last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities that you probably didn’t know: The executive director of the National Football League Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, crashed the dinner in Canton, Ohio, which is traditionally reserved for Hall of Famers and new inductees, and started to speak. According to NFL legend Joe DeLamielleure, blogging for Dave Pear’s Independent Football Veterans, around a dozen guys walked out in the middle of Smith’s remarks.
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The NFLPA chief “had no idea that this audience consisted mostly of pre-1993 players,” said DeLamielleure, who estimated that the Hall of Famers in attendance included around 40 guys who receive monthly pension checks of exactly $176 from the $9-billion-a-year NFL. Confronted by the retirees, Smith said the “legacy fund” negotiated in the new collective bargaining agreement would increase them to between $1,000 and $1,500 a month.
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The Congressional Confirmation Hearings for Eric Holder as Attorney General are going on right now. Most of the retired players have expressed their negative views about this mouthpiece and lobbyist for the NFL. Their fears of Holder running interference with ongoing Congressional investigations into the NFL’s mistreatment of its retired players need to be brought to the forefront to ensure that Holder will be forced to recuse himself from anything to do with the NFL. Better yet – after looking at some of the press coverage on the things he’s been involved with over the years, perhaps he shouldn’t be confirmed.

No doubt, Holder is one of the best lawyers money can buy… But surely there are better, more ethical attorneys (is that an oxymoron?) for the job?

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