Dave Pear's Blog

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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EDITOR’S NOTE: 9:30 PM PST – Judy Battista’s story just posted on the New York Times – Click HERE to read this breaking story.
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On Friday afternoon, a small group of us were informed about the details a conference call that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had with the attorneys and a small team of retired players from the Eller class action lawsuit. All of us were shocked to hear the news that there was an additional $500 million offered to the retirees that had gone undisclosed to them. From what we understand so far, the money would supposedly be earmarked for “charities, medical research, etc.” and then “managed” under the auspices of the PA. We’ll continue confirm and report more details as the story breaks over the next few days.
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In the meantime, we want to talk a little about how the Internet and social networks have changed the world of communications for better and for worse. We’ve watched an entire revolution take place in Egypt with the fall of the Mubarek regime that started with social network Twitter. And that revolution continues to spread across the Middle East. But social networks like Twitter can also be used to spread gossip and misinformation. And that also seems to happen more often than people may imagine. Fortunately, there’s also a good side to that as well. Leaving a trail of crumbs behind you is not exactly a smart strategy.
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I feel for the “terror” today’s players must be facing regarding a work stoppage. (To read the Sporting News article ‘NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith: ‘A lot of players are terrified’ about a work stoppage’ – Click HERE.) Luckily, I was able to support myself and family these last 28 years on the $65,000 plus partial playoff money (another $14,000) I made while a member of San Francisco 49′ers team in ’81. Shoot, if I wasn’t such an economically suave 23-year old when I was injured, I never would have survived the next 7 brain surgeries over the years. (The fact I had to sue for Workers Comp to get brain surgeries #2 and #3 paid did help keep the creditors at bay for a while.)

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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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