(or How They have been Used to Cheat You)

.

We have now established that both the NFL and the NFLPA have been using fake “Experts” to trick Fans, Active Players, the Media, Congress, the Courts and Us. They have reached determinations and given testimony on Retired Player rights and benefits that were nothing more than shams in too many cases.

.

Time after time, these unqualified and prejudiced authorities have made ignorant and insane representations regarding Retired Player health, disability, pension and financial rights issues. NFL doctors have ignored scientific evidence and studies that have been around for almost one hundred years on the dangers of concussions and blows to the head. Former NFLPA Executive Director Eugene Upshaw – in his own way – misrepresented himself as having legal knowledge by incorrectly stating that it was against the law for a Retired Player to collect both a pension and a disability payment.

.

In another arena, over the years we’ve always been angered when we hear about some of the so-called Experts who have walked into our Courts Of Law and given what they swore was expert testimony but then been exposed years later as liars, frauds and nothing more than con men with phony and questionable credentials. In some instances, they spoke as authorities for many years before being exposed. Then one day, someone looked into their credentials and qualifications and their entire credibility collapsed.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

In our last post – Valerie Thomas: Life Under Upshaw – former NFLPA Research Analyst and Paralegal Valerie Thomas discussed her years of abuse and violation of her employee’s rights under the heavy hand of departed Executive Director Gene Upshaw and his inner circle. Bob Grant had posted several questions to her in the comments section about the toll from her long battle with the NFLPA and how it has affected her and her family over the years. This is Part 2 of Valerie Thomas’ story.

.

We hope your legal team is reading this blog, Mr. Smith. You owe Valerie Thomas big time!

.

Bob’s Questions:

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Valerie Thomas

Dave,

.

Thank you for your earlier comment and for allowing me to be an active participant on your blog.

.

It’s hard to accept that a union whose efforts that you supported, including financially, would turn against you in your time of need: your  post-football career.

.

I know first-hand what it feels like to be ignored and it is even more dehumanizing to have been ignored while looking in the faces of the perpetrators on a daily basis. For example, my basic needs and rights to have access to my job were denied. When I reported to work, I was locked out with no key to get in the front door and no key to access the elevator. Once on the elevator, I couldn’t get off on the floor where I worked. Instead, I could only get off on the floor below mine and had to walk up a public stairwell. During the mornings, when I had to do business on other floors I had to walk up and down the public stairwells. I could not use the elevator like everyone else, including interns and temporary employees. At lunchtime and upon my return from lunch, I had to go through the same routine with no access to my floor and walk up a public stairwell (two sets of 12 stairs = 24 steps each way). In the afternoons, if I had to do business on other floors, I had to walk up and down the public stairwells. NFLPA management and its legal representatives harassed, intimidated and retaliated against me; they dared me to protect my rights and when I did, they then cheated and stole my livelihood and my family’s legacy.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Gentlemen:

…

My name is Marvin Cobb. I played at USC in the early 70’s, and I played 6 seasons in the league, mostly with the Cincinnati Bengals in the late 70’s where I also served as a Player Rep. I am now an Independent Advocate for increased pensions and better disability benefits for retired NFL players and as such, I am proud to have had the honor of co-producing the first Las Vegas Independent Retired Football Players Summit with Bob Grant last May. We featured two of the nation’s foremost experts on brain injury from football and hopefully showed the NFLPA how to put on a proper agenda that addresses the real issues that are important to retired players and will be important to you one day very soon.

…

I am reaching out to you men playing the game today, to attempt something that may not work. It didn’t work on me either when I was playing. I was much too busy being “indestructible” and planning my long “15-year career.” Like you, I couldn’t admit that as a DB, my retirement from football would probably not be planned. And like you, I used my once-good credit to finance a lifestyle that cost twice as much as the Bengals paid me. I didn’t find out until an MRI 20 years later that what the Bengals team doc called a “stinger” was really a fractured vertebra (and I still tried to play another year). Nevertheless, recalling that old saying about leading horses to water, I know I can’t make you drink, but maybe I can help make you a little thirsty.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Over the past 24 hours, we’ve certainly had a lot of discussions around the old adage “Not seeing the forest for the trees.” In the old way of controlling their spin on all stories about football, the NFL managed to keep all of the television networks and most of the major print media on very short leashes because of their broadcast rights and access to players and managers for interviews. And then the Internet came along. Despite claims of a few who proudly proclaim they invented the Internet and Facebook, this new medium has not only moved the retired football players battle to a new and level playing field; it’s in a different league altogether. Just as the past two weeks have completely caught Tiger Woods and his team of old-school PR flacks like deer in the headlights, the NFLPA and the NFL and their old media machines have been hard-pressed to catch up with a new medium that they can no longer control. The Internet doesn’t belong to anyone and it belongs to everyone.

…

As so many of you already know, Bernie Parrish was the original plaintiff in the NFLPA/Players Inc. lawsuit – always was and always will be. And we’ll continue to refer to that case as Parrish vs. Players Inc. I guess some people feel that if you keep trying to spin it another way often enough, people will forget – just like the NFL and the NFLPA. But we did notice that even as contentious as it got throughout the trial, both Jeffrey Kessler and Richard Berthelsen were generally professional and respectful enough to refer to the case as Parrish vs. NFLPA/Players Inc. in their filings. But things deteriorated rapidly between Bernie and his hired attorney, Ron Katz. As a result, you will notice the filings that came out of Katz’s office after a certain point were generally filed as Herbert Adderley vs. NFLPA/Players Inc. Some people have been fed a hook, line and sinker to diminish Bernie Parrish and his years of independent work for all retired players.

…

On a quick side note for those of you who were on that final GLA Settlement list, we’re going to emphasize here once again: Watch your mail for the paperwork from Garden City Group over the next week. Some of the guys have already reported receiving their information already. If you don’t receive it by the end of December, be sure to call them at (866) 697-5552 and leave them a message. The folks at Garden City Group will get back to you quickly. It’s possible they might have an old or wrong address for you. Then be sure to send the completed form back to them as quickly as you can (it has to be postmarked no later than Feb. 9, 2009 to qualify). Then put it in an envelope and mail it to this address (by USPS Certified Mail with confirmation so you know they got it):

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Mr. Executive Director,

…

In light of all that has been going on and the decision to “not move forward” with the Settlement in the San Francisco Trial, I feel there needs to be a definitive response to the following questions. Our men are asking us here with the “Independents” and I am now asking you on their behalf.

…

1. What was your role and the role of the NFLPA in establishing and setting the lawyers’ fees?

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read “The Buck Stops Here.” I always liked him when I was a kid because he was a plain and simple, straight-forward guy who was willing to take full responsibility for solving problems.

—

With Apologies to President Harry Truman

The NFL Owners should have signs on their desks that read The Buck STARTS Here because all of the monies generated by the Game start with them and flow through them. The advertisers pay them first and directly, as do the television industry and anyone else who uses the Game to promote their products and/or services.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

“When someone is running a con on you, you won’t be able to stop them until you understand how their con works.”

- Bob Grant

AAA

Valerie Thomas uncovered another perfect example of how the NFL does as little as it can to look like they’re doing a lot. But as with everything else they do – like all those new programs they keep rolling out each year for its retired players – there’s little real substance when you look more closely at each new PR campaign that they announce. The Commissioner just loves stepping up to  announce new programs.

AAA

This summer, the NFL made a big deal about their diversity program under the newly-announced Rooney Rule.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

AAA

Bob:

AAA

I want to thank you for your leadership on a number of issues and your vision for helping retired players. We may not always agree on every issue, but I value your opinions and welcome your assistance and appreciate all you have done.

AAA

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Before everyone and their brother jumps in to try and take credit for it, DeMaurice Smith and his crew have been working with the NFL to protect retired players’ disability benefits during a potential lockout in 2010. So De Smith was right – without the express agreement of the NFL, retired players’ benefits could have been severely impacted by a lockout.

AAA

This just officially announced (click on the letter to enlarge for reading):

AAA

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

It ‘s almost comical when you look at the bill of goods the NFL and the Alumni are now trying to sell to Retired Players and the Public.

>>>

Picture this:

You’ve seen this movie! The crowd in the lynch mob is saying that because they care so much about you, they’re going to now APPOINT some folks to represent you. Meanwhile. they keep braiding the noose, even as they hand out death sentences to many of us and life-without-parole to others. They continue to tell the public that getting hit in the head for years is good for you. What do you think that this Alumni bunch is really going to say or do in opposition to the NFL Owners? Do you think that they’re going to bite the hand that’s feeding them? Do you think that they’d ever take the Owners to Court to try and force them to do anything? Do you honestly believe that the Owners are crazy enough to give the Alumni crowd sharp swords that can be used against them later?

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Bob -

…
Thank you for attending the meeting in Washington to hear from Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith about recent steps to address the needs of former players and for sharing your views on those efforts. In particular, we appreciate your suggestions on ways to better make retired players aware of resources and benefits available to them and their teammates. The view of everyone present that most retired players do not know about assistance programs was supported by the survey we reviewed.

You asked me specifically to tell you what the University of Michigan survey does for retired players. The short answer is it provides factual information, obtained directly from former players, about their current and past health, economic and social conditions. This is valuable because it allows all of us working to improve the lives of retired players to focus on finding real solutions to true problems, rather than acting on the basis of rumor, conjecture and popular myths. Before long that report will be publicly available online so everyone interested can read it. A few of the highlights which are important to retired players are: continue reading »

Share on Facebook

For the first time, the NFL and the NFLPA extended an invitation to “The Independent Retired Players” to attend and participate in a meeting called to discuss the problems that continue to plague Retirees. Bob Grant, an Independent Activist and Advocate for our cause, was asked to attend on behalf of the Retired Players.

…………

While much was left unaddressed at the end of this first meeting, many issues were brought into the discussion that were not a part of the original limited agenda announced by Harold Henderson (NFL Attorney), who chaired the meeting.

…………

Grant told the Attendees at the Meeting that the days of the NFL and the NFLPA with their “Insiders” making decisions for Retired Players without our direct participation have to end.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Pro Football Players Re-Unification Project

No one can make an intelligent decision without being properly informed. Every one of us has advised our children, grandchildren and friends on “the value of family.”

And no one can deny that there is presently a wide gulf that separates today’s players from yesterday’s players:

1. Everyone seems to be afraid to acknowledge the difference in the racial makeup of players of yesteryear versus that of today’s Players, for fear of being accused of playing the now infamous “race card.” We have avoided open discussion on this sensitive fact. Ignoring an “eight hundred-pound Gorilla” in the room or pretending that it isn’t there will never solve the problem that each and every one of us knows exist. The open dialogue encouraged in this Project should help build a bridge that addresses this divide.
2. Secondly there is a cultural and age divide between Retired Players and Active Players that must be bridged and no bridge can be built to span that part of the gulf until we begin to openly address those issues. This Project should help build a bridge that spans the gulf at that point.
3. Finally, there is an economic divide that must be bridged. Active Players think that the Retired Players made a lot more money during their careers than they actually did, and the Players of yesteryear think that the Players today make a lot more than they actually do. In either era, if the top 20% of Players are removed from the equation used to calculate the average salaries today and yesterday, they will find that the averages are typically much lower than are represented in the media.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook

Here we go again. After the latest rounds of making it clear that I continue to support the need for independence, several retired players have been calling and writing to inform me that my name is once again being used to imply support for the Fourth & Goal/Alumni Alliance. At least now I can understand some of the confusion: many of you guys must have been wondering why I would be publicly stating my decision not to join the NFL Alumni organization when it appeared that I had been endorsing it.

Apparently, Fourth & Goal sent out a letter at the beginning of June (right after The Summit) to an unknown number of retired players to enlist their support of the new Alumni deal. It appears that not everyone got this letter since I know that a large number of us who attended the Summit never received it (so much for including ALL retired players, fellas). Also included with the 2-page letter were 5 pages from a “Confidential Business Plan” that caught my attention. The two most interesting pages are attached below (click on each page to enlarge for easier reading.) Important sections are highlighted and worth reading carefully. Both Marvin Cobb and I are listed as “Key members of the New Alumni Advocacy Group” along with other members of the current Board of Fourth & Goal.

Now we know. So for the record, let me state it once again in no uncertain terms: I AM NOT ENDORSING OR JOINING THE FOURTH & GOAL/NFL ALUMNI ORGANIZATION. It’s a free country and everyone is entitled to do whatever they want so I’m not telling anyone else what to do. I’m just personally disappointed to discover this ongoing tactic to make things appear to be more than they really are.

Most of you know from previous posts and comments that I – along with most attendees from the Summit – had elected to remain impartially independent at this time so we can be free to evaluate opportunities and changes as they come up.

continue reading »

Share on Facebook