Thanks to our friend, Jennifer Thibeaux, we have a great collection of photographs from our well-attended Second Annual Independent Football Veterans Conference held April 20 – 22 2012 at The South Point Resort in Las Vegas. Videos and PowerPoints to follow shortly! .
Here’s the slideshow from flickr (there’s an enlarge button in the lower right hand corner of the slideshow screen if you want to view our slideshow fullscreen; just hit ESC to close fullscreen mode): .
We have recently read the expose of George Martin and the NFL Alumni Association written by A. J. Perez and Alex Marvez for FOX Sports. We have also read the accounts of the Alumni’s press conference from the Super Bowl; and of their Board of Directors’ support for George Martin. .
I am not a former player and often wonder why and how I got involved in their issues. However, getting to know – and work with – many retired players over the past few years has been a personal and professional highlight of my life and career. I am proud to call many retired players my friends and most of them are a tremendous source of inspiration for me. .
That said, I have thought that I have had something worthwhile to contribute to the cause of retired players and their families – specifically my expertise in disability law. And it is with those thoughts in mind that I became actively involved in helping the NFL Alumni transition from Caring for Kids to a role as the primary advocate for the needs of retired players, their families and their widows. .
You will recall that several years ago, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited several cities to meet with RETIRED PLAYERS ONLY to try to learn what was on their minds. Many of you will recall that Dr. Eleanor Perfetto was not allowed to attend a meeting on behalf of her husband, Ralph Wenzel, who suffers from dementia. You may also recall that I was allowed into the meeting in Dallas – but not allowed to speak. I was very skeptical about what Commissioner Goodell and the NFL were up to. .
Not long after, I got a call from Bruce Laird, President of Fourth and Goal – one of the first retired player advocacy organizations who were raising money on behalf of – and advocating for – retired players. He told me that Goodell had called him and asked if Fourth and Goal would work with the NFL Alumni to refocus their efforts towards retired players and become one unified and representative advocacy organization. As we envisioned it, we would have one truly representative group that would speak on behalf of retired players’ issues – from intellectual property rights to significant pension improvements and much needed disability reform – with both the League and the Union. .
It was a tremendous effort on the part of many men to establish the new Alumni Association and hire George Martin as their executive director. Many of us involved in the effort took a lot of heat from all sides. The PA would not have anything to do with this, as they felt (as many others did) that this was a ploy by the NFL to curry favor with retired players as the League and Union moved towards the new CBA. While the men of the PA had little regard for what I had to say about needed disability reforms (which would only have served to help their members), I continued on, hoping that I would have the opportunity to discuss cases, problems, ideas and solutions with the League or various owners. I pressed on, hoping that Bruce Laird, Jeff Nixon and others well-versed in the pension plan, the CBA and all issues facing retired players, would also have the chance to meet face-to-face with the CBA decision makers. .
It never happened. .
Fast forward to where we are today – a CBA that did not come close to adequately addressing the needs of retired players. As all of you know, those failings are the subject of a lawsuit pending in Minnesota against the Union. While the League and Union think they have a 10-year period of “labor peace” to look forward to, they will clearly be kept busy by retired players who continue to feel left out, bruised and abused – in light of what they did to make the game what it is today and in light of the almost unimaginable amount of money the NFL is now generating. .
The Legacy Fund (anyone get their checks yet?) is but a drop in the bucket of what was needed. The League and Union are now scrambling to decide what to do about the disaster of leaving widows out of the picture. .
Which brings me back to the Alumni Association. What have they done for retired players and their families? Were they a significant role-player in the CBA as we had hoped? Are retired players happy with what they are doing? Has the membership grown or decreased since George Martin was hired? (We hear from a former employee that membership was down significantly but we really don’t know.) I do know that there are a number of NFL cities where there is no longer an Alumni chapter – including here in Atlanta – where there are between 700 and 800 retired players. .
The Alumni has had three major programs – all highly touted: the Satcher Leadership Institute of Morehouse School of Medicine and their mental health awareness program; their partnership with the Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program; and the Long-Term Care Insurance program. All of them great, helpful programs. But they weren’t really the Alumni’s – they were the League’s and the Alumni’s role in them appears to be little more than lip-service. .
I am sure that Commissioner Goodell and the League expected the Alumni to be self-sustaining by now. At least when we started down this path, that is what those of us at Fourth and Goal had expected. To the best of my knowledge, they are not. They have been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in “interest-free loans” from the League. .
The point of this letter is that at this point in time, I don’t think it really matters what I think of the Alumni or George Martin’s leadership. I don’t think it really matters what the majority of retired players think about them. And although the Board of Directors is supposed to be in charge, I don’t think it really matters what they think, or how much confidence they have in George Martin and the Alumni’s direction. .
The only one who really matters is Roger Goodell. Is he willing to continue to invest multiple millions of dollars to try to prop them up on their feet – or is it time to close the checkbook and see if they can stand on their own feet? . John Hogan
Disability Attorney
Retired Player Advocate . . .
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. .
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? continue reading »
You would think that the NFLPA would have learned by now that any time they let attorney Jeffrey Kessler into a lawsuit, they may as well count on things taking longer and costing more. In case there are still some of you out there who aren’t familiar with Kessler, he represented the NFLPA in the Player’s Inc. lawsuit when retired players sued the union and their “Licensing Arm” for past video game royalties that the Union had intentionally defrauded from its players for years. Kessler and his firm were paid handsomely for losing the case that awarded $28 million+ in royalties and damages awarded to the players. And his brilliant answer to losing the case before then-newly-appointed Executive Director DeMaurice Smith (and white collar crime attorney) decided to settle the case? Appeal. .
So then Kessler gets into the middle of the NBA lockout to “represent” the players and that drags into basketball season. Here’s a recent article from ProFootball Talk that pretty much sums up what everyone thinks of Kessler: Click HERE. .
The question we have to ask is: What have they got to hide? Or more to the point: What does Kessler personally have to hide? In any problem, you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem. We think Kessler and his group ARE the problem. .
So last week on Dec. 2nd after much posturing from both sides, Judge Susan Nelson allowed a Motion to seal all further filings and proceedings in the current class action suits filed against the NFLPA, Tom Brady, Mike Vrabel and DeMaurice Smith. . We’ve uploaded Judge Nelson’s order along with the pleadings from both sides to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing.) Shawn Stuckey’s detailed arguments and the attached Exhibits make for some good reading. Great job, Shawn!) 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): .continue reading »
The NFLPA just announced their 2012 convention to be held once again at the Marco Island Marriott in Florida next March. Retired players are also invited to actually mingle with active players for $250 a night! Lots of golf, fine dining and everything else… except talking about the real issues that retired players actually need to have addressed. . So with all the lawyers that work over at the NFLPA, it seems that the only thing that gets their attention is another good lawsuit. Today, the attorneys in the earlier Eller suit – Hausfeld LLP, Zelle Hofmann, Arthur N. Bailey & Associates, Coburn & Greenbaum – filed another class action suit on behalf of retired players against the NFLPA, DeMaurice Smith, Tom Brady and Mike Vrabel. The new suit includes a new list of players – Dave is included as one of the named plaintiffs – along with an additional list of key issues that the PA will need to address. . We’ve uploaded a copy of the new 44-page Lawsuit 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): . Gault McElhenney Brown Et Al v NFLPA . .
It seems that the PA is still managing to put out as much as they can without saying anything while still blaming everyone else for holding the process up. Oh wait – they’re in Washington DC! That’s what EVERYONE does up there! We forgot! .
So over the past week, we’ve received a few more ‘communiques’ from our local NFLPA chapter via Sam McCullum and it always seems that the guy in the room with no vote or real voice on any matters has the clearest take on everything. Jim McFarland – retired players’ representative – has provided some of the clearest analysis on what’s proposed in the final CBA for the Legacy Fund and how it will affect pre-93 players. Here are the e-mails and comments starting with the latest first. We also included a copy of that meeting proposal document referenced in the most recent e-mail and have loaded it up to Scribd for easier reading and printing. . One more thing: And the NFLPA and Sam McCullum says none of you should be reading any of the blogs to get your information. Of course, they didn’t attend what may have been one of the most important meetings of the year regarding retirees because they didn’t want to hear what everyone else wanted them to hear so they can’t tell you about it. (?!!) .continue reading »
. In any revolution, it’s always interesting to hear comments coming in from both sides of the fence. In the case of NFLPA and the retired player community at large, the battle lines could almost be drawn as a battle between the Haves vs. the Have-Nots. The royalty are holed up in their ivory tower enjoying the privileges that any inside clique always seem to enjoy, oblivious to the starving peasants outside the palace walls. Even with the growing voices of thousands of their fellow retired players getting louder by the day, there are still those in denial. . continue reading »
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave has still been included in this ongoing local (Seattle) e-mail chain from yesterday as he’s still a dues-paying member of the NFLPA. We’re posting these four latest e-mail exchanges here in unedited format for viewing and we’re also posting a separate rebuttal in a second post (click HERE). . . From: Harrison, Nolan [mailto:Nolan.HarrisonIII@nflplayers.com] Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:35 PM Subject: RE: Former Player’s Benefit Increase? .
There will be an official benefits statement coming from both parties. A couple of things that were accidentally left out of the CBA summary (sorry, everyone is rushing to meet the memberships demand for information) was the improvements to Plan 88 more on workers comp and long term care. . continue reading »
Over the weekend, the retired players and the attorneys involved with the Eller et al vs. NFL et al class action lawsuit released a letter addressed to all retirees to outline a call for unity as well as to provide an update on the facts and actions to date. .
Dear fellow retired players, .
We have been asked by many of our fellow retired National Football League (“NFL”) players to provide more information about what the Eller v. NFL lawsuit is meant to accomplish and how the lawsuit will help benefit all retired NFL players. What follows is our attempt to do so. .
On March 28, 2011 the national law firms of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP and Hausfeld, LLP, filed a class action on behalf of all retired NFL players against the NFL in federal court in the District of Minnesota to bring about wholesale improvements of the NFL player retirement system. .
This lawsuit came after the CBA negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA broke down, the Union decertified and the League subsequently locked the players out. The complaint seeks to do for retired players what the Reggie White class action lawsuit did for current players in the early 1990’s: create an organization and system whereby retired NFL players are able to advocate on their own behalf and therefore vastly improve the current landscape of the NFL retirement system. This class action – known as Eller et al., v. NFL – was consolidated with the class action on behalf of current players called Brady, et al vs. NFL. (Consolidated simply means that the cases are heard together and the NFL is better positioned to try and resolve both cases simultaneously – although the retired players are asking for and addressing different issues than the current players.) .
Recently, the largest collective group of representatives of various organizations for retired players or who have mass online audience met in Minneapolis. The group included representatives and/or members from the NFLPA, NFL Alumni, the Retired Players Association, Fourth & Goal, Gridiron Greats, Dignity after Football and DavePear.com/Independent Football Veterans. Most of the participants agreed to present the League with united proposals for changes in key areas affecting the well-being of retired players:
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.
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. continue reading »
I think we’re long overdue for a short time out. I don’t often post personal editorials on this blog but after following the posts and comments back-and-forth since The Summit at the end of May, I’ve been thinking long and hard about taking a few minutes of everyone’s time to ask everybody to chill for a moment. In other words - time for a time out.
I believe there’s no doubt that everyone has good intentions for the plight of retired players. Of that, I have absolutely no doubt after having known Dave Pear as a good friend over these past years and being honored to have been invited to The Summit. After finally meeting many of you face-to-face for the first time (and I certainly hope not the last!), I got to hear your stories firsthand and I experienced the passion that made this game what it is today. And it’s that passion that clearly drives each and every one of you guys today.
One of the presentations that drew a lot of attention during The Summit was from Bruce Laird of Fourth and Goal. Fourth and Goal has been in ongoing discussions with the NFL to use the NFL Alumni organization as a possible platform for advocacy of disability and pension reform. At the conclusion of The Summit, the group voted to continue moving forward without embracing any single organization at this early stage while encouraging and supporting all organizations that will advance retired players’ issues. (You can look at the evolving Summit blog by clicking HERE and you’ll find Bruce Laird’s presentation under the PowerPoints tab – or click HERE.)
Bernie Parrish has already voiced some of his strong opinions in no uncertain terms (HERE and HERE) and this is definitely going to make it a very hot summer topic. There’s no middle ground or gray area on this one. Do the retired players embrace an existing organization that has been looked on as another business-as-usual club for elite members or will they be embracing an organization that’s been reborn into something that can actually serve the membership at large with complete transparency and representation for each and every one of its members? Only time will tell and everyone’s watching closely.
We’ve been asked many times over the past few weeks about the status of the Independent Summit for NFL Retired Players. It can now be announced that it will take place in Las Vegas on May 28 – 31. Those involved in helping to organize this effort to get all of us together as an Independent Group of NFL Retired Players include me, Tony Davis, Joe DeLamielleure, Dave Pear, Disability Attorney John Hogan, Jeff Nixon, Ben Lynch, Marvin Cobb, Bob Grant, Abner Haynes and Bruce Laird. There are a lot more NFL Retired Players who have assisted in multiple ways with this effort and too many to mention in this announcement. Many of these men have helped by consulting with us. We communicate almost daily and are working to make sure that this event will provide a new direction for NFL Retired Players. What also must be mentioned is that others have been asked to be a part of the organizational process but have chosen not to participate.
HBO Real Sports ran its Disunity episode on the retired players GLA trial last night. In under 15 minutes, they managed to present the major highlights of the entire 3-week trial, covering the points and counterpoints between the retired players and the NFLPA/Players Inc. and how the trial was won.
Joe DeLamielleure, Bruce Laird and Herb Adderley on HBO Real Sports
We have recently read the expose of George Martin and the NFL Alumni Association written by A. J. Perez and Alex Marvez for FOX Sports. We have also read the accounts of the Alumni’s press conference from the Super Bowl; and of their Board of Directors’ support for George Martin.
John Hogan
You would think that the NFLPA would have learned by now that any time they let attorney Jeffrey Kessler 
It seems that the PA is still managing to put out as much as they can without saying anything while still blaming everyone else for holding the process up. Oh wait – they’re in Washington DC! That’s what EVERYONE does up there! We forgot!
Over the weekend, the retired players and the attorneys involved with the Eller et al vs. NFL et al class action lawsuit released a letter addressed to all retirees to outline a call for unity as well as to provide an update on the facts and actions to date.
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.
