We finally have Bernie Parrish’s testimony before the Congressional Judiciary Committee on concussions which was recently held at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit on January 4, 2010. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and his staff did an incredible job of organizing this hearing on such short notice just after the new year. You can still watch the entire 5 hr :22 min hearing in an earlier post by clicking HERE.
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This is a large video file (over 100 Mb!) and we’ve hosted it at online video host eSnips – we’re clipping it here on our blog. You can also download the entire video to your computer for viewing later.
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Bernie makes a strong case for more investigations into the League and the Union’s ongoing efforts against retired players. Be sure to watch the first 5 seconds where the New NEW NFL Alumni Executive Director George Martin gets up and leaves the hearing room before Bernie speaks - and Bernie was gracious enough to sit through his earlier speech.
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.
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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.
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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):
Valerie Thomas writes a great analysis on the StarCaps case and how it relates to the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and Congress. The NFL and its owners would love to have its powers expanded stealthily by trying to pull a fast one on Congress. We hope someone calls them on it before it happens!
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The NFL is trying to get Congress to sanction the CBA-negotiated right to be prosecutor, defense, judge AND jury! Commissioner Roger Goodell advocates “narrow and specific legislation that would confirm the primacy of Federal labor law and to respect agreements on this important subject.”
It turns out that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) turned out a very detailed study on MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) and it was released to Congress… back in 2003! Their findings are dramatic and conducted with the kind of solid methodology that all valid studies need to follow. In the Appendix, they even document the various methodology and criteria used to monitor MTBI in the U.S. And they have layer upon layer of real experts in both research AND methodology to ensure the integrity of their study. The subtitle? “Steps to Prevent a Serious Public Health Problem.” (!!!)
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We would hope that the NFL MTBI Committee is well aware of this study and won’t waste any more time and money – and lives – putting out more fluff. Their efforts remind us of that Bud Light commercial from Superbowl XLII in 2008 – cavemen inventing the wheel!
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez took 10 minutes to do a serious beat down of Commissioner Roger Goodell in the Congressional Hearings on brain injuries. You can watch her clip below but first we want to take a moment to introduce the new James Bond Dr. No: Ira Casson (we no longer want to call this idiot ‘Doctor’ as he doesn’t merit the respect of his fellow human beings) heads the NFL MTBI Committee that conducts those endless inconclusive studies on traumatic brain injuries for the NFL. This jerk shall henceforth be known as The New Dr. No. Every answer Casson gives in the following clip from Bernard Goldberg’s interview from last May’s HBO Real Sports is an arrogant, “No!” (with a sneer). And it looks like he was also a NO-show at the Congressional hearings as well, much to the Commissioner’s surprise (!).Here’s to Dr. No!<sneer> AAA
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And here are Rep. Sanchez’ questions and comments: AAA
The day’s session has concluded and is now online in its entirety for viewing. Click on the morning or afternoon clip below to go directly to C-Span site to view.
It looks like the latest Congressional hearings into brain concussions in the NFL will be starting this Wednesday, October 28th. From all the preliminary announcements, it appears that only two people have been officially announced to testify: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. So far, no experts such as neurosurgeons and brain scientists have been announced to testify. We have to wonder who called this hearing on such short notice and why now just as the 2010 lockout is looming and brain concussions have taken center stage in the retired players’ battle for independent representation. With a hat tip to all those other Top 10 Lists out there, we’ve come up with a simple list of the Top 10 Questions that Congress should be asking of Goodell and Smith directly.
Once in a while, we run across a piece so well-written and easy-to-understand that to try and improve on it would be a waste of time. The following is a recent post written by Jordan Kobritz in The Seymour Herald (out of Seymour, Tennessee) and we’re posting the entire piece with the kind permission of Herald Publisher Joe Karl.
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kobritz’s corner
You gotta love the PR machine that is the $7 billion-a-year juggernaut known as the NFL.
I just received the current renewal form for my annual membership in the NFLPA Retired Players. For belonging, most of us retired players actually only receive an annual membership directory and a fancy plastic wallet card claiming how the NFL supports Past – Present – Future (yeah, right!).
Plus we’re allowed to send a $100 check to these crooks! (Click on the documents to enlarge for easier reading.)
The Associated Press reports this morning that 20 current and former NFL players headed to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress to help avoid a lockout in 2011 if a new CBA is not reached. (Read that article by Frederick Frommer HERE.) De Smith told reporters that the players would remind Congress about the “gifts” Congress bestows on the league, such as an antitrust exemption for broadcasting contracts. (You can also read the story on ESPN HERE.)
The AP article from Frommer stated: “It may be hard to conjure up much sympathy for football players making seven-figure salaries. But Smith noted that thousands of people are employed as stadium workers.” I almost wet my pants laughing! How stupid do they think Congress is? They’re concerned about stadium workers? How about the thousands of retired players who paved the way for those seven-figure contracts? Guys whose NFL pay was so meager – they needed to work in the off-season to make ends meet. How about the guys – including Hall of Famers – who are subsisting on NFL pensions that aren’t enough to pay their utilities bills? How about all the guys who paved the way for today’s millionaires with their knees, spines and shoulders and can’t get the disability and medical benefits that they so justly deserve?
I guess the NFLPA thinks they can shovel it because they think they got away with it a couple of years ago when they submitted the NFLPA White Paper after the Congressional hearings. It has so much misinformation and half-truths that it’s almost worthless. “The truth, without the whole truth, is meaningless and just as good as a lie!”
The Union’s actions highlight the fact that it is not just the NFL which is responsible to properly take care of retirees. The PA is the other party to the CBA and any agreements on health, disability and pension reform.
The Associated Press just received a copy of a letter from four members of Congress asking the Department of Labor to monitor the NFL Players’ Association’s search for a new executive director. From Forbes’ website:
“We would like to ensure the integrity of the search process and that the process is transparent, fair and compliant with all applicable Department of Labor rules and regulations, and the NFLPA Constitution rules and by-laws,” they wrote in the letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Many of our sources have told us that in the past, the Department of Labor has been instructed to go easy on all things NFL. This new inquiry is worth watching closely. Write your Congressional leaders. And post a comment on the Forbes site where it might get lots of readers!
I have spent this past week researching several areas of contention. My work is not yet complete but I’ll keep you all abreast of what I find as fact. Here are a few highlights that I want to share with all of you and I’ll follow up with more details:
Our Union, the NFLPA, is now claiming that they know the current Disability System is broken and needs to be fixed. That they’re finally making that admission is good. What’s bad is they claim they have taken steps to fix it with these new adjustments to the Disability Plan. First of all, they did nothing until former players went before a Congressional Committee to bring attention to the issues and then that was followed up by a bombardment of e-mails to our Senators and Congressmen. Your pressure forced their hand. I was then told by an NFLPA official that, “Gene has wanted for years to help the Retiree who had to take his Pension early but couldn’t get Disability because of the NFLPA rule.”
The fact is that last Fall, Gene Upshaw made the statement that he could do nothing about the Retiree who took his Pension early and now was disabled because it was “the law.” Double talk or apparently “The Law” was amended. I was also told by a Union Rep – as many of you have been – that the “Pensions” will not move as there is just not enough money. Another crock, as most of you have now seen the MLB vs NFL Pension comparisons.
For a guy who knows the law and can read his NFLPA card, the NFLPA’s Gene Upshaw seems to keep coming up a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I just received this call-to-arms from Tony Davis asking for all of us retired players (and all lovers of the game) to write or call your Senators and Congressmen (and Congresswomen) to let them know about this outrageous and open looting of our resources by people who have no concern for our welfare at all. Tony includes links to e-mail and/or office addresses for members of Congress and the Senate. (You may want to include NFL in the subject line to make sure they don’t dump your correspondence if they see you’re from out of their district!)
While Upshaw does interviews with newspapers, telling them about a potential lockout by the NFL owners and at the same time boasting about how HIS players will never take less money, there are players who built this league who – because of the game we love – cannot walk or remember who they are. Take a look at these facts, then copy, paste and sign your name as you send this on to your Senators and Congressman. Below is the link to the House and Senate:
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.
It turns out that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) turned out a very detailed study on MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) and it was released to Congress… back in 2003! Their findings are dramatic and conducted with the kind of solid methodology that all valid studies need to follow. In the Appendix, they even document the various methodology and criteria used to monitor MTBI in the U.S. And they have layer upon layer of real experts in both research AND methodology to ensure the integrity of their study. The subtitle? “
