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 . .
And for those of us with shorter attention spans, the highlights are now up on YouTube from our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference. We’ve uploaded it to YouTube in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window. .
And once again, thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew. We’re working on shorter individual clips to also be posted daily on YouTube over the following weeks to keep this issue front and center with the fans and general public. Retired Players are NOT going away! .
And for those of us with shorter attention spans, the highlights are now up on YouTube from our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference. We’ve uploaded it to YouTube in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window. .
And once again, thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew. We’re working on shorter individual clips to also be posted daily on YouTube over the following weeks to keep this issue front and center with the fans and general public. Retired Players are NOT going away! .
. And a little something extra: Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers is mad too! .
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Thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew, we now have the full video of our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference held at the Washington Press Club. We’ve uploaded it to Veoh in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window. You can turn the volume up using the sliding volume bar next to that Full Screen button .
. Be sure to click on the Sign Our Petition link at the top of the sidebar on the right to let everyone know you support these guys! .
We’re back from attending the Press Conference at the Press Club in Washington DC. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the teams at Hausfeld LLC and Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason and Carl Eller, everything came off even better than anyone could have expected. Retired players who attended the conference included Carl, Irv Cross (who moderated), George Visger, Joe DeLamielleure, Lem Barney, Conrad Dobler, Paul Krause, Elvin Bethea and Greg Koch. For the first part of the conference, the retirees were also joined by a group of active players who also made statements in support of the retired players efforts, which included Brendon Ayanbadejo, Duane Starks, Will Witherspoon, Hannibal Navies, Sean James, Anthony Adams, Duane Starks, Stalker McDougal and Mike Dean. We had a strong media presence and there was also a lot of attendance on the conference phone line provided. . We have video of the entire event and will be posting clips from the news conference over the next few days along with a full version of the entire meeting (thanks to our friend, Jennifer Thibeaux, and her young assistant, Elizabeth). And here’s a slideshow of pictures from Reuters News Service at the conference (Click on the picture to open the slideshow in another window): .
All these new expensive commercials from the NFLPA about Let Us Play and Let It Air. All retired players want is to finally get paid what they’re long overdue: Fair pensions and access to their earned disability benefits. .
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Thanks to all who participated in creating this great commercial! The ad features Steve Smith, Conrad Dobler, Wayne Hawkins (thanks, Sharon), Brent and Gina Boyd and Dave Pear among many. .
So here we are well into our third year with Dave’s Blog. When Dave first decided to document and present his experiences in dealing with his life after football, we had no idea just how many people wanted to read his story or how many – or how few – other retired players were suffering the same fate.
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Over these past couple of years, we discovered there were a lot of different but similar accounts of all the ways that retired football players have been denied their earned benefits. Just when you thought you’d heard it all, a new one comes along.
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This past weekend, we read a post on the National Football Post about Conrad Dobler’s most recent struggles to survive after 30 surgeries – including 10 knee replacements – all while still looking after his wife, Joy, who has been a quadriplegic since 2001. (Read the article – click HERE.)
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And last week, we received a letter from Larry Kaminski expressing his personal frustrations in trying to navigate the archaic disability application process for his disability benefits. We’re posting Larry’s letter below. We have several more stories that have come in just recently - watch for them over the next week .
Conrad Dobler still loves to stir things up once in a while, even after dozens of knee surgeries. He recently went on the road to promote his latest book, Pride and Perseverance, and while at a pre-Super Bowl press conference in Miami, he let loose with some comments about Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees. No one expected the amount of coverage – good and bad – that his comments would receive. But to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity – just be sure to spell my name right!” Over the past year, Brees had made some broad disparaging comments about the general condition of retired players’ lives and why they were having the problems after their retirement from the game.
After a crazy 2009 (like the rest of us), Conrad Dobler has still managed to hit the media trail and come out swinging before Super Bowl. After 32 surgeries, Conrad nearly lost his leg late last year to a massive MRSA infection. (You can read that earlier post – click HERE.) But Conrad’s back and he’s been lighting into the NFL and the NFLPA in a couple of recent interviews. Conrad comes from old school football when characters were actually welcome. And he played the part well. Ask any older fan and most of them will still speak of Conrad fondly, regardless of whether they loved or hated him on the field. In today’s world of football, The Commissioner is now all too happy to act like the nasty teacher with the ruler trying to keep the students in line for his headmaster owners. All you have to do is look at Chad Ochocinco’s escalating fines to match his on-field antics to bring some levity to the game. Those owners don’t really want the fans to identify with any players on the field (other than those multimillionaire quarterback stars that they completely control) because it would give them faces off the field and into retirement. Consider this a salute to Conrad Dobler for still being who he is!
Conrad Dobler just posted on his Facebook page that he was going into his 32nd knee surgery. 32 surgeries! After weeks of infections from his latest knee replacement (including a MRSA infection), Conrad’s facing a possible amputation or a freeze, where they literally lock his leg straight so it can no longer move at the knee. Even through all of this, Conrad hasn’t lost that edgy sense of humor: “Today I am having my 32nd knee surgery they are going to try to save my leg & put my knee back in BUT they are not sure it will work. Only other option other than amputate is to freeze it. It would be permanently straight & 6 inches shorter. I got rid of all my platform shoes in the 70′s & my tailor will be pi**ed so that’s not an option. Will keep you posted. Don’t forget to order my book!”
This is a great read! (Click HERE to go directly to the full article) It details the incredible story of Reggie Williams, who played a remarkable 14 years as a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals. Reggie – like Conrad Dobler – has endured double knee replacement surgery over the years while still managing to live a rich and VERY full life.
For many of you who may have missed this, here’s the 73-minute video taken during that press conference hosted by Gridiron Greats at the 101 Lounge in Washington DC on Sept. 18, 2007. Mike Ditka plays MC along with Delvin Williams, Dwight Harrison, Dave Pear, Conrad Dobler, Gale Sayers, Eugene “Mercury” Morris, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Mike Pyle, Sam Huff, Brent Boyd and Walter Beach.
A while back, the New York Times out together this touching multimedia slideshow entitled Life After Football. It gives readers a glimpse into the lives of four all-time NFL greats: Conrad Dobler, Donnie Green, Mike Mosley and Brian DeMarco; the slideshow accompanied an article entitled, A Battle Over Who’s Helping Disabled Players Rages Anew, which covers a subject getting increasing coverage by the day. View the slideshow HERE. and read the article HERE.
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.
Conrad Dobler just posted on his 
