Dave Pear's Blog

EDITOR’S NOTE: We just received this today from retired player John Griffin. We hope someone will review and provide comments on this set of documents. You can find suggested Addendum wording to add to your signed documents on an earlier post – click HERE.
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Here is a copy of the second packet I received for the distribution of the Legacy Fund. I’ve whited out our personal information but thought you might post this and have someone look at it before we sign and return.
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I did not send in that addendum with my first letter but I will when I return this document. I would certainly appreciate it if someone could comment before we return it.
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Please let me know what you think.
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John Griffin
LA Rams and Denver Broncos
1963 – 1967
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We uploaded full copy of the cover letter and paperwork 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 (just hit the ESC key to close):
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Second Legacy Letter & Documents
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Larry Kaminski has been keeping us updated on his battle against the Denver Broncos filed in California under their Workers Compensation laws. The Broncos current ownership is trying to have their case heard and dismissed in Federal Court based on their claim that when they bought the team, they only acquired the assets and not the liabilities (yes, just when you don’t think it can get any dumber). Read the earlier post – click HERE.
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Here’s a short update from Larry for those of you also going through Workers Compensation cases or considering that as an option:
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Fellow Independent Retired Players:
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We’ve got some news and thoughts that have come in from two of the retirees out there and felt it would be best to share it with everyone here in one post.
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This past year, Larry Kaminski has been going through the California Workers Compensation process to gain access to his disability benefits.
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Larry Kaminski at Home

Hey gang -

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Earlier this year, Disability Attorney John Hogan filed appeals to the Retirement Board of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan on behalf of Dave. Late last week, Dave received a response and it was no surprise that he was once again denied his request to have his Inactive Total & Permanent Disability reclassified to Football Degenerative. It was a perfect example of how an application and appeal process shouldn’t work.

Let’s start first with a re-cap on the major issues: The Plan clearly breached its fiduciary duty in 1995 by not getting input from a vocational specialist (such as Earl Thompson). If they had, Dave’s case likely would have been granted. It’s a violation of the fiduciary duty of care NOT to adjudicate disability claims like others similarly situated would do. Every other disability system typically considers vocational factors. They should have obtained more detailed information from the doctor himself such as how frequent and how long the rest breaks needed to be, the need to lie down, and how many total hours per day.

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