We were all excited when the NFL finally got rid of Ira “Dr. No” Casson as Co-Chair of the NFL’s “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. What surprised us was the selection of Dr. Richard Ellenbogen as co-chair of the newly-named NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee. Dr. Ellenbogen hails from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle as chief of neurological surgery and has been very proactive at the state level in legislation regarding concussions in youth athletics.

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George Visger was the perfect poster-boy for NFL brain concussions to contact Dr. Ellenbogen: Incredibly intelligent, well-spoken and very vocal as a perfect spokesman on the long-term damage from severe brain concussions that resulted directly from his career in professional football. George has been relentlessly involved with a two-pronged approach to the NFL’s concussion problem: The NFL needs to be held to the same standard as any employer in America when it comes to taking care of its injured employees – both active and retired – and clear rules need to be put in place to ensure worker safety both on and off the field. Last month, George proposed a detailed set of rules that address the most important issue facing the NFL, the NFLPA and its employees. The proposed rules were the result of collaboration among a group of retired players who worked with George to develop some guidelines that have been long overdue. We think they make a lot of sense and it covers ALL players with a common sense approach that only players with first-hand experience could develop.

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On a side note before we present the Visger Rules, we had sent a proposal to DeMaurice Smith several months back as the Amen Clinic trials was closing to see if the NFLPA would be interested in funding brain scans for active players BEFORE and AFTER they started their careers, as well as brain scans for all retired players. After seeing the need to continue helping the retired football players, Dr. Amen had graciously offered an incredibly discounted rate for any and all players sent to any of his clinics. Our proposal was simple: ALL active players would have a SPECT scan before starting their careers as well as when they retired; and ALL retired players would be allowed a brain scan as a new benefit. The cost would have been relatively minimal (considering all the money we see wasted every year as disclosed in the annual LM-2 filings) but the impact and effect would be invaluable to each and every player for a lifetime. George’s proposal goes even further: Each active player would also be required to have annual brain scans as an integral part of their mandatory checkup regimen. With the medical technology available today, each player and the Union could easily be provided with up-to-the-minute information on their entire physical condition that’s complete and accurate to help prevent further injuries. We felt that the proposal was the right thing to do and very pro-player (pro-employee – which is what Unions are supposed to be). Given the League’s recent gestures in this direction, the timing couldn’t have been better for the PA to initiate such a plan. After all, what could the League have to say against such a proactive move? This could easily be a high priority issue during any CBA negotiations which is why we felt it was important enough to present the idea directly to DeMaurice Smith. There has been absolutely NO response since the proposal was sent to them in April. We have no idea why this wouldn’t be a perfect issue for the Union (the retired AND active players’  Union) to take up with the League right now to show real unity by protecting all of its men – past and present. As with everything else, it seems we’re all still waiting just for a response…

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Dear Larry -

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I read your letter of July 9th, 2010 to Dave. I have a few questions of my own I’d like to ask. (Read the previous post by clicking HERE.)

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In your response to Dave, you stated, “I am a little confused by your phrase that you “continue”  to seek…”

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A couple of months after sending a letter with questions to Mary-Ann Fleming (Director of Disability Benefits for the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan) and Larry Lamade (of Akin Gump), I finally received this response from Larry Lamade earlier in the week. You can read my original questions on that earlier post by clicking HERE.

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Here’s the letter (just click on each thumbnail to enlarge for easier reading) and check out the CC: list on Page 2:

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Many of you have followed Brent Boyd’s years of fighting with the NFL for his earned disability benefits. Brent has kept us updated on his current appeal to the Disability Board for a new review of his case. Brent now has more medical evidence from recognized clinics like The Amen Clinic to support his case of football-related disability.

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In one recent conversation, Brent used a brilliant analogy: “Imagine if today’s young generations of minorities went back to all those great people who fought for civil rights in the 50′s and 60′s – often with their lives – and told them, ‘Thanks for all you did for us. Oh – and by the way, you guys still have to ride at the back of the bus, use a separate bathroom and drink out of that water fountain over there!’ That’s exactly the way the NFL is treating its retired veterans.”

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Current players get larger contracts with easier pension qualifications while the retired players keep getting sent to the back of the bus. And just as often (as you’re about to see in some of Brent’s documents), they still keep making up the rules against you when things don’t go their way. Brent’s attorneys filed an appeal on his last rejected application and just as it’s coming up for trial, the Disability Board decides they want ANOTHER doctor to examine him AND they secretly reject his claim once again. After three other doctors of their choosing had already ruled in Brent’s favor. And who’s front and center in all of this? The Groom Law Group. The same people who WROTE the plan and are now helping the NFL and the Disability Board continue to re-define the rules to deny him his earned benefits. A few years back, retired players were told that if you had already qualified for Social Security Disability (most people know how difficult it is to qualify for SSI), you would automatically “qualify” for NFL benefits. But then “discretionary” qualifications got added back into the process in side deals made between Gene Upshaw and Harold Henderson.

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Mercury Morris has recently been discussing an investigation into the NFL and its handling of the retired players’ disability and pension benefits. Here’s his synopsis of what he’s made available to select members of the media so far:

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I want to tell you about a story I would like to read about Roger Goodell. I only recently discovered that Roger Goodell, while serving under Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, sat as the 7th non-voting member of the Retirement Board. That means Goodell has been aware of all of the disability and retirement misconduct that occurred from the mid 90′s to the present. I recently met with Federal investigators on three occasions to discuss filing charges – both criminal and civil – against the Retirement Board and the Groom Law Group. Goodell has been scamming the public about his “honest effort” in helping the retired players that he’s perpetuated in the media. When we did the story last May about the Retirement Board making up a provision to exclude me from representing other retired players whose benefits had been compromised with the sole intent of saving these multimillionaire owners money, I wasn’t aware that Goodell had put Harold Henderson in that very same seat he had occupied to oversee the obvious corruption at the hands of the Retirement Board. Out of my meeting with the investigators, it was disclosed to me that the Department of Labor has been working with the Retirement Board to cover up disability and retirement pension misconduct from the Bush administration (helping big business) to the Obama administration attempting to cover it up.

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The devastating part of this story is that when they passed this phony exclusion-by-felony rule, the two people I had been representing were basically left to fend for themselves. Dwight Harrison had a son who committed suicide after Dwight’s disability benefits were taken away. His retirement benefit money which amounted to $130,000 was then used to pay the Groom Law Group for attorneys’ fees. Because of this, his family broke up and his son later committed suicide. The Retirement Board, under Goodell now have blood on their hands. Marian Klein, the widow of the late Dick Klein, lost her home because the “across-the-board benefit increase” that was given to everyone else was denied to her. Again, I was closing in on proving that both criminal and civil acts had occurred against a retired player’s widow for no other purpose than to beat her out of $200 a month.  Although they could never explain to her why she wasn’t entitled to this benefit that everyone else got, without me there to scrutinize their actions, they basically told her, “We lied about your exclusion, we have no real answer, and you’re still not going to get the benefit.” She too has gone through tough times, caring for her son who is now in the late stages of his battle with cancer. She had to move in with him after losing her home because of these people.

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I feel for the “terror” today’s players must be facing regarding a work stoppage. (To read the Sporting News article ‘NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith: ‘A lot of players are terrified’ about a work stoppage’ – Click HERE.) Luckily, I was able to support myself and family these last 28 years on the $65,000 plus partial playoff money (another $14,000) I made while a member of San Francisco 49′ers team in ’81. Shoot, if I wasn’t such an economically suave 23-year old when I was injured, I never would have survived the next 7 brain surgeries over the years. (The fact I had to sue for Workers Comp to get brain surgeries #2 and #3 paid did help keep the creditors at bay for a while.)

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I can remember times when I had $3.85/day to eat on during the late 80′s. I had 4 emergency VP Shunt brain surgeries in one 10-month period while I was back in school full time trying to finish my biology degree, bouncing in bars at night for $10/hr, swinging a hammer during the day in between classes as a general contractor and carpenter, and working as a live-in counselor at a Crisis Intervention Shelter for runaway youths (Diogenese Youth Services in Sacramento). I did two 28 hour shifts/week living in the home with up to 6 runaway youths at a time, while manning a 24 hr/day hotline. I was paid for 24 hours/shift as they thought you could get 4 hours sleep per night some how. All this for $150/shift, and I was thankful I could pay the bills doing something to help others. That $300/week made the difference between eating or not. I was forced to quit that job during the 1987 four-brain-surgery-run, as I couldn’t remember where I parked my truck, much less be responsible for living with and counseling 6 at-risk youths at one time. Luckily, the anger management issues I developed from the brain surgeries where looked upon as an asset when pursuing bouncing jobs and I was able to demand a premium wage.

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Today’s players need to wake up, give back to the community and thank God and the older guys for paving the way for their lucrative careers, instead of whining when they aren’t guaranteed more than last years players. BEFORE they ever even step on the field!

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With things continuing to heat up in the off-season between the NFLPA and the NFL during a no-CBA year, the real issues that continue to at the forefront for retired players will never change: disability and pension reform, as well as access to medical care after football. These issues have made their way into the mainstream media and have certainly gotten the attention of our representatives on Capitol Hill. Nonetheless, a whole new set of apologists have come on the scene to point fingers at the messengers. In recent months, we’ve started to see more attack posts blaming the messengers for not coming up with solutions. To answer some of these people – at least in part – we haven’t even begun to point out everything that’s wrong yet! And if you can only waste your time criticizing everyone else, maybe you might consider putting up a few suggestions of your own? Or maybe the NFL’s got your tongue?

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We’ll use that as an introduction to today’s post. Over his lifetime, Irv Cross has been involved with football at almost every level both on and off the field, as well as with athletics in general. As one of football’s senior spokesmen, Irv’s seen and learned a lot over the years.

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Irv recently sent in one of his ideas on health insurance for all retired players – it makes so much sense that we can understand why no one’s thought about it yet.

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Dr. NO!

Lead story for Friday morning: NFLPA Executive Director DeMaruice Smith calls for ouster of Dr. No. – Ira Casson. New York Times‘ Alan Schwarz writes:

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“Ouster of N.F.L.’s Voice on Concussions Sought

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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.

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

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Over the past couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of media coverage on the effects of brain injuries and concussions in football. We’ve seen two articles from Alan Schwarz of The New York Times, as well as stories from The Washington Post and The New York Daily News:

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An incredibly powerful story on football-related brain concussions was recently published in GQ Magazine. The article – titled Brain Game – was written by Jeanne Marie Laskas and covers a lot of ground in how a Pittsburgh pathologist’s research into Mike Webster’s cause of death in 2002 caught the attention of the NFL and its owners to the point where they’re trying once more to bury and/or discredit the studies. If you thought you knew enough about brain injuries, this is one story that will open your eyes and make you mad!

And if this chilling article finally gets to each of you and you haven’t already heard, the Amen Clinic is currently offering free brain scans and followup analysis as part of their new independent study on the impact of brain concussions in the NFL. We need 100 of you guys to sign up so this detailed study can be completed and publicized immediately.

Click HERE to read the original post on how to sign up for the Amen Study.

Here’s an excerpt from that GQ Article – this is a MUST-READ (link to the entire piece Click HERE):

Game Brain

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Most of our readers know by now that Dave’s been in this fight for over 25 years with his Union, the NFLPA, to get justice for himself and his retired brothers. There’s just so much material to go through that the sheer volume can sometimes get overwhelming. The worst part is that it seems almost everything you look at is just another bad chapter in a never-ending novel on the abuse that’s been heaped on the majority of retired players for decades. (We wrote about this in earlier posts – click HERE and HERE and HERE.) After a while, it’s easy to get numb and to start overlooking stuff that’s been right under your nose all along.

In researching material for an upcoming post, Dave dug up this old letter from ADP Benefit Services dated 1997 that outlines an insurance program supposedly offered to all retired players under the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. Since receiving this form letter, Dave hasn’t received any additional information or policies detailing his insurance plan benefits. What’s even worse, because he’s been officially designated as a retired disabled football player, he’s been automatically disqualified and completely ineligible for any kind of life insurance now. It seems these guys were offered an “insurance benefit” that they never got to see, while also guaranteeing it would leave them completely uninsurable with any other insurance company. (Click on the letter to enlarge for reading.)
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While the cat’s away, the mice will play. There seem to be lots of conflicting public comments floating around these days. Since when did Miki Yaras-Davis become a spokesperson or advocate for retired players benefits and rights?

From Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback on SI.com:

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As most retired football players will wholeheartedly agree, getting qualified to receive benefits from the NFLPA/NFL’s Bell/Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan is a lot like winning the Lotto: If you win, you win big; but your chances qualifying are like a snowball’s chance in Hell.

So it was like a late April Fools’ Day joke when the NFLPA decided to post bragging points about the generosity of their Retirement Plan as part of their spin building up to their Annual Retired Players Convention (read the earlier posts HERE and HERE) to be held in Palm Springs in late May.

Here’s the NFLPA spin on disability benefits as provided by the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle as quoted from a piece on their site (including juicy comments from the Director of Benefits, Miki Yaras-Davis (they probably call her Director of Benefits because of the great benefits she’s probably receiving for doing her job…):

It can be said that injuries are a part of life in the National Football League. Many players leave the game with some type of injury, and in some cases, retired players later develop conditions that render them unable to work at all. When this happens, the Retirement Plan offers protection through its disability provisions.

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I just received my new semi-annual NFLPA Retired Members Directory for 2009 – 2011 so I thought it might be interesting to share the introductory pages with everyone. These guys must have some of the fastest printers in the country: This edition came hot off the press complete with DeMaurice Smith already listed as Executive Director. (More on this shortly…)

Conspicuously missing is any reference to that notorious GLA (Group Licensing Agreement) which the retired players successfully sued and won in a San Francisco courtroom late last year (and which is currently in appeal by Berthelsen and Kessler). In past editions, the number of signed GLAs were reported to be well over 2900, contradicting the numbers of players who were actually named in the list provided  by the NFLPA during the trial. So I’m wondering: If the NFLPA is no longer offering a GLA to its retired players, does that mean we’re all free to develop, negotiate and promote our own licenses?

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