Dave Pear's Blog

Judge Susan Nelson’s court in Minneapolis MN just ordered parties to the earlier enjoined lawsuits to a case management conference on Aug. 10, 2011. What’s interesting to note is that Judge Nelson anticipates ordering all parties to bring participants who have settlement authority to a mediation hearing before Judge Boylan in Federal Court on Aug. 15, 2011.
.
Since all the active players’ issues are presumably now settled, it would seem that the only remaining issues to be discussed, negotiated and settled are retired players’ claims.
.
We’ve uploaded a copy of both letters to Scribd for easy viewing and to also make them downloadable. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to enlarge it for easier navigation (just hit the ESC key to close):
.
Order Setting Case Management Conference and Mediation
.

Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:

THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS

NFL’s big game against the players starts this week in Minneapolis

continue reading »

Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:

THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS

Attention Drew Brees, Sam Huff has a few questions for you

continue reading »

We just finally managed to download and convert a copy of the entire 637-page NFLPA 2009 LM-2 that was officially filed with the Dept. of Labor on May 28, 2010. It’s another big one!

.

continue reading »

With the lead-up to Super Bowl and daily press conferences filled with posturing on both sides, some real news came out from NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith this afternoon regarding The Groom Law Group – THEY’RE FIRED! After years of being on the inside working both sides of the fence and writing one of the worst disability and pension plans in any industry, someone finally took notice and did what should have been done years ago.

.

continue reading »

We keep thinking about that old saying, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Or how about “Different day, same old $@&!”?

.

continue reading »

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!

.

continue reading »

Getting our hands on the NFLPA’s 2007 LM-2 financial report to the US Dept. of Labor was as close as we can get to a forensic audit of how the Union spent (or misspent) everyone’s money (read that post from last February about 2007′s LM-2 HERE). And once again, it took a while to find it and even longer to download (crashed my browser a few times) and save as a PDF file (crashed a couple of times again!). But now we have all 810 pages of this file and it was around 5 Meg of data. Then we also had to break it up into smaller sections so the special document viewer wouldn’t choke on it. So at last, here it is!

continue reading »

Some people think they have to join in the conversation even when they have no idea what they’re talking about. (Or maybe we can chalk it up to reporters looking to stir things up on a slow day.) In today’s press coverage leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, the Saints’ Drew Brees was quoted in USA Today as saying, “There’s some guys out there that have made bad business decisions,” he said.” They took their pensions early because they never went out and got a job. They’ve had a couple divorces and they’re making payments to this place and that place. And that’s why they don’t have money. And they’re coming to us to basically say, ‘Please make up for my bad judgment.’” Read the rest of the piece in USA Today by clicking HERE.

In fact, here’s an interesting question to ponder: What would probably happen if Drew Brees got permanently disabled and had to go in front of the NFLPA Disability Board for a disability benefits review? Would his agent, Tom Condon – who also happens to sit on the Board (!) – still be on his side? Or would he find a way to disqualify him like most everyone else who’s come up in front of the Review Board? Just remember one thing: The people you step on going up the ladder of success may end up being the very people you need help from on the way back down.

continue reading »