Negotiations between the NFL and its current players are near conclusion. Reliable sources are reporting that a deal to end the current lockout is imminent.
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Left outside of the negotiating process has been the NFL’s retired players. Retirees are routinely forgotten by both the league they helped build and a Union that has abandoned them. We must not forget these heroes of our youth, the titans who built the game and turned the NFL into the multibillion-dollar industry that it is today. Most retired players played the game at a time when big money did not rule the sport, but nonetheless the names of these athletes are burned in the memories of fans forever. Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Y.A. Title, Lenny Moore, Lem Barney and Art Donovan to name a few.
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Fans of the game would be shocked and saddened if they knew the harsh realities faced by NFL retirees:
- A majority of NFL retirees never made the millions of dollars being paid to current players;
- A majority of NFL retirees have spent more money on medical expenses than they ever made playing football;
- The NFL’s disability system currently provides money for only 4% of its retired players;
- Draconian rules set-up by the League and a Union that does not represent the interest of its retirees, leave most former players needing to rely on Social Security to fix their broken bodies;
- Underfunded pension benefits have left even some Hall-of-Famers receiving less than $200 per month to live on.
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Posted by
RobertinSeattle |
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Y.A. Title |
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
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Evan Weiner |
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Like George Visger, Brent Boyd recently had another near-miss with concussion-related issues over this past weekend. Many of you may have been wondering why you haven’t heard much from Brent recently. He’s had not one – but five! – close brushes with death since knee surgery in 2006. Brent is now quietly recovering at home from his latest close call. And still no full disability benefits for Brent from the NFL! We finally heard from him this morning:
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Brent Boyd |
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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.
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