Dave Pear's Blog

OK – so here we go again. We posted Dan Pastorini’s story about wanting to opt out of the NFL Alumni’s Group Licensing Agreement (click HERE to read that earlier post). On their membership page online, the GLA was automatically attached as a part of the membership process with no option to opt-out of the agreement in order to join the Alumni. Dan pointed that out to the rest of us. And that’s when the knives came out.
.
Look, we don’t care who said what and exactly what the details may have been between Dan Pastorini and George Martin. And quite frankly, like most people, WHO REALLY CARES?!! But then two Alumni members, David Carter, President of the Houston Chapter, and Rod Smith, Carolinas Chapter President – both members on the Alumni Board of Directors apparently – decided to give a detailed He-Said-He-Said version of what transpired between Pastorini and Martin. And then Jeff Nixon decided to jump in on the Alumni blog and make it personal with Dave and me. Again. We only hope they’re paying you well over at the Alumni now, Jeff…
.
Here’s the real issue and this is what we’re absolutely 110% in agreement with Dan Pastorini: Attaching a completely unrelated and unsolicited Licensing Agreement to what’s supposed to be nothing more than a simple membership enrollment is just plain wrong! In fact, it’s downright sneaky, unethical and it actually violates consumer law!
.
Jeff Nixon decided to call Dan Thursday and Dan shared that conversation with us on Friday:
.
“Jeff Nixon told me that George had admitted ‘He may have made a mistake’ in tying the GLA to their membership enrollment.”
.
“If I almost missed it when I was signing up, then I wonder how many other players had already missed that GLA footnote? And that was my point! It was all a matter of principle.” Dan said. “As a matter of fact, if George is finally coming out and admitting that it was a mistake in adding the contract and they’re now planning on removing that hook, what about all the guys who have already inadvertently signed their GLA? I think the Alumni needs to invalidate all those copies of the GLA that they’ve acquired through their membership forms and then offer their GLA to its members separately. It’s not me I’m concerned about now. It’s any of the other guys who have already been locked into this GLA without their full knowledge or consent.”

Just sign here...

continue reading »

Dave -
.
After reading over the NFL Alumni’s Group Licensing Agreement, I decided to notify them that I couldn’t – and wouldn’t – accept their GLA which has developed virtually no revenue whatsoever for retired players. In fact, it looks to be clearly designed to impact and damage the Dryer v. NFL lawsuit on behalf of all retired players. Next thing you know, I’m being told by George Martin himself that I could no longer be a member of the NFL Alumni!
.
I’d like to suggest that other retired players might not want to be NFL Alumni members …unless they want to support the NFL’s ongoing poor treatment of retired players. We don’t want to be paying for George’s new Escalade and we sure don’t want another repeat of Gene Upshaw’s GLA “One-for-You-and-One-Million-for-Me” deals. (Click on Dan’s membership cancellation to enlarge for easier reading.)
.
.
Dan Pastorini
Oilers, Rams, Raiders & Eagles
1971 – 1984
.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dan sent us some additional clarification on his Alumni membership:
.
I tried to pay my dues online but it wouldn’t let me unless I checked the GLA box! I then e-mailed them and asked why I couldn’t join without agreeing to the GLA. They informed me I could send a check. Then I got George’s e-mail stating I was no longer a member.
.
Dan
.
We uploaded a copy of the NFL Alumni GLA to Scribd for viewing and printing and to make it downloadable. You can also click the Fullscreen button on the left side of the menu to enlarge it for easier navigation (hit the ESC key to close)
.
NFL Alumni Group Licensing Agreement
.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave has been talking with Bette Schwager over the past few weeks about her treatment (or mistreatment) at the hands of the NFLPA and the Players Assistance Trust (PAT). We asked her to write the story in her own words so that our readers can understand just a little of the senseless treatment she and her family have been put through by the NFLPA and their so-called assistance programs this past year. Bette’s husband, Bruce, had played football at the Merchant Marine Academy before being drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in 1955. The Cardinals refused to take him off their reserve list even as he went in to service with the Navy from 1956 – 1958. So Bruce became another one of the pre-’93 players (pre-’72!) who was actually on the roster and vested with enough years but never granted vesting. You can read the full story from Alan Schwarz in his June 2011 New York Times article – click HERE. We’ve also posted a copy of the 2-page Release Letter that the NFLPA tried to get Bette to sign after Bruce passed away before he was to be evicted from his dementia care facility because the NFLPA stopped paying his bill. After you read Bette’s story and the Release Letter, you’ll understand why we’ve been cautioning everyone to be extremely careful of signing anything from these people without close scrutiny and advice. continue reading »

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 »

Some reading material for your weekend. We have a recent newsletter from Hausfeld LLP and Zelle Hofmann that provides an update on much of what’s been happening with the retired players’ lawsuit as well as recent information and links of interest to football players and fans alike regarding concussions. They also provide some straight-forward analysis of the new CBA and how it will affect retirees’ benefits that you probably won’t be hearing from the NFLPA any time soon.
.
And Sports Life Magazine’s Rick Kelsheimer spoke with us last month about Dave’s long battle with the NFL and the NFLPA and was gracious enough to provide us with an advance copy of his story that will appear in the October 2011 edition.
.
We uploaded full copies of the newsletter and the Sports Life article 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): continue reading »

Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:

THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
. continue reading »

(c) 2010 Tom Fishburne

John Hogan’s comments to our prior post from Evan Weiner and Randy Cross struck a chord with us:

continue reading »

Like many of you, Dave has recently received his new membership package from the NFLPA, complete with a slick new “Union Membership” tag/card. This new card re-affirms the NFLPA’s affiliation with the AFL/CIO and the Federation of Professional Athletes. And we also checked into the new Drunk Driver Protection Program with a toll-free number to call to for a limo to avoid getting penalized by Roger Goodell for bad behavior (non-emergency use by retired players is also available – for a measly $85 an hour!). And, of course, the NFL School of Legends logo is there as the new replacement program for that failed Group Licensing Agreement from Gene Upshaw. All these fantastic new programs and the NFLPA still gets absolutely no respect from the retired players. What’s a poor Union to do?

.

continue reading »

Dennis Smith posted a comment late Saturday afternoon that his second GLA settlement check had just arrived. So I knew my check wouldn’t be too far behind, seeing as Dennis lives down in L.A.! And sure enough, when I went to my PO Box today, there it was!

.

continue reading »

.

Whew! It looks like the end is finally in sight. This past Tuesday, Oct. 12th, Judge Alsup signed the official order to release the remaining proceeds from the GLA Players Inc. lawsuit, along with an amended order allowing McKool Smith to be reimbursed for their inadvertent partial payment of a Garden City Group invoice. Here’s a little shocker from the final order: 76 of the 200+ missing players were actually located using Social Security information and forms were sent to them to fill out and return in the court-ordered 4-week window. But only 32 of those players managed to return their paperwork before the deadline while three other “missing” players contacted the class attorneys on their own in the meantime. So they’ll also be included in the final disbursement. And two widows of players who passed away while all of this was going on will also be included in the final payout.

continue reading »

.

continue reading »

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many of you have been following our friend, George Visger’s recent brain shunt emergency this past weekend. The good news is that George made a strong recovery from this recent episode and we’re posting more details that have just come in from George below. As gory and complex as some of it may sound, most people generally know little about these procedures which actually happen more frequently than get reported. The Washington Post ran another series recently on brain injuries in sports and provided detailed information and graphics on hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and the shunt surgery that’s used to alleviate the problem.

.

continue reading »

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve received a huge volume of e-mails for all sorts of remarkable deals that range from new licensing deals to medical miracles to more golf outings (that’s in addition to all the get-rich-quick schemes and Nigerian scam deals!). Among the most common e-mails of late have been those “recruitment” sites that ask all retired players to sign up for a licensing deal immediately. Lots of talk and absolutely no substance on just exactly what they intend to do once they have your name on that licensing agreement. They don’t tell you exactly how they intend to represent you or what to expect in terms of payment. Just sign up to be included and we’ll take care of the details later. The worst part? They don’t disclose any information whatsoever on what their cut will be. Some of the retired players in our network have inquired about this new deal and we want to describe a real-life scenario and let you make your own minds up.

.

continue reading »

EDITOR’S NOTE:

continue reading »

A very quiet news announcement hit the wires this past week that could have major repercussions for active players in upcoming contract negotiations. First, here’s the headline and a clip from the original release on Reuters:

.
continue reading »