Dave Pear's Blog

Aaron Hewitt: Dave at Home

Yesterday, I was reading a recent article on Bleacher Report titled Dear NFL: Eight Changes That Need to Be Made Now (click HERE to read their eight changes). It got me thinking again about the real changes that need to be made for retired players:

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Dear  NFL, NFLPA, NFL Retirement board,

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NFLPA Lawyers Door

It seems that the NFLPA was under the rule of lawyers for decades when departed Executive Director Gene Upshaw ran the place. We’ve covered many of the lawyers inside over the past couple of years. And current Executive Director DeMaurice Smith recently alluded to the conflict of interest posed by the Groom Law Group with regard to the players’ pension plans; they wrote the plan and they represented BOTH the NFLPA AND the NFL when it came to defending the plan. (Click HERE to see the Super Bowl announcement.)

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Then you have Jeffrey Kessler who fought against the retired players in the Parrish GLA lawsuit by representing the NFLPA (who’s SUPPOSED to be representing the retired players’ interests – got that?!) and then turns around to represent the Union in the recent American Needle antitrust case in the Supreme Court. You also have CAA superagent Tom Condon who makes the big bucks representing many of the active players in their contracts with the League while also supposedly looking after retired players’ interests by serving for years as one of the 3 NFLPA representatives on the Disability Committee (most applicants get turned down for full benefits). And last but not least, you have NFLPA General Counsel, Richard Berthelsen, who’s been there as long as the wallpaper advising Upshaw over the years.

Gene Berthelsen

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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.

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For years, Bernie Parrish has been pointing out the deep conflicts of interest where The Groom Law Group has placed itself: They worked for the NFL, they worked for the NFLPA AND they wrote the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. We’ve written a lot about this on our blog – including several pieces from Bernie – covering my personal experiences with trying to apply for my disability benefits under Groom Law Group’s ridiculous rules. And my personal experiences are atypical of the way most retired players are treated when they apply for their rightful benefits. Groom Law Group has taken millions from all sides to the detriment of the retired players – they collected nearly $600,000 from the NFLPA alone in 2008 according to the PA’s LM-2 on file. (Look at the Related Posts below this post or just click HERE to see what a search brings up for Groom Law Group on our blog).

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I can only hope that this will be the start of real change in the way retired players are treated and looked upon by its own Union. And perhaps it may not be too much to hope that retired players will finally be given an opportunity to participate and shape their own futures.

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It looks like the latest Congressional hearings into brain concussions in the NFL will be starting this Wednesday, October 28th. From all the preliminary announcements, it appears that only two people have been officially announced to testify: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. So far, no experts such as neurosurgeons and brain scientists have been announced to testify. We have to wonder who called this hearing on such short notice and why now just as the 2010 lockout is looming and brain concussions have taken center stage in the retired players’ battle for independent representation. With a hat tip to all those other Top 10 Lists out there, we’ve come up with a simple list of the Top 10 Questions that Congress should be asking of Goodell and Smith directly.

AAA

We only wish it could all be sworn testimony…

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I just received the current renewal form for my annual membership in the NFLPA Retired Players. For belonging, most of us retired players actually only receive an annual membership directory and a fancy plastic wallet card claiming how the NFL supports Past – Present – Future (yeah, right!).

Plus we’re allowed to send a $100 check to these crooks! (Click on the documents to enlarge for easier reading.)

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Dave's Post-Op Scar

My lower back 11 days after having 4 screws and other hardware removed as well as having a bone shaved that had been pressing against a nerve causing pain to go down my right leg.

Dave's Extra Parts

• I’ve had 8 spine surgeries (6 lower back and 2 neck);
• I have 3 fused discs in my lower back and 1 fused disc in my neck;
• In 1987, I had knot rods inserted into my lower back but they became loose and I had them removed in 1989;
• I have a bone from the Bone Bank fused into my neck;
• 1 surgery for a total left hip replacement.

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Our good friend and player advocate, disability attorney John Hogan, was able to attend that Symposium held at the Baltimore School of Law on Thursday. Here are his notes from that day:

Notes from

The University of Baltimore School of Law’s
First Annual Sports Law Symposium
From Rookie to Retirement:
The NFL Universe in the New Economy

I was very impressed with the overall program. Law School Dean Phillip J. Closius should be commended for the effort.

It was announced that with the support of the Ravens and Orioles, the Law School will be starting a Sports Law Institute, under the direction of Associate Professor Dionne Koller. So, hopefully it may become a forum to discuss and educate on the issues facing retired NFL players.

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As most of you now know, Bernie Parrish played a key role in the successful players’ litigation against the NFLPA and Players Inc. in San Francisco. Around the same time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced what appeared to be a groundbreaking tour to NFL host cities to hear about what the retired players truly want to see happen for them. Unfortunately, as we soon discovered, it’s been nothing more than a transparent PR scam to generate the illusion that they’re actually doing something. While Goodell shows up dragging along his personal entourage that includes the like of Harold Henderson (general counsel) and the NFL PR flaks, the players themselves are told that they can’t bring anyone to the meetings. No counsel, no doctors, not even caregivers or spouses. So disability experts like John Hogan were not even allowed to attend that first meeting in Dallas (he was uninvited by the likes of Harold Henderson AFTER he was invited and flew there at his own expense). (Click HERE and HERE and HERE to read about that first meeting and the fallout after.) And it goes on. The second meeting in Chicago was even worse; it was announced with short notice, few retired players showed up and their stories were all the same. And oh yes – no one was allowed into the “meeting” except retired players.

Now there’s another meeting scheduled for Baltimore on December 11th at 6:30 at the Doubletree Hotel. And yep – absolutely no one allowed to attend except retired players. So if you’re a retired player – dead or alive – you’re invited to show up and speak your mind!

Bernie’s been circulating a list of REAL issues that everyone would like to see the Commissioner address. We’re posting Bernie’s points ahead of the meeting in the hopes that some of the retired players might have time to print them out and take them along to that meeting. And the next one. And the next one after that…

Subject: What retired players want.

Guys: I sent this to you a couple months or ago and I sent it to many congressional staffers, Representatives, and Senators. I am about to send it again so if you have anything to add or change let me know. If I haven’t expressed our thoughts in a way you agree with let me or the Congressional staff members know.

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Well, the statement for my August T&P Disability Benefit arrived in the mail today and it’s business as usual. The Benefits fund has deposited another $2,980.60 directly into my bank account and it’s another $352.73 short of the $3,333.33 that they’re supposed to be paying me (based on $40,000 ÷ 12 = $3,333.33). And there’s still absolutely no explanation on their monthly statement that tells me how they arrived at their payment or where the $352.73 went to!

Here’s a copy of that statement (you can click on the image to enlarge it):

And there is absolutely NO doubt that they know I have no federal or state withholding as it’s clearly stated at the bottom of the statement.

And still no explanation or answers back from Paul Scott, the Benefits office, Commissioner Goodell or even our friends over at Akin Gump and The Groom Law Group.

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Dear Commissioner Goodell,

Please review this report (below) from John Hogan, who has been a disability attorney for over 25 years. I will quote Mr. Hogan, “I have seen many of Dave’s medical records and it is absolutely clear to me that he was wrongly denied his claim for disability in 1995.”

The attorney that you directed to assist me, Mr. Lawrence Lamade from Akin Gump (Washington DC), writes on 12/19/07 in his e-mail, “I have represented the league for over 30 years and continue to do so today.” “I will also try to assist you in obtaining benefits that you are entitled to from the various plans that are in place for players who played when you did.” Also, in another letter dated April, 4 2008 he once again commits to, “…assisting you in obtaining benefits to which you are entitled to.”

My family was denied access to our Total & Permanent (T&P) disability benefits in 1995 even though I qualified. Your attorney Mr. Lamade has requested in his letter on April 4, 2008 that I include “reports in writing” and has encouraged me to submit them with my application so the board can make a decision if I could engage in (sedentary) employment in 1995. I will be submitting the following with my application:

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Dear Retired Players (and Current Players):

I have been trying to obtain a complete set of original plan documents for over 4 months and I have not been successful. So far (The Groom Law Group) and (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld) have sent me the following plan documents (see attachment). The problem is they are different and none are the originals as I have requested. In fact, (The Groom Law Group) sent 2 different 1976 plans and (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld) sent 1 1976 plan but all 3 are different!

Many of you have asked what can I do to help?

Please go through all of your NFL retirement papers and see if you have any (bound booklets) that say (Plan Document) on the cover. Then email me and tell me which ones you have. Once I put together a complete list, I will then ask for these different (Plan Documents) so I can post them on DavePear.com. That way, we’ll all have easy access to this important information so we can move on to the next step.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you.

Sincerely,

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