Dave Pear's Blog

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our friend, Spencer Kopf, called in and was miffed to read an e-mail from Jeff Nixon that described the NFLPA’s great historical contributions to advancing the livelihood of its players. The story was just that: A story. The real history and events during the negotiations of the 1982 strike were well-documented and supported by many of the players who were actually there when it all went down. Here’s Spencer’s letter:
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Dear Jeff,
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I have been asked by the undersigned former players to address your most recent communication to the NFL Alumni. In your March 2, 2013 post, you wrote:
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“In 1982, our NFL Players Association demanded, among other things, that its members receive 55% of the league’s gross revenues. The owners told us to take a hike. So we did, and we didn’t return until seven regular-season games had been lost. The owners were forced to return $50 million to the networks. Although we were not successful in getting 55% of League revenues, we did accomplish some things that are still having a lasting impact on current players.”
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If by “we” you mean the NFLPA itself, you could not be wider off the mark. The players of the past certainly deserve credit for accomplishments that have benefited players of the present. However, by juxtaposing “our NFL Players Association” with “we” you have created (perhaps unintentionally) a false sense of equivalence. If the history of the NFLPA has anything to teach us, it’s that the NFLPA has never acted as if it and its past constituents were one and the same.
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Today I was reminded again of the firestorm that followed a single comment I’d made several years ago: “I wish I never played football.” It was an interview I had done with Jeff Pearlman from Sports Illustrated back in December 2009. You can read the full article -  click HERE.
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At first, I took a lot of heat from many other football players – active and retired – with each of them interpreting my words differently. Never mind the rants from fans and armchair quarterbacks! But over time, I received a lot of support from my fellow retirees who understand all too well what I really meant. In fact, this spring, Hall of Famer Lem Barney said much the same thing:
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Hall of Famer Lem Barney wishes he’d never played football

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We’re all for great customer service and constructive feedback but if a survey’s not going to accomplish anything, why bother? Last week, Dave received this request to participate in a new survey from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Plan Office in Baltimore:
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Dear NFL Player,
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In hopes of learning more about your experience with the Plan Office in Baltimore, we are conducting a brief survey. Your responses will help us determine areas the Plan Office in Baltimore has shown exceptional service as well as areas where there is room for improvement. We encourage you to click on the link below and provide candid feedback on the questions asked. The survey should only take 5 – 10 minutes to complete, and your responses will be greatly valued. The survey opens today, and will remain open for until the end of next week, closing Friday, July 6th at 5PM PST. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact our survey administrator (information provided below)
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More news on the battle against the NFLPA. Hausfeld LLP issued a public statement on behalf of retired football players to Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, stating the case for the expulsion of the NFL Players Association from the AFL-CIO. We’re also including the 10-page letter that was sent to Mr. Trumka detailing how the NFLPA has consistently broken with true Union tradition and principles in the treatment of its retirees as a normal way of doing business.
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Retired NFL Players Request AFL-CIO Expel NFLPA

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave will be heading in to the hospital tomorrow morning (Tuesday) for his scheduled total right hip replacement. We’ll keep you posted on his progress. In the meantime, we’ve been following the growing number of new concussion and helmet lawsuits over the past couple of months from all across the country. It’s been hard keeping up with all the details and lawyers and players behind each suit. Last week, many of them were consolidated in a Federal Court in Pennsylvania under Judge Anita Brody. Dave asked one of his attorneys, Jason Luckasevic, from the firm Goldberg Persky & White, to provide an overview and summary of what has happened so far.
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Posted with the express consent of Irv Muchnick:
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NFL Players Boss DeMaurice Smith, Eric Holder’s Pal, Major Bad Guy in National Concussion Saga

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by Irvin Muchnick, 2011-08-12
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And now for a heartwarming anecdote from last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities that you probably didn’t know: The executive director of the National Football League Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, crashed the dinner in Canton, Ohio, which is traditionally reserved for Hall of Famers and new inductees, and started to speak. According to NFL legend Joe DeLamielleure, blogging for Dave Pear’s Independent Football Veterans, around a dozen guys walked out in the middle of Smith’s remarks.
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The NFLPA chief “had no idea that this audience consisted mostly of pre-1993 players,” said DeLamielleure, who estimated that the Hall of Famers in attendance included around 40 guys who receive monthly pension checks of exactly $176 from the $9-billion-a-year NFL. Confronted by the retirees, Smith said the “legacy fund” negotiated in the new collective bargaining agreement would increase them to between $1,000 and $1,500 a month.
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Spencer Kopf put in a full hour interview with Sports Life Radio on Tuesday evening and we have the link to the entire piece (just click on the Red PLAY arrow and the interview will start):
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And once it starts playing, you can turn the volume up using the volume button:
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So here’s Spencer’s interview:
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Annual Hall of Fame ceremonies were held in Canton Ohio this last weekend. Joe DeLamielleure was among the Hall of Famers in attendance along with several other players who are part of the Eller Class Action suit (including Carl and Paul Krause. A surprise guest showed up – Joe D. provides some notes on the event:
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This dinner is always strictly for Hall of Fame players and the new inductees only. So most of us were wondering – some loudly – Who invited Smith?
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When De Smith walked into the room to speak, around 12 of the guys actually walked out.
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When Smith spoke, it was obvious that he had no idea that this audience consisted mostly of pre-1993 players.
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An informal count indicated there were at least 40 Hall of Fame players who were each receiving less than $200 a month ($176) in pensions and Smith was asked what their increases would be in the new CBA. Smith said that their pensions would increase to $1,000 to $1,500.
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Paul Krause and Carl Eller asked about pension increases for retired players and never received a straight answer.
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Carl Eller also asked if retired players could represent themselves and Smith answered, “I would not be opposed to that” in front of the group.
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As retired football players, we’re all sick and tired of everyone trying to tell us what’s best while not giving us a voice or a vote in how it’s done. With the CBA close to being finalized, the so-called Union, the NFLPA, is once again trying to walk away with our retirement and disability benefits as an afterthought to what they’ve negotiated for their active players. And with the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies coming up, a large group of Hall of Famers have signed a Retired Football Players Declaration of Independence (click on any images below to enlarge for easier reading and printing):
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We’re asking all retired players to read and sign on as well – I have already (PLEASE pass this along to all the other players you know):
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cforms contact form by delicious:days

And if you know retired players who don’t have Internet access or e-mail, you can also download a copy of the Declaration by right-clicking HERE and saving the PDF version that you can then print out and distribute to fax in or send by snail-mail. Thanks for all your support!
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Over the weekend, the retired players and the attorneys involved with the Eller et al vs. NFL et al class action lawsuit released a letter addressed to all retirees to outline a call for unity as well as to provide an update on the facts and actions to date.
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Dear fellow retired players,
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We have been asked by many of our fellow retired National Football League (“NFL”) players to provide more information about what the Eller v. NFL lawsuit is meant to accomplish and how the lawsuit will help benefit all retired NFL players. What follows is our attempt to do so.
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On March 28, 2011 the national law firms of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP and Hausfeld, LLP, filed a class action on behalf of all retired NFL players against the NFL in federal court in the District of Minnesota to bring about wholesale improvements of the NFL player retirement system.
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This lawsuit came after the CBA negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA broke down, the Union decertified and the League subsequently locked the players out. The complaint seeks to do for retired players what the Reggie White class action lawsuit did for current players in the early 1990’s: create an organization and system whereby retired NFL players are able to advocate on their own behalf and therefore vastly improve the current landscape of the NFL retirement system. This class action – known as Eller et al., v. NFL – was consolidated with the class action on behalf of current players called Brady, et al vs. NFL. (Consolidated simply means that the cases are heard together and the NFL is better positioned to try and resolve both cases simultaneously – although the retired players are asking for and addressing different issues than the current players.)
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Recently, the largest collective group of representatives of various organizations for retired players or who have mass online audience met in Minneapolis. The group included representatives and/or members from the NFLPA, NFL Alumni, the Retired Players Association, Fourth & Goal, Gridiron Greats, Dignity after Football and DavePear.com/Independent Football Veterans. Most of the participants agreed to present the League with united proposals for changes in key areas affecting the well-being of retired players:

• (a)    pensions;
• (b)   disability benefits;
• (c)    medical benefits;
• (d)   medical monitoring; and
• (e)    vesting calculations.

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And for those of us with shorter attention spans, the highlights are now up on YouTube from our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference. We’ve uploaded it to YouTube in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window.
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And once again, thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew. We’re working on shorter individual clips to also be posted daily on YouTube over the following weeks to keep this issue front and center with the fans and general public. Retired Players are NOT going away!
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And for those of us with shorter attention spans, the highlights are now up on YouTube from our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference. We’ve uploaded it to YouTube in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window.
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And once again, thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew. We’re working on shorter individual clips to also be posted daily on YouTube over the following weeks to keep this issue front and center with the fans and general public. Retired Players are NOT going away!
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And a little something extra: Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers is mad too!
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HOW YOU CAN HELP: Click on the Like button on YouTube, as well as passing these videos along to all of your friends. You can also post our video links to your Facebook page if you have a Facebook account and Tweet it to Twitter (you can use those buttons at the bottom of each of our posts). And please be sure to click on the Sign Our Petition link at the top of the sidebar on the right to let everyone know you support these guys!
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Thanks to Jennifer Thibeaux and her crew, we now have the full video of our June 20th 2011 Retired Football Players Press Conference held at the Washington Press Club. We’ve uploaded it to Veoh in HD – you can enlarge it to full screen for easier viewing using the enlarge button in the lower right corner of the video window. You can turn the volume up using the sliding volume bar next to that Full Screen button
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Be sure to click on the Sign Our Petition link at the top of the sidebar on the right to let everyone know you support these guys!
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We’re back from attending the Press Conference at the Press Club in Washington DC. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the teams at Hausfeld LLC and Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason and Carl Eller, everything came off even better than anyone could have expected. Retired players who attended the conference included Carl, Irv Cross (who moderated), George Visger, Joe DeLamielleure, Lem Barney, Conrad Dobler, Paul Krause, Elvin Bethea and Greg Koch. For the first part of the conference, the retirees were also joined by a group of active players who also made statements in support of the retired players efforts, which included Brendon Ayanbadejo, Duane Starks, Will Witherspoon, Hannibal Navies, Sean James, Anthony Adams, Duane Starks, Stalker McDougal and Mike Dean. We had a strong media presence and there was also a lot of attendance on the conference phone line provided.
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We have video of the entire event and will be posting clips from the news conference over the next few days along with a full version of the entire meeting (thanks to our friend, Jennifer Thibeaux, and her young assistant, Elizabeth). And here’s a slideshow of pictures from Reuters News Service at the conference (Click on the picture to open the slideshow in another window):
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(c) 2011 Jonathan Ernst - Reuters News Service

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So producing a film about life after football for many of the old warriors should speak volumes. The documentary Blood Equity has been out since 2007 and is available on DVD. We haven’t heard much more about it since it came out but noticed it was playing this weekend Laemmle Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood (read the story HERE).

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Last Saturday, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure left East Lansing, Michigan with a couple of his old college buddies to do an Easy Rider run all the way down to Mexico. They’re making this run to help raise money for the Shinsky Orphanage in Mexico and that’s their final destination: Matamoros, Mexico, where the new orphanage building and complex will be constructed. They’re still accepting donations on per-mile or one-time contributions. (Click HERE to read about the Shinsky Orphanage and their noble work and to donate.) It’s all tax-deductible and be sure to check out some of the cool enticements for donors.

You can follow Joe & Co.’s real-time progress online by going HERE (or click on the map to get an update). continue reading »