Digging through the Drawers
Most of our readers know by now that Dave’s been in this fight for over 25 years with his Union, the NFLPA, to get justice for himself and his retired brothers. There’s just so much material to go through that the sheer volume can sometimes get overwhelming. The worst part is that it seems almost everything you look at is just another bad chapter in a never-ending novel on the abuse that’s been heaped on the majority of retired players for decades. (We wrote about this in earlier posts – click HERE and HERE and HERE.) After a while, it’s easy to get numb and to start overlooking stuff that’s been right under your nose all along.
In researching material for an upcoming post, Dave dug up this old letter from ADP Benefit Services dated 1997 that outlines an insurance program supposedly offered to all retired players under the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. Since receiving this form letter, Dave hasn’t received any additional information or policies detailing his insurance plan benefits. What’s even worse, because he’s been officially designated as a retired disabled football player, he’s been automatically disqualified and completely ineligible for any kind of life insurance now. It seems these guys were offered an “insurance benefit” that they never got to see, while also guaranteeing it would leave them completely uninsurable with any other insurance company. (Click on the letter to enlarge for reading.)
continue reading »
