Dave Pear's Blog

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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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This story started a couple of weeks ago when I was reminded that Valerie Cross was the person listed as the Director of Player Benefits for the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan. So I went ahead and called her office. My call got directed to her voicemail and I left a message asking her to call me back regarding some questions that I had about my benefits as well as my HIPAA/ERISA  rights. The story continues in the following e-mails:

Dear Mr. Lamade,

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We still haven’t figured out if Gene Upshaw is just plain arrogant or just plain ignorant of the law. Maybe it’s a bit of both after all these years of running unchecked as head of the NFLPA and an officer of the AFL-CIO. And sometimes, there are so many flagrant violations – legal and otherwise – most of us tend to glaze over and miss most of them.

That was the case from way back in February when The Washington Post’s Michael Leahy wrote his piece The Pain Game (click to read the entire piece). But first, a little bit of background: In all of my requests to the NFL and the NFLPA, as well as to their attorneys – The Groom Law Group and Akin Gump – for documents pertaining to my case as well as general documents on the disability plans, there’s always more redacting on every page than a Watergate investigation. And all of it is supposedly done in the name of privacy and confidentiality in “protecting the names and personal information” of those who have applied for benefits.

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NPR interviewed Michael Leahy right after his piece came out in the Sunday Washington Post, The Pain Game, previously posted on this blog. From NPR’s site:

“Dozens of former pro football players say the NFL and the NFL players union should do more to help with pension and disability payments after their years of playing through pain and injury. Michael Leahy of the Washington Post tells the story of retired Super Bowl champion Dave Pear, who is disabled.”

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10th Request; Gene Upshaw; (Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan)

Feb 15, 2008

Dear Gene,

Please open (attached) and scroll down to the last paragraph. I will quote the wording, ” If you would like to review the official Retirement Plan document, please contact the Plan Administrative office at the above address.” When I follow these instructions I am told, “Contact The Groom Law Group”.

Question? Is The Groom Law Group now the Plan Administrator?

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From Page 26: The Washington Post Magazine February 3, 2008) – Super Bowl Sunday

Gene Upshaw: “Once he took that pension, that was it. He can’t get a disability (benefit). That’s not only the rule of the retirement plan — it’s the law.”
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Michael Leahy from the Washington Post: I ask if he is certain of that.
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Gene Upshaw: “Yes,” he answers. “It’s not just the NFL; it’s the law.”
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But it’s not the law, says the attorney Upshaw himself retained. Lanny Davis, in a separate interview, says the NFL could grant both a pension and a right to a disability payment. “It’s discretionary,” Davis says, “which is the way it is with most corporations.”
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Link to the Washington Post article HERE.
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  Late last year, Washington Post writer, Michael Leahy, spent several days following Dave around to see just what his life is like on a day-to-day basis. His article also appeared as a cover article in the SuperBowl Sunday edition of The Post Sunday Magazine, along with another dramatic collection of photos taken by The Post’s Brian Smale. Read The Pain Game and check out the Slideshow in the sidebar.

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