Thanks to the folks over at Hulu, the documentary Blood Equity is now available for viewing online. Read our earlier post about the video – click HERE. (You can expand the video to Full Screen by clicking on the enlarge button in the upper right corner of the screen after the first sponsor clip finishes.)
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You can also purchase your own commercial-free copy of the DVD on Amazon:
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).
You know it’s getting really serious when the AARP features a comprehensive article on the sorry state of benefits as it applies to the NFLPA’s seniors. As long-time advocates for the retired, the AARP represents a large and vocal bloc of seniors with votes who generally get the attention of our government representatives. The article starts with Willie Wood’s life after the NFL and includes quotes from Mike Ditka and John Hogan. You can read the entire article by clickingHERE.
Like John, I also want to thank Tim Brown for helping to open up this dialog so everyone can discuss their opinions and ideas after the recent passing of Gene Upshaw. Hopefully, we can now look at things as a clean slate that each and every one of us can write on.
I can understand how you might perceive that the retired players are disrespecting the active players. And in a few cases you may be right. However, I would hope that you can understand their frustrations in watching young, untested rookies walk away with multimillion dollar contracts today after they broke their bodies for what certainly seems like pocket change these days to even the lowest-paid players.
One of the best analogies I can make is that the pie kept growing over the years (and yes, we all gave Gene Upshaw his dues for his part in helping to make this happen). With gross revenues hitting $8 Billion (that’s Billion with a ‘B’), the contract negotiated for the players was close to 65% of revenues. And with so much money to spread around, common sense would dictate that you set aside a portion of that revenue for disability benefits and pensions. But unfortunately, Upshaw was the only guy in the room holding the knife to slice up the pie. So he cut up a large piece for the current players and their agents, the organization and everyone else except the retired and disabled players, with incredible salaries and bonuses for himself and all those he appointed around him. And I’m sure you and everyone else will agree it was certainly well-known that no one could or would step up and tell him otherwise for almost 25 years. With as much on the table to work with, it’s hard to fathom what the motivation may have been to completely overlook and exclude the retired and disabled players. So I’m simply not going to get into any armchair psychology here (we’ll leave that for a future post perhaps). It would be too easy at this stage to waste any more time on finger-pointing and blame but the fact of the matter is that you guys are all looking at what may well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make things better.
I liked your example of how the active players would certainly take offense to being disrespected by the retired players. That said, I do want to address what I see as the biggest flaws in the NFLPA and its current structure (or lack thereof). And I can also do it using an example of fair turnaround. Let’s say, for example, that everything got reversed but with Upshaw still in total control. Let’s just say that the retired players got full recognition and received benefits that grew increasingly every year as revenues grew, while the current players just drafted out of college received starting salaries of $50,000 a year. And the current Board was comprised of 3 owners (or their reps) and 3 retired players (who favored the retired players), along with a chairman and Executive Director but with absolutely no representation for the current players. You can begin to imagine the resentment that would brew over 25 years of being completely ignored with no seat at the table. And then a few of the retired players come along and tell you, “Gee, if you’re really nice to us, maybe we’ll pay for your ticket to go to Hawaii so we can talk about this.” I’m not sure if there are very many guys out there who would still be able to hold on to their dignity and self-respect after being left out on the sidelines and mistreated for so long. Think of it this way: If it was such a good deal for the retired players to take a back seat and wait for their benefits later in their careers (which never come, by the way), then why are most current players and their agents demanding bigger and bigger signing bonuses and salaries up front?
To the outside world, Idi Amin was clearly a ruthless, 20th century dictator. But to his closest friends, family and business associates, he was incredibly generous because he shared his country’s fortune with them. He amassed billions in overseas accounts and when he was finally forced into “exile” in Saudi Arabia – Golden Handcuffs was probably a much better description – he lived the rest of his life in luxury with his wives and children. But if you asked the majority of the people who lived under his iron fist in Uganda (and I’ve personally met a lot of them here in Seattle), I have yet to run into a single one who would sing him any praises. In fact, most of them still cringe at the mention of his name despite his demise over 5 years ago (for fear he might still really be alive and in hiding since no one had actually seen his body).
If we want to improve our position in this fight we have to take our case directly to the Public. Wonderful work has been done and is being done by many of our Advocates through the Courts, the Media and Congress. Please keep pushing, fellas.
We can’t count on the NFLPA and the NFL to do more than they are forced to do for us and the Active Players just don’t understand that a contribution of as little as one-and-one-half pennies out of each dollar that they make could help the causes of Retired Players. Those young men do not understand the meaning of “Family” in regards to the Sport. Their position of “We’re doing great so why should we worry about a bunch of our old family members who made all of this possible for us,” is shameful but not unexpected. They are from the “Me Generation” and the PA and the League exploited them.
We’re posting the entire press release from Mike Ditka’s GridIron Greats that was put out to general release this morning. Gridiron Greats, in conjunction with OAA Orthopedic Specialists of Allentown, PA, have put together a new medical assistance program for retired, injured NFL players. Several players have already been flown in for evaluation and care through the assistance program which has been open for approximately two months already. And unlike the NFLPA’s so-called joint-replacement program that only covers hips, shoulders and knees, this program isn’t selective. What NFL player DOESN’T have neck and back problems? And concussions? (Read Tony Davis’ earlier comments about the NFLPA’s program by clicking HERE.)
Even more amazing is the fact that 50 players have already been flown in for this program and you have to wonder if the NFLPA’s current program – which is about to close at the end of July – has even seen 50 applications, let alone approved 50 players for benefits? And we wonder how Upshaw and the NFLPA are going to malign Mike Ditka and Gridiron Greats this time for doing something that they themselves should have done years ago.
Kudos to Mike Ditka and his team!
Mike Ditka Gridiron Greats Begins Implementation of Multi Million Dollar Pro Bono Medical Program for Retired NFL Players
For many of you who may have missed this, here’s the 73-minute video taken during that press conference hosted by Gridiron Greats at the 101 Lounge in Washington DC on Sept. 18, 2007. Mike Ditka plays MC along with Delvin Williams, Dwight Harrison, Dave Pear, Conrad Dobler, Gale Sayers, Eugene “Mercury” Morris, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Mike Pyle, Sam Huff, Brent Boyd and Walter Beach.
After posting Dave’s application to Commissioner Goodell’s Alliance, we felt it was as good a time as any to follow up with an old interview Sports Blogger, Michael David Smith, had with Dave in 2006 for Football Outsiders.
Remembering Those Who Paved the Way
I got a lot of e-mails and one phone call in response to my column on Al Davis this week. That phone call was from Dave Pear, a former Raiders lineman who disagreed with the kind words I had for Davis. My column this week stems from my conversation with Pear.
A lot of the most recent publicity around the NFL’s retirement plan and the NFLPA’s disability program (or lack thereof), came out of last year’s September 2007 Senate hearings. Mike Ditka provided some of the strongest testimony: .
“I’ve talked about some of the things we know about the Bert Bell Plan. But it’s just as important to point out what we don’t know, and what I hope this Committee can help find out through the hearing and oversight process. Right now, the Plan gives out virtually no information about the number of players receiving disability benefits, how many people get each type of benefit, even the total dollars paid out each year for disability. The information that gets handed out by the Plan– only in response to Congressional and media scrutiny – is fragmentary and unreliable. What we really need is full disclosure by the Bert Bell Plan of all the key information behind the disability benefits, so that the retired players, and the union, can negotiate for better procedures, changes in the way the Plan is administered, and more money for disabled retirees. I hope that this kind of necessary disclosure is one result of this Committee’s work, and I look forward to working with you so that the great men who built this league can lead lives of dignity after their retirement.” .
Read the rest of his testimony HERE.
Here’s the full 1 hour and 14 minute video from September 2007 with Mike Ditka. From the posting itself:
“Twelve ex-National Football League (NFL) players participated in a press conference, on September 18, 2007, at the 101 Lounge, near Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. The session was sponsored by the “Gridiron Greats.” The players, led by the legendary Mike Ditka, ex-Chicago Bears’ tight end and coach, are outraged over what they perceive as the gross inadequacy, the unfair maintenance and the mean-spirited manner in which the retirement, health insurance, and disability plan/system, established by the NFL, supposedly, on their behalf, is set up and administered. Heard and seen on the video, but not necessarily in the order of their appearance, besides coach Ditka, are: Delvin Williams, Dwight Harrison, Dave Pear, Conrad Dobler, Gale Sayers, Eugene “Mercury” Morris, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Mike Pyle, Sam Huff, Brent Boyd and Walter Beach.”
CRO: Corporate Responsibility Officer. They even have a magazine with that title. But they definitely don’t have a CRO in the NFL or the NFLPA! CRO Magazine wrote a piece about Mike Ditka’s personal crusade to help the disabled retired players. The article cites more incriminating links on the incestuous role Gene Upshaw has with insiders who have no interest in anything other than the bottom line. Read Mike Ditka flags NFL on its CR Gameday.
From the Blood Equity website:
