Dave Pear's Blog

Roger the Hutt and Princess Jane

Last Friday, we posted a short piece on what has been the typical divide-and-conquer approach to keeping the retired and active players divided (read that last post HERE), especially now that the NFLPA has a new Executive Director who seems to be intent on changing the status quo. And with the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) looming overhead, things must be getting interesting in the NFL war room. Some people may have had an “Oh crap!” moment last Friday after a letter from Commissioner Goodell was dumped into the US Postal System just before we put up that Roger the Hutt piece. The letter was sent to a mailing list of retired players and has already been arriving at East Coast addresses earlier this week. Read the letter for yourself to understand the owners’ generosity in continuing to fund the “Independence” of the NFL Alumni (click on the images to enlarge for reading). The Commissioner also included a flyer so you can see some of the other fine programs they’re rolled out to help you.

So this is what Commissioner Goodell learned from his fact-finding road trip? More on Dave’s encounter with the NFL Player Care Foundation in an upcoming post!

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We’ve been asked many times over the past few weeks about the status of the Independent Summit for NFL Retired Players. It can now be announced that it will take place in Las Vegas on May 28 – 31. Those involved in helping to organize this effort to get all of us together as an Independent Group of NFL Retired Players include me, Tony Davis, Joe DeLamielleure, Dave Pear, Disability Attorney John Hogan, Jeff Nixon, Ben Lynch, Marvin Cobb, Bob Grant, Abner Haynes and Bruce Laird. There are a lot more NFL Retired Players who have assisted in multiple ways with this effort and too many to mention in this announcement. Many of these men have helped by consulting with us. We communicate almost daily and are working to make sure that this event will provide a new direction for NFL Retired Players. What also must be mentioned is that others have been asked to be a part of the organizational process but have chosen not to participate.

Getting any group of people together is difficult. Dealing with the issues of the NFL Retired Players made it even more difficult but we’ve been able to work through many issues and personal feelings to come to a consensus on how to assist this movement. We’ve had our differences in getting here but have chosen to listen to all involved so that any decisions we make are well-informed, educated and thought out. We agree that no advocate group will be uninvited. Every man who put on the NFL or AFL uniform is welcome. Any and all NFL Groups, including the Alliance and Gridiron Greats are invited. And – last but not least – every wife or caregiver of any NFL Retired Player is an honored invitee.

This group of men who have organized this Summit have done this because the NFL and the NFLPA Retired Players organizations have consistently made it clear that assisting the NFL Retired Players is not their priority. They have explained in no uncertain terms to NFL Retired Players that we do not have a vote. There’s already been a great deal of work done on behalf of the NFL Retired Players, to continue to lobby a variety of different entities that can affect the changes for a new Pension and new Disability Plan.

We chose to do this because we felt, along with thousands of you, that we need a Voice in these matters and the Union that is supposed to represent us, gives us no voice. We chose Las Vegas because of the incredible Hotel rates offered to us and Las Vegas – as a domestic travel destination – may now be the cheapest in the country during these tough economic times. Before the Summit, we hope to announce some significant changes that will positively affect NFL Retired Players. We look forward to overwhelming participation from all of you. In the meantime we appreciate your letters of support and ask you to help. Spread the word, get involved – these are issues that affect your families and through collective efforts we think we can make a difference.

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More keeps coming out on the touchy-feely meetings that Commissioner Goodell has been conducting with the “Alliance” in league cities across the country. The first meeting held in Dallas ended with Disability Attorney being invited – and then uninvited – by John Wooten (read about that HERE) and as revealed in a series of interesting e-mails that followed the meeting (read about that HERE). Then a dull second meeting in Chicago and a more interesting one last week in Baltimore. The spouses of several players with dementia confronted the Commissioner outside of the meeting room about being denied a voice in the process. And then the New York Times backed it up with the revelation that it was the Alliance who decided to close the meetings to everyone except retired players (read about that HERE and HERE).

Behind the scenes, there’s been a flurry of e-mails and phone calls between the retired players and some members of the “Alliance,” discussing and rationalizing the secret decision to keep the meetings closed. And lots and lots of backpedaling and finger-pointing. We’ve got one interesting exchange that came from Alliance member John Wooten trying once again to explain his way out of another ridiculous situation. Tony Davis’ response is first and Wooten’s e-mail follows at the end. Tony is expressing an opinion that the majority of retired players all seem to share. So why weren’t the other players even consulted before the Big Brother Alliance decided for them?

From: Tony Davis
To: John Wooten; Bruce Laird; Dave Pear
Cc: Mike Connelly; Jack Kemp; Merlin Olsen; Jerry Kramer; Daryl Johnston; Harry Carson

To members of the NFL/NFLPA Alliance,

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A quick note on this Monday morning just to let our readers know that there’s been a huge offline discussion among the retired players over the weekend regarding who can or can’t attend those meetings that Commissioner Goodell has been announcing in various NFL cities.

With all due respect to Stan and Jan Berenstain, this classic children’s book pretty much sums it up:

So in a complete turnaround, the NFL Alliance – a committee originally appointed by the recently departed Gene Upshaw and Commissioner Goodell – finally fessed up publicly that they had indeed set up secret side rules to exclude everyone else from their meetings with the Commish. Including spouses and caregivers, as well as representatives. (Read our earlier post from the weekend HERE.)

Several of the Alliance players have been backpedalling so quickly, we think they’re going to give Lance Armstrong a run for his money in the next Tour de France. Some of them are now even saying they meant “except the spouses – um, if maybe they’re pushing their husband’s wheelchair.”

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RetiredPlayers.org has done an analysis of the upcoming Expanded Disability Plan that was apparently hashed out on February 2008 with the NFL, the NFLPA and the NFL Alliance. From their post:

“The National Football League and National Football League Players Association announced an “expanded disability benefits program” through a press release on February 29, 2008.  A copy of the release may be viewed by clicking HERE.

The changes to the disability plan were reviewed at a downtown Washington law office during a meeting of the NFL Alliance on Thursday, February 28, 2008.  Ten “former players” attended the meeting, according to the press release, including Troy Vincent, who currently serves active players as NFLPA President. Other attendees included Roger Goodell, Gene Upshaw, NFL Alumni President Frank Krauser, and Pro Football Hall of Fame President and Executive Director Steve Perry.

Through the press release, the NFL and union announced four agreements which they claim would “significantly expand eligibility for disability benefits and increase the amount of the benefit paid to certain recipients.”

Read the rest of their analysis on their blog site HERE.

While the plan is a start in the right direction, it still lacks the transparency and independent oversight that is necessary to ensure fairness to both sides. Additionally, the window of opportunity for applications is not much more than 3 months this coming Spring and only covers existing disabled players. (See Tony Davis’ earlier post on this blog HERE.)

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The NFL Alliance, comprised of the NFL, NFL Players Association, Pro Football Hall of Fame and NFL Alumni Association, announced today a further series of improvements to the NFL disability benefits program as part of the Alliance’s continued commitment to address the medical and disability needs of retired NFL players and their families.

“Continued commitment”? Sorry, but this action was the result of continued pressure applied by Retired Players, not a continued commitment to address medical and disability needs of retired NFL Players and their families.

At today’s meeting, the NFL and NFLPA announced agreements that would both significantly expand eligibility for disability benefits and increase the amount of the benefit paid to certain recipients. The particular changes announced today are:

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