Roger the Hutt and Princess Jane
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.
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?
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:
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.
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.