Andrew Stewart recently went through an application process for his NFL Total & Permanent Disability Benefits. After playing in the NFL, he went on to play for several more years in the CFL (Canadian Football League). Andrew currently lives in Vancouver BC Canada. .
The third and final part of Dr. Stoller’s work with Wayne Hawkins and HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy). Dr. Stoller’s post talks about how a big industry – the big multinational pharmaceutical companies – have managed to keep HBOT hidden from the public and left out of qualification for Medicare reimbursement. Wait – does that sound like another coverup we know about? Nah!
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We’ll continue to follow Wayne’s – and George’s – progress over the next months.
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh when a situation gets so ridiculous and absolutely everyone else can see it except the very people who should be able to see it. Yesterday, Dr. Ken Stoller submitted the first part of his series on HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) and how the treatment for George Visger and Wayne Hawkins has been progressing. When you read Part II today, you’ll realize that Dr. Stoller is now also getting a taste of the typical bureaucratic runaround that retired players have been encountering for years.
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So before you read Part II of Dr. Stoller’s series, let’s kick things off with with an old video clip that came to mind about the frustration of dealing with idiots – Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch: .
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.”
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While the NFL and the NFLPA continue to roll out one press release after another about the wonderful progress they’re making for today’s players on brain concussions, our focus has always remained focused on disability and pension benefits for its veteran players. Without the growing voices of the veterans to emphasize the long-term damages of life after football, we doubt if much of the progress we’ve seen today would even be happening. With help from our friends in the media and in Congress, our hope is to not only educate the fans and the general public about the long term effects of brain concussions but to also promote and advance new research into possible treatments for the problem. Like all things in life, everything is related directly or indirectly: Anything that benefits the retired players will surely help the active players, perhaps even on the field immediately after an injury. It would seem as though the NFL is slowly coming out of its decades of denial in finally acknowledging that concussions are bad for you. Now we have to get them to not only go back and pay those men who have long suffered in silence from being ignored by their employers but to look forward to ways of treating their suffering. And in doing so, we’ll not only be helping those hurt from the past but also those playing today and into the future.
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By openly studying and helping the veterans of the game, the direct and indirect benefits to all athletes as well as to the public at large far outweigh the flawed logic of denial. Retired players have benefited from the generosity of Dr. Daniel Amen and his clinical studies on the long-term aftereffects of concussions. And Dr. Ken Stoller has recently been treating some retired players with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) with promising results. We just received a detailed piece from Dr. Stoller on how the process works and his hands-on treatment with George Visger and Wayne Hawkins. Perhaps it’s only wishful thinking to hope that the NFL and the NFLPA will work together to provide these latest treatments for both its injured players on the field and off the field. We envision mandatory brain scans when new players enter and leave the game, as well as scans for all retired players. We also believe that HBOT may well be standard equipment in locker rooms in the future and retired players should all have direct access to such treatments as well.
A little history lesson and my jog down memory lane that others also might not have known:
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Economics 201 says that all businesses are valued on a cash flow basis thus valuations are set BASED ON SAID CASH FLOW… now let’s look at some simple FACTS:
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In 1986, John Mecom sold the New Orleans Saints for $65 million;
Prior to 1987, the NFLPA never had the “big bucks” to launch a big legal fight because the dues collected from the players prevented it due to meager salaries… but in 1987, the NFLPA told Topps Bubble Gum “$20 million for players’ rights (PREVIOUSLY FREE) on your bubble gum cards or up-and-comer Scoreboard Bubble Gum would…” They paid and the cash needed to launch a legal fight was now in hand;
The NFLPA then took said $20 million and hired a huge law firm and sued the NFL owners on the legality of the draft (aka indentured AND AN OBVIOUS VIOLATION OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY). You see, the owners have always lobbied the politicians and they have always obliged the owners and changed the laws for the greater good (aka redistribution of wealth). Screw the players for the “common good.” (Geez – will it ever stop? No, it won’t.)
The NFLPA eventually won 14 consecutive lawsuits on said illegality;
NFL owners’ lawyers advised the owners: You’d better settle because to continue could BE VERY COSTLY and you WILL lose the draft and all control of your “feeder stock” (that would be us – the players );
Then the owners cut a deal with the players and made a HUGE increase in players’ salaries (many got several hundred % increases which have evolved to what is being enjoyed today by current players). Obviously, Upshaw never even said sorry to all of you guys who built this game and only let the active players “eat from the plate.” (Damn, retiring in 1985, I missed the big bucks! But if I had been really smart, I would have invented the Internet – LOL!);
One example: In a matter of days, Reggie White left Philly at $400,000 a year and went to Green Bay for $3.5 million a year;
Over the next 15 years, even while paying this HUGE money in salaries (compared to before the lawsuits) to hundreds and hundreds of players, a guy in Houston now owns the Texans which are now worth $965 million (Forbes annual estimate)! A $900 MILLION DOLLAR INCREASE, ALL WHILE PAYING SEVERAL HUNDRED PERCENT MORE IN SALARY TO PLAYERS! Imagine that!
Like George Visger, Brent Boyd recently had another near-miss with concussion-related issues over this past weekend. Many of you may have been wondering why you haven’t heard much from Brent recently. He’s had not one – but five! – close brushes with death since knee surgery in 2006. Brent is now quietly recovering at home from his latest close call. And still no full disability benefits for Brent from the NFL! We finally heard from him this morning:
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In the past few years, I’ve been on the CRITICAL list FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES – a lung embolism, loss of blood pressure near death 50-60′s/30-40′s), massive total kidney failure and a twisted colon (colonic volvulus). It’s extremely life-threatening as your colon knots up and expands like a bubble in that spot, thinning the colon. Even the slightest tap could burst the bubble and then your abdominal cavity is flooded with feces and toxins and you’re instantly dead from Pepsis. These were four different ‘critical conditions’ four days in a row for four different reasons! “Fortunately,” all this happened while I was in the hospital — I was fine for 3 days following a knee replacement back in 2006 when I suddenly stopped breathing, starting this chain of events.
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The doctors said they screwed up because the drugs they were giving me were not working DUE TO ORGANIC BRAIN DAMAGE! Do you know how angry I was to hear that — to know the stress on my wife, my Mom and my son on each of the four days they were told to prepare themselves as I could die from the condition of the day?
Posturing has already started between the two sides in the upcoming NFL labor dispute. Although it’s still in the pre-game warm-up stage, reading between the lines and newspaper quotes shows both sides expect – or are at least positioning – for a lockout.
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The centerpiece of the battle is the percentage of revenue sharing. The real issue is not the percentage but the true gross number on which the percentage is based. It has long been whispered that the greatest untold story in sports is what NFL owners actually make, as compared to what they report. Monies paid to themselves, family members and subsidiary companies through those huge consulting fees and offshore money transfers to lower the bottom line first, thus lowering the players’ claim to their cut of the pie. And now the owners also want the players to take more money off the top to cover costs for stadiums. Is that like General Motors asking the UAW to help them finance a new car factory while also taking a pay cut?
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve received a huge volume of e-mails for all sorts of remarkable deals that range from new licensing deals to medical miracles to more golf outings (that’s in addition to all the get-rich-quick schemes and Nigerian scam deals!). Among the most common e-mails of late have been those “recruitment” sites that ask all retired players to sign up for a licensing deal immediately. Lots of talk and absolutely no substance on just exactly what they intend to do once they have your name on that licensing agreement. They don’t tell you exactly how they intend to represent you or what to expect in terms of payment. Just sign up to be included and we’ll take care of the details later. The worst part? They don’t disclose any information whatsoever on what their cut will be. Some of the retired players in our network have inquired about this new deal and we want to describe a real-life scenario and let you make your own minds up.
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Imagine someone coming up to your front door and telling you they have an unbelievable deal for you. Just sign up to join our group and some time later, you just might get a little something from someone. Never mind that you’re actually signing all your rights away to someone you’ve probably never met before in your life (and probably won’t ever again). And ignore the fact that not only do they not tell you what they’re going to give you but they’re not going to tell you what’s in it for them. They might even trot out a retired player or two to convince you they’re legit. It was bad enough that the NFLPA and its legal department created a legal document called a Group Licensing Agreement to convince retired players to sign up for a licensing deal that was actually sent out to thousands of you for years. It was then actually used to defraud the retired players out of millions in royalties. (We’re still wondering why there weren’t Federal charges filed for interstate fraud against the PA and all of the individuals involved? They used the US Postal Service across state lines to perpetuate a long-term fraud. The SEC uses that all the time as a key part of its arsenal in fraud cases).
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Our advice to anyone who gets an offer that sounds too good to be true: It probably IS too good to be true. Everyone always needs to be even more vigilant when it involves e-mail offers with no disclosure. That old warning Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) still holds true – especially when it comes to the Internet.
Wow! You’d think that it was the NFL that’s suffering from one too many concussions with as many hits as they’ve been taking on the issue of concussions lately. This past week, another series of news stories have been hitting the wires, covering everything from brain injuries in general to football concussions in particular. This recent run started off with Evan Weiner‘s piece from the New Jersey Newsroom on how football players are discarded in retirement (click HERE to read that earlier post) as well as Alan Schwarz‘s continuing series on the NFL’s history of dodgy mishandling of concussions over the years (click HERE for the last round of recent coverage).
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The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon wrote a new piece in their Sunday edition:
Picture a 259-pound young man of 21 who had lifted weights for 10 years in order to get a job with Kmart finally being hired by Kmart. Both his older brothers and father had worked at jobs below Kmart but never made it there. He had dreams of being better than all of them. During his interview, the supervisor told the young man with a wink, that there was a place for him at Kmart if he could put on 20 – 25 pounds of solid muscle without losing any speed. The caveat was it needed to be done before he started work in 3 months. Considering there were 50 others vying for his job and he had planned on buying his parents a new home and helping his older brother start a business, the young man returned to school, obtained a prescription for steroids, as he knew the supervisors request was not physically possible without chemical help. He returned to work 3 months later weighing 275 pounds while maintaining his speed as requested. Despite the fact he had fulfilled his obligation, his supervisor fired him after 6 weeks.
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But the young man never gave up on his dreams and landed a job at another Kmart store. Early in his second year working for Kmart, the young man severely inured a knee while doing his duties as a Kmart employee. One of his new supervisors told him he was not injured, convinced him to have his knee drained of 65 – 70 ccs of blood every 2-3 weeks and put him back to work. The knee failed every few weeks prior to being drained, but he reported to work every day as required and did his duties as well as he could with his injured knee. The knee failed again and required surgery, during which they removed all the cartilage but never repaired a torn Anterior Cruciate ligament which was duly noted in the medical records.
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He returned to Kmart after the knee surgery and began working in a new area of the store until he could function at his old position again. While working at his new position, he began developing severe headaches, projectile vomiting, loss of hearing and eyesight. His supervisors told him it was due to a cold, prescribed cold medicine and told him to continue working at his new position until he was healthy enough to return to his original job. He did as he was told but his conditions worsened over the course of 2½ weeks, culminating in focal point paralysis of his right arm. He again returned to his supervisors and relayed to them his paralysis of the night before. His supervisor looked in his eye with a light and told the employee his brain was hemorrhaging. So the supervisor told this employee to go home, lie down and then drive 30 minutes to a hospital later that afternoon… by himself. The young employee did as he was told and subsequently underwent emergency VP Shunt brain surgery that night.
A very quiet news announcement hit the wires this past week that could have major repercussions for active players in upcoming contract negotiations. First, here’s the headline and a clip from the original release on Reuters:
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NFL in discussions about using chip-in-ball technology
(The Official NFL Concussion Poster is on the left and on the right, what it might have looked like when Dr. No was still chair of the “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. Click on the posters to enlarge for viewing and printing.)
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This past year, we’ve seen some interesting changes as they relate to concussions and brain injuries. With the Congressional Committee going for the jugular on the seriousness of brain injuries as well as some hard-hitting media coverage from sports journalists like Alan Schwarz of the New York Times, we have to agree that there’s been serious movement in terms of acknowledging the reality of brain injuries. In Washington State, we saw the passage of Zach’s Law (named for Zachery Lystedt, a high school student who was paralyzed when he was sent back into a football game by his coach following a serious concussion). Zach’s Law sets a new standard for evaluation of concussions at the public school level that many other states are now beginning to follow. The NFL saw the departure of the co-chair of their “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, Ira “Dr. No” Casson, and then created a new committee now re-named the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee. To their credit, one of the new co-chairs is a well-respected REAL concussion expert, Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, who actually hails from Seattle and was instrumental in helping to draft Zach’s Law.
Andrew Stewart recently went through an application process for his NFL Total & Permanent Disability Benefits. After playing in the NFL, he went on to play for several more years in the CFL (Canadian Football League). Andrew currently lives in Vancouver BC Canada.
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.”
In the past few years, I’ve been on the CRITICAL list FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES – a lung embolism, loss of blood pressure near death 50-60′s/30-40′s), massive total kidney failure and a twisted colon (colonic volvulus). It’s extremely life-threatening as your colon knots up and expands like a bubble in that spot, thinning the colon. Even the slightest tap could burst the bubble and then your abdominal cavity is flooded with feces and toxins and you’re instantly dead from Pepsis. These were four different ‘critical conditions’ four days in a row for four different reasons! “Fortunately,” all this happened while I was in the hospital — I was fine for 3 days following a knee replacement back in 2006 when I suddenly stopped breathing, starting this chain of events.
Wow! You’d think that it was the NFL that’s suffering from one too many concussions with as many hits as they’ve been taking on the issue of concussions lately. This past week, another series of news stories have been hitting the wires, covering everything from brain injuries in general
