Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
.
Wednesday, 2 May 2011
.
BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
.
I didn’t know Junior Seau although I met him on the day he was drafted into the National Football League in 1990 and probably interviewed him after a football game a few times more. From all accounts, he was a fearsome presence on the football field; a killer who at times could control a game defensively.
.
But Junior Seau didn’t live to be a ripe old age and until an autopsy is performed and a police investigation is complete, there is no need to speculate about the circumstances surrounding Seau’s death other than he was found dead of a shotgun wound on the morning of May 2, 2012 about 22 years after the San Diego Chargers football team called his name at the annual National Football League event.
.
The gun wound should strike a nerve among former players. It seems that is becoming a way of life and death among NFL alum suffering from life altering injuries that probably came from years and years of absorbing hits on the football field. People do hear about former NFL players but there seems to be no tracking of high school and college players who years after their football careers ended killed themselves.
. continue reading »
Retired Football Players Declaration of Independence
As retired football players, we’re all sick and tired of everyone trying to tell us what’s best while not giving us a voice or a vote in how it’s done. With the CBA close to being finalized, the so-called Union, the NFLPA, is once again trying to walk away with our retirement and disability benefits as an afterthought to what they’ve negotiated for their active players. And with the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies coming up, a large group of Hall of Famers have signed a Retired Football Players Declaration of Independence (click on any images below to enlarge for easier reading and printing):
.
.
We’re asking all retired players to read and sign on as well – I have already (PLEASE pass this along to all the other players you know):
.
.
cforms contact form by delicious:days
And if you know retired players who don’t have Internet access or e-mail, you can also download a copy of the Declaration by right-clicking HERE and saving the PDF version that you can then print out and distribute to fax in or send by snail-mail. Thanks for all your support!
.
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS .
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
.
BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
.
Portions of this column are by Evan Weiner and Heather Rascher from ”A Business History of Professional Football,” unpublished manuscript (2005).
.
The biggest game on the NFL season starts on April 6 when National Football League owners and the remnants of the now defunct National Football League Players Association face off in a Minneapolis courtroom. In a script that looks like a sequel to the days after the National Football League Players Association imploded in October 1987 when the NFLPA decided to sue NFL owners for free agency, the NFLPA is back in a Minneapolis courthouse and suing NFL owners. Ten players, including one college player who was not even a part of the defunct NFLPA, Von Miller, are suing the league in an antitrust action hoping the court will lift the owners lockout.
.
Miller’s name is on the suit but he is planning to attend the National Football League Draft, an act that restricts the freedom of college players in finding jobs. The only reason the draft is legal is through collective bargaining. The owners and players have agreed to a draft. Miller plans to be in the courtroom while New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, one of the 10 plaintiffs, will not attend the opening day festivities. Brees will be at a golf fundraiser.
.
Brees last week sounded a conciliatory note to retired and discarded players after being blasted by Sam Huff for criticizing former players who are down and out because of football related injuries. Brees apparently learned well from the late Gene Upshaw (who was the NFLPA Executive Director) who once said that the association could not worry about every problem. While the NFL and the NFLPA duke it out in Minneapolis, the former NFLPA may be involved in another action as former New Orleans and Miami defensive back Gene Atkins is suing the NFL’s retirement board after being denied additional health benefits by the group which included the late Dave Duerson. The former defensive back, Duerson, was on the board which said ‘no’ to Atkins’ football degenerative claim in 2006. Duerson’s suicide in February 2011 raises questions according to the brief filed about Duerson’s competence in light of statements that came out after the suicide that he had memory loss and difficulties spelling words.
. continue reading »
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
Attention Drew Brees, Sam Huff has a few questions for you
Reprinted in its entirety with permission from Evan Weiner:
Discarded NFL players are often forgotten in retirement
Sam Huff Sends in a Piece of History from 1958
It seems that the most common comment from the young players today who read our last post from Sam Huff has been, “Who’s Sam Huff and Why’s He Mad as Hell“? (Read that earlier post HERE.) Like a lot of us, History wasn’t their strong suit on a college football scholarship…
Sam Huff is Mad as Hell
Gentlemen,
I have stood on the sidelines long enough to see how corrupt the NFLPA is to the players that gave this game the foundation that carries forth so that today the generation of active players can make millions of dollars.
The Press Conference for Gridiron Greats Sept. 18, 2007
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.