EDITOR’S NOTE: We just received this today from retired player John Griffin. We hope someone will review and provide comments on this set of documents. You can find suggested Addendum wording to add to your signed documents on an earlier post – click HERE. .
Here is a copy of the second packet I received for the distribution of the Legacy Fund. I’ve whited out our personal information but thought you might post this and have someone look at it before we sign and return. .
I did not send in that addendum with my first letter but I will when I return this document. I would certainly appreciate it if someone could comment before we return it. .
Please let me know what you think. . John Griffin
LA Rams and Denver Broncos
1963 – 1967 . We uploaded full copy of the cover letter and paperwork to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to go Full Screen for easier reading (just hit the ESC key to close): . Second Legacy Letter & Documents . .
As I had mentioned in an earlier post, a deposit showed up last Friday in my bank account that wasn’t quite as much as my normal disability payment (and they always show up on the first of the month). It wasn’t until yesterday that a letter arrived in my mail to explain what several of our readers had also just received. No doubt, some genius in the front office figured they’d better get these payments out just before yearend so they could get some tax benefits for 2011. . For those of you who still haven’t received your letter yet, we’ve uploaded a copy to Scribd for easy viewing and to make it downloadable for printing. You can also click the Enlarge icon in the center of the menu at the bottom of the viewing screen to go Full Screen for easier reading (and just hit the ESC key to close): . Dave Pear’s Disability Increase Notice . We also understand that the new Legacy Benefits will be calculated retroactively to Aug. 1, 2011 but we’re not sure when those retroactive payments will start showing up or exactly when the first increased pension checks will start arriving. We hope everyone will continue to share their own experiences with the other retired players and their families. Once again, it looks like the retired players are the last to be informed and the last to be paid. That’s why they pay DeMaurice “Upshaw” Smith those big $1 million bonuses.(Click comic to enlarge) . .
Disability attorney John Hogan went through one more go-round with the NFL Disability Program for another older retired player recently (his name has been removed to protect the innocent). We’re posting the correspondence online so everyone can see the kind of insanity most of the older players end up going through. (And that’s only after you manage to navigate into their system.) . You just can’t make this stuff up! . We’ve posted a copy of the correspondence to Scribd for viewing and to make it downloadable. You can also click the Fullscreen button to enlarge it for easier navigation (hit the ESC key to close). . . This is the NFL Disability Plan .
This has surely been an interesting week full of dialog on Dave’s Blog. In the end, no one would disagree that there are many points of view and opinions on how to solve the problem. Our focus has always been to keep it all open and transparent by giving everyone a voice on a platform that’s narrowly focused on Pension and Disability Benefit Reform and Medical Benefits after football. Think of it this way: Do you think you’ll be seeing any open discussions like this at either the NFL OR NFLPA’s websites any time in the future? Or will you expect to continue seeing more of the same, “Everything’s just fine – we’re all one team, one locker, one page. And maybe we should just forget about the past.”
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. .
How time flies. It’s been over 6 months since NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell first announced his tour back in September to hear all about retired players’ grievances. (That story first appeared HERE.) You may remember that this tour was announced with great fanfare and press last year as Roger Goodell’s opportunity to speak and listen to the retired players across the country. If the reports have been accurate, it sounds like the Commish managed to visit a staggering 6 NFL cities out of a total of 32 teams (?!!) before all press releases stopped.
Earlier this year, Disability Attorney John Hogan filed appeals to the Retirement Board of the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan on behalf of Dave. Late last week, Dave received a response and it was no surprise that he was once again denied his request to have his Inactive Total & Permanent Disability reclassified to Football Degenerative. It was a perfect example of how an application and appeal process shouldn’t work.
Let’s start first with a re-cap on the major issues: The Plan clearly breached its fiduciary duty in 1995 by not getting input from a vocational specialist (such as Earl Thompson). If they had, Dave’s case likely would have been granted. It’s a violation of the fiduciary duty of care NOT to adjudicate disability claims like others similarly situated would do. Every other disability system typically considers vocational factors. They should have obtained more detailed information from the doctor himself such as how frequent and how long the rest breaks needed to be, the need to lie down, and how many total hours per day.
You may recall that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked if he was the chair of the Retirement Board (clickHEREto read that earlier post). The answer is that under the terms of the Bell/Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan, he serves as a non-voting, ex-officio chair. However, at the Baltimore Sports Symposium, Sarah Gaunt informed us that Harold Henderson – NFL attorney – is the chair. (Read about Henderson’s antics in a previous postHERE.) With that, we’ll close for the weekend with some fun from an old classic from Abbott and Costello: Who’s on First?
Our good friend and player advocate, disability attorney John Hogan, was able to attend that Symposium held at the Baltimore School of Law on Thursday. Here are his notes from that day:
The University of Baltimore School of Law held their first Annual Sports Law Symposium today. This year’s conference was From Rookie to Retirement: The NFL Universe in the New Economy and you can read the agenda on their site HERE. Here’s a list of the speakers (the usual suspects) and their topics: continue reading »
Please review this report (below) from John Hogan, who has been a disability attorney for over 25 years. I will quote Mr. Hogan, “I have seen many of Dave’s medical records and it is absolutely clear to me that he was wrongly denied his claim for disability in 1995.”
Well, after weeks of calling and calling and leaving messages with the Alliance offices for Sarah Gaunt, I finally received a package on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from the NFL Player Benefits Office out of Baltimore. When I had called their offices last Thursday, CJ told me to leave a message for a “Rosemary” and that she would call me back later in the day. I never heard back from anyone through the weekend and the next thing you know, this package shows up on April Fools Day! (Click on images to enlarge for reading.)
This weekend, I received an insightful e-mail back from our SS Disability attorney friend, John Hogan, with his observations about the proposed Alliance Plan from Commissioner Goodell. I told him I’d try calling Sarah Gaunt again on Monday morning.
So this morning, I called the Union office again to ask about this new plan and the call was picked up by a ‘CJ’ who apparently runs the front desk (or screens our calls). I told her who I was and asked to speak with Sarah regarding some questions I had. I was put on hold for about 5 minutes. When she finally came back on the line, she told me that Sarah was “busy” (again) and couldn’t take my call. So I asked her if I could pose the questions to her instead, to which she told me that she was “busy with other calls.” To which I asked her what the difference was with MY call and any other calls she might have. She again put me on hold and then hung up on me a couple of minutes later without coming back on the line.
Last Friday, February 29th, I made another attempt to get some clarity and answers to a few questions regarding my NFL Retirement Plan. I’ve been careful to document and note each of my calls and faxes so you’ll see my notations on the copy of my original request letter to the Retirement Board. I sent the details over to my friends at Gridiron Greats with a cover e-mail:
John Griffin
