Retired Players Discussion Forum

Match Baseball's Retirement Plan, Fixing the problem is that simple!

2007-06-15T13:34:00.000-04:00

The NFL retired players want the NFL to match baseball's (MLB's)
retirement plan as was intended from the 1960's forward. The NFL retirement
plan covers only 21% more people/players NFL 9,560 covered vs. MLB's 7,540,
while baseball's expenses are much higher, travel expenses for the far
longer season are drastically higher. In addition MLB average salaries are
higher at $2.8 million vs. NFL $1.25 million. MLB average pension benefits
are three times higher at $36,700 average vs. the NFL's $12,165 average
benefit. Baseball's gross income is approximately $4.3 billion (Forbes)
while the NFL's gross is over $6 billion. Baseball's total payroll is 1,200
x $2.8 million = $3 billion NFL's total payroll is 1,800 x $1.25 million=
$2.25 billion therefore MLB's total payroll is 33% higher than the NFL's
payroll. Baseball also supports a minor league system and youth programs.
Baseball continues to prosper on less income and higher expenses. There is
no excuse not to have the NFL
retirement benefits matching Major League Baseball's.

The NBA has just increased their pre 1965 pensions from (correction not
$2,000 and $3,600 press accounts differ so research is still ongoing) $200
per month per year to $360 per month per year.

Research and essay by Bernie Parrish

BACK UP COMPARISON RETIREMENT PLANS MLB VS NFL FROM LATEST FORM 5500 IRS
REPORTS
1) Total Pay out annual benefits MLB $88.9
Mil vs. NFL $43.33 Mil
2) Average annual benefit MLB
$36,700 vs. NFL $12,165
3) Monthly benefits paid (nearly) MLB $7 Mil
vs. NFL $3.6 Mil *****
4) 10 yr player at 62 gets MLB
$175,000 vs. NFL $32,000
5) Percent total salaries of benefits MLB 5.5%
vs. NFL 2.2%
6) Participants included (21% diff.) MLB 7,540
vs. NFL 9,560
7) Active players covered MLB
1,200 vs. NFL 1,800
8) Investment income MLB
$92.1 Mil vs. NFL $54.7 Mil
9) Assets available for benefits MLB $1.4
Bill vs. NFL $1.2 Bill ***
10) Current liabilities
MLB $2.3 Bill vs. NFL $1.04 Bill
11) Ave player salary
MLB $2.8 Mil vs. NFL $1.25 Mil
12) Median salary
MLB $1.1 Mil ** vs. NFL $631,675
13) Exec. Director Pay
MLB $1 Mil vs. NFL $7.74 Mil
14) Plan actuary fee
MLB $538,733 vs. NFL $492,951
15) Two year legal fees (2003+2004) MLB $309,726
vs. NFL $5.6 Mil
16) Number monthly benefits checks MLB 2,419
vs. NFL 2,864 or (3,500 Mellon Bank says)
17) Employer contributions MLB $109.6
Mil vs. NFL $67.9 Mil
18) Both Plans meet the minimum funding requirements of ERISA.
19) Both plans are defined benefit plans despite the misinformation
given out by the NFLPA. Both Plans mark form 5500 page 2 item 8(a)
Characteristics Code, as 1B and 1G exactly the same.
*If the NFL paid out $88.9 Mil as MLB does the average annual
benefit would be $25,400 instead of the sub-poverty level benefit of
$12,165.
· **Florida Marlins median salary $1.1 Mil, Yankees median
salary $5.8 Mil.
· ***Upshaw stated in a May 16, 2006 telephone conference call
that the "net assets available for benefits" had grown from the
$841,761,127 in the financial statement to over $1.2 billion now.
· **** MLB's investment income appears to be more than NFL's.
***** NFL's $3.6 million a month excludes disability payments
of approximately $19 million.
· NFL pays their Exec Director 7 times as much and gets back
less than half as much as MLB. Donald Fehr was paid $1,002,064 in 2004
Upshaw was paid $7,740,655 in 2006.
Total payroll MLB is $3 billion while the NFL's is only
$2.25 billion so baseball's total is 33% higher.
MLB pays 10 times more than the NFL for travel and they
support a minor league system the NFL does not.
· Pension plans too numerous to list here (including MLB, GE &
Congress) improve their benefits after beneficiaries start drawing benefits
for cost of living and other adjustments debunking another NFLPA-NFL
pension myth.
· MLB goes back and improves their benefits regularly. The NBA
improves their plan as well as they recently did for pre 1965 players
raising benefits from $200 benefit credits per month per year to $360
benefit credits per month per year, an 80% increase.
· The MLB numbers are now from 2004 and the NFL's from 2005 and
2006 so this comparison is still even worse than it appears here.

NFL Or NBA ... take a guess

2007-06-13T22:23:00.000-04:00

This organization has to clean up its act! Here's a report Card on their members activities:

36 have been accused of spousal abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71, repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet? . . . Scroll down,

Neither, it's the 535 members of the United States Congress, the same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

You gotta pass this one on

AOL article poorly written & researched

2007-04-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

You are reading this because you clicked on a link in Michael David Smith's article "NFL Union to Retired Players: Drop Dead". I am David Garnett and the references to me and my blogs and website are slanderous and I intend to communicate this message to AOL's general counsel.

My website (www.retiredplayers.us) is designed to communicate business opportunities, health & wellness info, best practices and other info that will empower them to make money with each other not off of each other! I had been working with Andre Collins and the NFLRPA to launch the site. They do not have a problem with me or my message.

We all have problems with writers like, you, Mr. Smith that write poorly researched articles. You now have the choice to retract your statement or meet me in court!

Yours in litigation,

David E. Garnett

20 Years After National Championship - Teammates rally around

2007-01-03T19:18:00.000-05:00

WOODWARD, Pa. (AP) - Twenty years after Steve Smith helped Penn State
win the 1986 national title, the former fullback is fighting for his
life.

Smith's body is failing him, ravaged by Lou Gehrig's disease.
Former college teammates are coming together to help the former Nittany
Lions captain, who went on to play for the Oakland Raiders.

''You talk to Marcus Allen, you talk to Bo Jackson, or any running
back that had him as a fullback, you never had to worry,'' former
Penn State teammate D.J. Dozier said. ''This man had his block.
Whatever he needed to do, he was going to get it done.''

Smith was one of four captains on the 1986 team - the last squad to
win coach Joe Paterno a national championship. College buddies use
words such as ''team player'' and ''led by example'' to
describe his style.

That's why the three other captains from that squad - quarterback
John Shaffer, linebacker and Frewsburg native Shane Conlan and
defensive lineman Bob White - traveled to a lodge in rural Woodward
one recent morning to sign a lithograph depicting a scene from the
tense 14-10 win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl that secured Penn
State's 1986 title.

Dozier, who ran behind Smith's blocks, organized the effort. He says
a portion of the profits will go to Smith's family to help pay
medical bills.

''He was a hard, hard worker,'' Shaffer said of Smith. ''He
was unbelievably talented, able to do whatever needed to help the team
win.''

Now Smith needs help to take care of his most basic needs.

Lou Gehrig's disease is a degenerative nerve disease, also known as
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which gradually destroys the
ability to control movement. Typically, patients lose their ability to
move or speak, but their minds remain unaffected.

According to the federal National Institutes of Health, most ALS
patients die from respiratory failure within 5 years of the onset of
symptoms, though about 10 percent of ALS patients survive 10 years or
more.

Reliant on a ventilator, Smith cannot talk. He has been fed formula
through a feeding tube since May. He can't leave home, given all the
medical machinery.

''Despite the situation, he's holding steady,'' said his
wife, Chie Smith, who was reached at the couple's home in Richardson,
Texas.

''His spirits are much better than his body is,'' she said.

Smith pounded away at opposing defenses while at Penn State from
1983-86, running for 1,246 yards and 11 touchdowns. Fullbacks back then
ran the ball more often than in today's multiple receiver-focused
offenses.

''It was a great tandem on the field,'' Dozier said.

Pro scouts noticed. The Raiders drafted him in the third round of the
1987 draft and he spent much of his time in silver and black blocking
for the talented tailback tandem of Allen and Jackson.

Chie, then an Oakland Raiders cheerleader, noticed Steve, too. They
fell in love and got married on Dec. 8, 1989.

Smith moved to Seattle in 1994, where he played two seasons for the
Seahawks before a back injury cut short his career, and he retired in
the summer of 1996.

His forte was blocking, though Smith ended his NFL career with 1,627
yards and nine touchdowns on 429 carries. He also caught 131 passes for
1,250 yards and 13 touchdowns.

''It was always fun going up against him,'' said Conlan, a Penn
State linebacker who played for the Buffalo Bills. ''He was always
trying to get better.''

Smith's first diagnosis came in July 2002. A second opinion a month
later, and a finally a third opinion _ on Sept. 11, 2002 _ confirmed
their initial fears: He had Lou Gehrig's disease.

Weighing 260 pounds at the time of his initial ALS diagnosis, Smith had
lost 100 pounds by this past May. Chie Smith said there was concern her
husband wasn't getting enough nutrition, so he was put on a feeding
tube, from which most of his nutrition now comes. That has helped, and
Smith has regained 15 pounds.

His days are spent on a recliner or on a hospital bed at the house.

''Pretty much, the word would be he is 'paralyzed' from
illness,'' Chie Smith said.

Smith's wife cares for him full time. There are also two teenage
children to raise _ 16-year-old Dante and 15-year-old Jazmin _ and ALS
groups have said it takes as much as $250,000 a year to care for a
patient.

Dozier, a partner in the Cambridge Sports marketing company he helped
start in March, was approached by others at the firm to take part in a
project to create artwork to remember the 1986 season. He soon got to
thinking the venture could help Smith. A percentage of profits from the
$399 lithographs will go to the former fullback.

One thing hasn't changed - Smith's smile. Chie is sure her
husband's mind is alive and well, even if he cannot speak. He still
follows Penn State football.

''He watches them all,'' Chie Smith said. ''I can usually
just tell from his expressions, watching him enjoying the game.''

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Downside to athleticism

2007-01-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
December 21, 2006

Atlanta Falcons left tackle Wayne Gandy is about to finish his 13th season, continuing one of the most consistent and dependable careers in the league. Although 35, Gandy is still planning to play two or three more seasons. He's played well enough this season that the goal seems within reach.

But the most intriguing fact about Gandy is not that he has only missed one start in his career because of injury. That impressive mark, which has survived through a shoulder injury that forced Gandy to sleep in a chair for three months, is trumped by his impressive perspective of the game.

In particular, Gandy has a pretty interesting take on why black quarterbacks such as current teammate Michael Vick undergo so much public scrutiny. Gandy has watched teammates – Vick, Aaron Brooks in New Orleans, Kordell Stewart in Pittsburgh, Tony Banks in St. Louis and Dameyune Craig at Auburn – operate under a different set of standards.

Gandy, who could have a post-football future in anything from broadcast to working as a team executive, has seen the same situation play out from team to team.

"When fans and coaches see a black quarterback, it's automatic that they expect to see a guy who is more athletic," Gandy said. "So what happens when you get around the goal line or you get in those situations where most quarterbacks are taught to throw it away or get rid of the ball for a short gain if the play breaks down? The black quarterback is told, 'Do something, make a big play.'

"That's where you see a lot of Michael's sacks come from. He's supposed to make something happen in a situation where it's probably not going to work. You see where the coaches and fans are expecting that, but it's not really teaching him the right way to play.

"It's all about the tutelage they get from the time they're in college on. I saw that with Dameyune Craig. He was told, 'If your first read isn't there, take off and run.' Do you think that anyone ever told Peyton Manning or Tom Brady to do that? Again, it's about the tutelage they get."

Over the years, Vick, Brooks and Daunte Culpepper have consistently been sacked more than the likes of Manning and Brady. Vick has been sacked 39 times this season – one more combined than Brady (24) and Manning (14) – which is just under three per game. That's an odd number for someone who's seemingly hard to catch.

Furthermore, mobile quarterbacks such as Vick, Brooks and Culpepper have consistently had worse interception rates than Manning and Brady.

To Vick's credit, he is showing some progress this season. He has 19 touchdown passes, putting him one short of his first 20-touchdown season of his six-year career. Also, Vick's TD-interception ratio of 19-11 is the second best of his career to the 16-8 mark he had in his second season, which was also his first as a starter.

Vick has done that while also setting an NFL record for rushing yards (990) by a quarterback. He is a virtual lock to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and is currently averaging a stunning 8.5 yards per carry, meaning that Vick also appears to be picking the optimal times to take off.

Is that progress enough for a player of Vick's caliber? No, but the problem may be that he's being asked to do too much. Unlike Manning, for instance, Vick has played in an offense that has constantly changed. He began his career under Dan Reeves. Now, under coach Jim Mora, the offense has morphed from allowing Vick to be a runner to trying to rein him in as a passer to again being a more freelance offense.

Manning, by comparison, has played in only one offense with the same offensive coordinator (Tom Moore) his entire career. Moreover, Manning has played while surrounded by great skill players the entire time. The Falcons have struggled to find consistent receivers, although a significant share of the burden falls on Vick.

"The offense here has been different over the years," said Gandy, who was acquired by the Falcons via trade in the offseason. "Sometimes they've tried to make Michael work with a certain offense and sometimes they've tried to make the offense work to his skills. I think we've gotten back to making it work around his skills this year and he's made progress."

Gandy said one of the biggest problems the Falcons have had in running a conventional offense is that the timing is always off because Vick sets up so quickly. In most offenses, by the time the quarterback sets up on a standard three-step drop, the wide receiver is coming out of his break, ready to get open. With Vick, the receivers are still in their patterns. The problem impacts the entire timing of the offense, leading to further problems. On top of that, the Falcons wide receivers have had way too many drops this season.

"I see why people get on Michael, but there have been stretches where our receivers haven't made the catches. We had a lot of drops and the receivers have to help him out," Gandy said.

COMMENDABLE WORK
On the subject of Gandy, he again didn't make the Pro Bowl this season, but that shouldn't take away from his impressive career. After taking over as a starter midway through his rookie season, Gandy has missed just one game and one start because of injury.

This season, Gandy has been a stalwart on Atlanta's offensive line, justifying the trade the Falcons made with New Orleans before the season. Over his career, he has played through a variety of injuries. The worst was during his second season in Pittsburgh in 2001, when he had a 90 percent tear of his rotator cuff.

He was forced to sleep in a chair for three months because lying down would allow the shoulder to pop out of place and put him in constant pain. Sleeping in a chair was about as restful as living upstairs from a bar.

"I saw every hour of the day for those three months," Gandy said. "I'd wake up at 3:01 [a.m.], go back to sleep. Then it was 4:17, then 5:08 … Yeah, I fell asleep in meetings all the time because I could never get a good night's sleep. I just told them what was going on. The Steelers were good to me and told me that if it got to be too much, they'd put me on [injured reserve]."

Gandy never took them up on the offer. He'd tough it out during games. By halftime, the pain medication he took would wear off and he'd play through pain that brought tears to his eyes.

"I had to go to the dentist at one point and they put me in the chair laying down, but I had to have them let me up every five minutes because the pain was too much in my shoulder. I'd be in tears from the pain," Gandy said.

Still, Gandy showed up.

"That's something I'm extremely proud of over my career," Gandy said. "Everybody is always looking for the most talented guys they can find and there's nothing wrong with that. But what good are you if you're talented and you get hurt a lot. There's a value to being dependable. The team knows you're always going to be there, that you're going to show up and play and give them everything you can. That's important."

PRO BOWL MUSINGS
There has been a fair amount of talk this week about New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady not making the AFC Pro Bowl team. Manning, Carson Palmer of Cincinnati and Philip Rivers of San Diego made it ahead of him.

From a statistical standpoint, it's hard to argue. Manning, Palmer and Rivers all had superior numbers. But numbers don't serve as a proper measure for Brady, who is not surrounded by anything close to the type of talent that the other three have right now.

Or as Dolphins Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas said: "Do you have to game plan for a guy? I don't care about stats. Stats don't tell the whole story. What really matters is if you have to prepare for a guy. You look at Tom Brady, he's a Pro Bowler. When we face New England, our whole game plan is about how to deal with him.

"Some guys might have more yards or more touchdown passes, but Brady is better than those guys. It's like on defense. You can have a lot of tackles if you're on a bad run defense because you're on the field so much."

SHULA TAKES SHOT
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula made his feelings known recently about the University of Alabama's decision to fire his son Mike. The younger Shula went 6-6 this season, was unable to beat rival Auburn during his four years there, but also never had the advantage of being at full strength. The Crimson Tide was on probation for earlier violations until this season ended.

"I think it's time to evaluate the evaluators," said the elder Shula, who won more games than anyone in NFL history while coaching 33 years with Baltimore and Miami. That was an obvious criticism of Alabama athletic director Mal Moore, who fired Mike Shula.

While that comment is obviously tinged with emotion, it's hard to argue with Shula. Moore was unable to hire anyone immediately after the decision and failed in his attempt to woo West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez. At this point, Moore will have to wait until the college bowls and NFL season are done. Moore has expressed interest in Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban, who has become somewhat close with the elder Shula since taking over in Miami.

Saban has said consistently that he will not leave the Dolphins. However, there was concern on his part recently about a story regarding a possible sale of the team by owner Wayne Huizenga to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., advertising exec Jordan Zimmerman. Huizenga and Zimmerman, who have extensive business ties, have both publicly denied the report. Still, Saban talked with Huizenga personally on the matter to gain reassurance about the future of the team and the owner told Saban that he wasn't selling.

At least not at this point. Huizenga has said numerous times that he will listen to any offers for the team and the stadium (which he also owns). The price for the entire operation is expected to be well north of $1 billion.

SAFETY CONCERNS
The San Jose Mercury-News put together an interesting story Sunday detailing letters between the San Francisco 49ers and the City of San Francisco regarding maintenance at Monster Park, the team's stadium at Candlestick Point.

The letters detail the high level of disrepair for the stadium. It includes talk about how a large speaker broke off its mounting after rust developed, how cement structures are beginning to crumble and how a one-ton lighting fixture in the parking lot fell at one point. All of the instances could have caused significant injury.

Furthermore, the article pointed out that the city spent only $3 million in repairs to the stadium last season, far from enough to maintain it properly. The 49ers also repeatedly used the word "negligence" in referring to the care of the stadium.

Of course, it's obvious where that language is going if ever there were to be an accident that caused injury because of deterioration of the stadium.

But the bigger point is that as bad as the article made Monster Park sound, Qualcomm Stadium (home of the San Diego Chargers) may be far worse. Chargers officials are continually worried about wiring and electrical issues in the upper deck of the stadium, leading to fears that some people could be electrocuted under the wrong conditions. Even more, water from the upper deck doesn't drain properly. Signs of that were obvious Sunday night during the game against Kansas City. At one spot on one of the concourses, a garbage can was set out to catch water leaking from the upper deck to keep a walkway from getting wet. Steel bolts and braces in several areas were unhinged by rust and cement structures around the stadium are showing obvious signs of decay.

Thus, while many citizens may decry the idea of investing in stadiums where private enterprises play, they may be playing with a much bigger problem if current stadiums aren't maintained or replaced.

THIS AND THAT

· Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens' appeal of his $35,000 fine for spitting on Atlanta cornerback De Angelo Hall last week is not expected to be heard until after the season, according to an NFL source. The hearing's delay is a product of the league's busy calendar this time of year.

· Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers made the Pro Bowl in his first season as a starter and third year in the league. Although Rivers has three years remaining on his contract after this season, the Chargers are already talking about extending the contract. Don't expect a lot to happen, but the Chargers could be in an interesting situation after the 2009 season. Not only will Rivers' contract be up, so will left tackle Marcus McNeils. McNeil, a second-round pick, has outplayed No. 4 overall pick D'Brickashaw Ferguson of the Jets as the top rookie tackle in a very good season for first-year players.

· It's appearing more and more that the Tennessee Titans will keep coach Jeff Fisher, picking up the option year on his contract. Word around the Titans is that general manager Floyd Reese, who is in the final year of his contract and has feuded with Fisher for years, is in the process of hiring an agent to negotiate his next contract. That would be a clear indication that Reese is about to leave. The one catch with the Titans is that there's some concern that Fisher and rookie quarterback Vince Young have a somewhat strained relationship. Young took note when defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz yelled at offensive coordinator Norm Chow after the victory over Jacksonville last Sunday. Schwartz was upset over a pass by the offense late in the game. Young had audibled to the pass play.

· Speaking of Schwartz, count him among a list of dark-horse candidates for a head coaching job this season. Prior to the rebuilding stage, when the Titans had to unload veterans because of salary cap reasons, Schwartz' defenses consistently ranked among the best in the league. This season, Schwartz kept together a mediocre unit after it allowed more than 40 points twice in the first half of the season and also had to deal with the Albert Haynesworth controversy. The most talented defender the Titans have is cornerback Pacman Jones, who also happens to be their most erratic. In short, kudos to Schwartz.

· Chargers team president Jim Steeg, who formerly was the lead man with the NFL for years in terms of planning the Super Bowl, has taken to wearing a pair of "lucky" shoes this season. Steeg said he has had the shoes for more than 40 years and wore them on the day of the Super Bowl each year. He started wearing them this year for San Diego games and the Chargers are now 6-0 in "shoe" games. The shoes look like something you might find at a '50s party or, more likely, at a bowling alley. Very lucky. Very ugly.

Walsh, battling leukemia, reflects on career

2006-12-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

By Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
Saturday, December 23, 2006

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Six weeks ago, Bill Walsh was near death. He
couldn't eat and barely had the strength to speak. Leukemia had ravaged
his body and left him hospitalized at Stanford University Medical
Center, where doctors urgently filled him with chemotherapy drugs to
fight the cancer and antibiotics to control his raging infections.

Walsh, 75, who coached the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl
championships from 1979 through '89, has been battling the disease
since being diagnosed in 2004. It is an illness he disclosed only last
month.

In early November, he was convinced his life was close to an end.

"I was really down," he said. "The doctors were talking in terms of
days or weeks."

But his cancer is unpredictable, and he has stabilized and improved in
recent weeks. He still spends three days a week at the hospital
receiving intravenous treatments, and wears a catheter implanted in his
forearm for injections. He is pale and not as sturdy as he was a few
years ago, yet he hasn't allowed the disease to dominate his life.

In a wide-ranging discussion with the Los Angeles Times this week on
the Stanford campus where he still maintains an office, Walsh talked
about his legendary career, his triumphs and regrets, his feelings
about today's NFL, how a fellow Hall of Fame coach tried to keep him
out of the league, and the difficulty of confronting his own mortality.

Asked if he fears dying, Walsh said he doesn't, "but the last thing you
want when you're dying is to be suffering. I've discussed that with my
physicians. ... I just don't want to cling to some form of life."

The disease and treatment have sapped Walsh's energy, so much so that
when he stands he often seeks something to lean against. And while his
voice is weaker than in the past, his mental energy is undiminished.

His greatest worry throughout the ordeal, he said, has been the
well-being of his wife, Geri, who suffered a major stroke seven years
ago. In recent weeks, Walsh and their children, Craig and Elizabeth,
have planned out the details of her care in case he's not around. More
than anything, that has helped put his mind at ease.

"Once that was resolved," Walsh said, "then I sort of resolved in my
mind to whatever happens is certainly acceptable to me. I've lived a
good life. A lot of wear and tear, a lot of disappointment in my life,
but now that it's in my last cycle, I feel OK about it."

On his best days, he holds out hope he'll one day return to the golf
course or spend some time at his beach house near Monterey. On most
days, he's simply happy to be alive.

The interview was conducted in a conference room in the Stanford
athletic department, a place Walsh knows well. Twice the school's head
football coach, Walsh served as interim athletic director last year. He
also had significant say in this week's hiring of Jim Harbaugh as new
coach.

In the NFL, what was once a Walsh coaching tree of disciples is now
closer to a forest. Among those who worked under him: Mike Shanahan,
Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid, Tony Dungy, Marvin Lewis, George Seifert,
Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes, Brian Billick and Jon Gruden. A coaches who's
who. But his reach extends well beyond that.

"You can go through this league and almost every corner of every team
is touched by Bill Walsh," said Eddie DeBartolo, former 49ers owner.
"I'm talking about head coaches to coordinators to sons to cousins. I
tried to sit down and do his family tree of football once and I just
quit. No one, and I mean no one has put a mark and touched pro football
in the way that Bill Walsh has. Calling him an icon isn't even doing
him justice."

In late October, DeBartolo flew across the country to have lunch with
Walsh at his Woodside home. They sat on his deck, opened a bottle of
wine and reminisced about their three decades together.

Walsh's cellphone seldom stops ringing. His secretary, Jane Walsh,
who's not related to him but has worked with him for 16 years, is
constantly juggling his schedule to fit everyone in. Bill Walsh is the
type who has a hard time saying no to anyone. Now, he's feeling the
love and admiration pour in.

"Some of the letters I've gotten from some of my former players are
tear-jerking," he said. "Some of them are from former Stanford players
that I coached when I was here, NFL players, guys that weren't the
logical guys to

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Fw: [Retired NFL Players] Life after football | Fumbling for identity

2006-12-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Sent: Dec 19, 2006 9:45 AM
Subject: Life after football | Fumbling for identity

By Greg Bishop
Seattle Times staff reporter
December 18, 2006

Ken Ruettgers' football funeral unfolded before his eyes. The Green Bay
Packers, his teammates for 12 seasons, were in the Super Bowl. He sat
in the stands, 34 and recently retired. The stadium swelled to
capacity. He felt empty and removed.

His picture flashed across the screen at halftime, same as every player
who retired or passed since the last Super Bowl. So Ken Ruettgers
turned his attention toward Ken Ruettgers. The man in the picture, the
football player, smiled. The man in the stands, the former football
player, waved goodbye and wondered: Who am I?

"It felt like a eulogy," Ruettgers says. "My teammates were in the land
of the living, and I was with the living dead. Of course I wanted them
to win. But a part of me didn't want them to win without me."

Ruettgers assumed that he alone suffered from transition torture, the
crisis evoked from losing an identity forged for decades on the
football field. Then Tom Neville, a former teammate suffering from
depression, broke out of a psychiatric ward and into an apartment
manager's office in California. He ended up dead, shot in a police
standoff.

Other teammates were going through divorces, bankruptcy, addicted to
painkillers, alcohol or drugs. He remembered them as warriors, fearless
and famous and indestructible. And so many of them were failing.

He watched the tears pour out of athletes at news conferences
announcing their retirements. Emmitt Smith. Troy Aikman. Andre Agassi.
All grieving what Ruettgers calls "identity foreclosure."

The concept led Ruettgers to create an organization called "Games Over"
to help athletes deal with transition. He studies, talks and writes
about lost identity. He found one common denominator in that work -
to some degree, they all go through it.

Retired offensive linemen struggle with an old question posed by Norm
Evans, who played for the Houston Oilers, the Miami Dolphins and the
Seahawks.

If you are what you do - and you don't - who are you?

"It's like you're an adult with an umbilical cord in your hand, walking
around and looking for a place to plug it in," Evans says. "And there's
nobody there to help you. It's like, 'Hey, you're an adult, you should
figure this out for yourself.' When, in a lot of ways, guys are
handicapped."

Ruettgers views the NFL as a high-school locker room extended into
adulthood. The players are technically adults, only more enabled and
entitled. He compares them to lions raised in the San Diego Zoo, then
suddenly dropped back into Africa at retirement.

He cites one study that found 90 percent of elite athletes look forward
to retirement. What the study left out, Ruettgers says, is they look
forward to retiring to utopia after a 20-year career filled with Pro
Bowls and Super Bowls. Then they get there. Bills need to be paid.
Wives and kids have needs. And life goes on, whether they're ready or
not.

These are the trials of transition.

Players retire at the age most peers are climbing the corporate ladder.
Having already reached one pinnacle themselves, they are weary of
starting from the bottom or scared of failing at something new. John
Michels, former Packers offensive lineman, compares it to going from
CEO of your personal athletic corporation to starting over in the
mailroom.

Many lack basic qualifications outside of football. One study conducted
by the NFL Players Association found that 70 percent of current players
have not completed their college educations. Worse yet, when Art Kuehn
played for the Seahawks from 1976 to '82, two of his teammates couldn't
read.

"Just because you can push around a 300-pounder doesn't mean you're
going to figure out the rest of it," says Blair Bush, a retired NFL
veteran who lives in Seattle. "That qualifies you to be a bouncer is
about all."

Former players miss the locker room, miss the friendships and the
structure. Jim Sweeney, a 16-year veteran who retired in 1999, says
players go from having 52 best friends to seeing them occasionally. He
calls the camaraderie an "addiction," the transition a "tug of war."

Some are tugged right back into the locker room. The faces are the
same, but the vibe changes after retirement. They hang around until
something clicks, until they understand - they aren't a part of it
anymore.

"It's just not the same," says Grant Feasel, who played for the
Seahawks from 1987 to '93. "It's like the 'Wild Kingdom,' where the
predator gets one of the gazelles and the herd just keeps on running."

Gone is the structure that dominated their lives. The days planned to
the minute. The satisfaction of receiving a grade each Sunday, a finite
and immediate evaluation.

"Imagine if every day of your life as a grown-up you were handed an
itinerary," says Ed Cunningham, retired lineman and current
broadcaster. "Then one day you walk into the real world and have to set
your own alarm, make your own résumé, find your own job."

Sure, the money helps - if it's still around. When Reggie McKenzie
was director of player programs for the Seahawks, he knew one player
who didn't realize until after he retired that he owned eight cars
purchased by his agent and doled out to women he never met.

When McKenzie went into the locker room to urge Seahawks to sign up for
a 401(k) investment program - the league matched $4,500 and players
were eligible to put in $13,000 annually - they literally ran from
him.

Bill Curry felt as prepared as possible for his transition. He held a
diploma from Georgia Tech, worked every offseason for practical
experience and played one season after a horrific knee injury, bracing
himself for the next phase.

Instead, he went into a tailspin. He suffered from a low-grade
depression sparked, in part, by the 1974 strike during his tenure as
president of the Players Association. He spent too much time wallowing
and eating, not enough time working out.

One day he found himself sitting in a bar, watching Carlton Fisk smack
a home run off the foul pole in the World Series. Curry made up his
mind right there. Time to get in shape. He woke up the next morning,
went running and fell to his knees after eight minutes, vomiting. He
heard a voice coming from within.

"You know, this is going to kill you."

Curry pulled his life together. He started distance running, went into
coaching and scouting, later analyzing football.

His experience is typical. The first two years of transition are the
worst.

Players are coded with immediacy DNA, and their jobs depend on staying
in the moment, concentrating from one play to the next. When they're
running down kickoffs, they can't bother with future transitions - or
they will reach those transitions a whole lot sooner.

Ruettgers coaches high-school football in his spare time. During a
recent practice, another coach told a receiver to bounce up after a big
hit, to never let them see him hurting.

"I chuckled to myself," Ruettgers says, "because that's how, as
athletes, we're trained up. To not admit weakness, to suck it up and
endure. So that keeps a lot of guys from seeking help and support."

What follows: depression and chemical dependency.

The Center for the Study of Retired Athletes collected data on more
than 2,800 retired players. It found that about one in 10 were
diagnosed with clinical depression and nearly half were being treated
with anti-depressants. It also found a higher number of clinically
depressed players between age 35 and 45 - the range in which many of
them retire.

Several describe football as a coping mechanism. When it's gone, they
turn that rage inward - or find another way to cope.

Alcohol, cocaine and marijuana kept Bob Newton from reaching his
All-Pro potential in 11 seasons with the Seahawks and Chicago Bears.
Retirement only accelerated his spiral into more drugs and more
alcohol, and, eventually, into treatment.

Now a counselor at the Betty Ford Clinic, Newton estimates 10 percent
of NFL players suffer from the same chemical dependency that led to his
failed marriage and five arrests for driving under the influence. He
also says that excessive drinking behavior remains acceptable in the
NFL.

Newton checked into a treatment center in Monroe in July 1983, shortly
after he retired. That same day, the Seahawks checked into training
camp.

The fear of failure works as a motivator in sports and a hindrance in
business. Football is zero-sum. Business is cost-benefit.

Ruettgers compares the first two years of transition to the first days
spent working out. The hardest part, always, remains the first step in
the door.

His came after acquiring an MBA and a real-estate license, when
Ruettgers took an entry-level job with a publishing company in Oregon.
He caught on quickly, immersing himself in software skills and author
relations the same way he immersed himself in game plans. The company
soon promoted him to editorial director.

"Which is pretty typical for athletes," Ruettgers says. "But you don't
know that you can do it. And you don't how to do it, how to apply it,
until you're in it. One of my biggest fears was, 'Do I have what it
takes?' "

The key: funneling passion somewhere else. Kuehn tried memorabilia and
sales before he ended up at a job fair in Tacoma, teaching certificate
in hand. He's now an assistant principal at Interlake High School in
Bellevue.

McKenzie ran into Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen at Shea Stadium in New
York shortly after he retired. McKenzie asked him about transitioning.
Olsen told him, "If you can walk out of one door into another, then the
transition is a whole lot easier." So McKenzie worked in a variety of
jobs for the Seahawks, then went into business for himself and expanded
his successful youth foundation in Detroit.

Retired NFL veteran Curt Marsh started by purchasing a vending-machine
business. It made money but left him unfulfilled. He even tried
creating a slogan, but when, "Don't take candy from strangers, buy it
from me," was the best he could come up with, he wisely shifted gears.

Marsh became a world-champion disabled weightlifter, a supervisor for
the city of Everett and an accomplished public speaker. Passion found.

"If you have that kind of personality, and you aren't able to find it
somewhere else, you'll be very passionately depressed," Marsh says.
"You don't lose the passion, it just goes somewhere."

Michels didn't worry about working right away. Instead, he set a
short-term goal to prove that life existed outside football. He
obtained his pilot's license in a month, flying every day in a
four-seat Cessna. Flying provided the same sense of accomplishment.

"That was when the lightbulb went on," Michels says. "That helped me
realize what I needed to do was find a new passion."

Norm Evans played from 1965 to '78, during an era when players worked
during college and the NFL offseason. He slaved at a construction site
and in a refinery. He drove a bread truck and washed cars and mowed
lawns. He went on a speaking tour after the Dolphins finished the 1972
season undefeated. He started a publishing company.

He even prepped beef cattle with a hose and soap and water while in
college.

"Black Angus," Evans says. "This guy would bring them to a show in
Texas. It's February, it's freezing, and I'm giving these cows a bath
for a buck an hour. I'd do anything I could to make a few bucks."

Evans currently works for Pro Athletes Outreach in Issaquah, teaching
players to become role models. Players in his era looked at football as
a head start. Even a first-round pick like Marsh, who played from 1981
to '86, never made a million dollars in his career.

Players in today's NFL don't need to worry about making money in the
offseason. They don't really have an offseason. The assumption, then,
is that their transition will be easier. But retired players believe
the opposite. Current players are less ready for the real world, more
sheltered and less experienced. Not that any retired players feel sorry
for them.

"Guys work 10 months out of the year playing football," McKenzie says.
"They don't have an opportunity to prepare themselves for life after
football. You're going to see a bigger slide. And the slide will be
bigger because of the dollars."

Like this: A former teammate called Cunningham, who retired in 1996, in
a panic. He had been out of the game for eight months and woke up, 34
years old, sobbing, unsure. Another teammate started smoking crack and
ended up in jail.

"Most guys leave the game and struggle and flounder," Michels says.
"You read over and over about guys who became addicted to drugs,
bankrupt. They need guidance. You come from this career where you are
catered to, and you're thrown in the world where nothing is given to
you, people don't care about you anymore."

Especially offensive linemen, the indistinguishable and anonymous
brutes up front. They don't retire with the name recognition of
quarterbacks or running backs or wide receivers. They retire large and
lost.

"My knee [injury] was more than a physical problem," Michels said. "My
dreams were attached to it. Guys need to be told that it's OK to grieve
this thing."

Retired offensive linemen are consumed by the torture of transition,
the crisis of identity. They talk and think about the game more than
they want to, more than they said they would. They are not alone. Ask
any retired athlete.

Ruettgers' advice? Focus on the three M's - money, marriage and
mission. Go back to school, finish diploma requirements or pursue an
advanced degree. Leaf through business cards accumulated during a
playing career. Go to marriage counseling.

"Most retirements - what do you do?" Ruettgers asks. "You get a gold
watch, go on vacations, live the golden years. These guys have their
whole lives in front of them."

They have football funerals to attend. Marriages to fix. Identities to
find.

These are the trials of transition.

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David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Luxury Stadiums Point up Problems for Pro Sports Monopolies

2006-12-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

BY KATHLEEN O'TOOLE

American taxpayers and sports fans will continue to pay through the nose for pro sports until they decide to outlaw the monopoly status of professional sports leagues, says Stanford economist Roger Noll in a new book.

Nearly half of the professional sports teams in America are either playing in a new facility or expect to within a few years. The cost of this $7 billion stadium construction boom is heavily subsidized by federal and local taxpayers, and the tax bills won't stop piling up until all 115 teams have new facilities, Noll says.

When all the teams have new digs, they will want even better facilities. "It's never ending. As soon as the bloom is off the lily, as soon as the newness effect of these stadiums begins to wane, then we'll start all over again," says the economist who knows so much about sports that Sporting News named him one of the "100 most powerful people" in sports a few years ago ahead of such more familiar faces as sportscasters John Madden and Bob Costas.

Noll and fellow sports fan and economist Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College argue against sports monopolies in a new book they edited, Sports, Jobs and Taxes, for the Brookings Institution. The National Football League, for example, is a cartel of team owners that is able to extract monopoly prices in the form of public subsidies because they have no competition. "The NFL will always see to it that there are a few cities who are hungry for a team but don't have one," Noll says. "Their business plan is to keep the wolves at the door, so a team can make a case for more subsidy every time a lease expires."

For cities, the situation is not unlike that with railroads in the mid 19th century, when every town wanted a railroad stop, the economists say. "Local governments frequently overextended themselves in offering subsidies to railroads so as to influence decisions about routes and terminals."

Noll, who played varsity basketball at Caltech, and Zimbalist, who tried to start a new baseball league in 1996, love sports and like the luxury stadiums that have been built in recent years. They don't even argue that it is a bad idea for the taxpayers in Charlotte or Sacramento to provide a type of welfare to franchise owners and players to lure a team to their city. The economists don't think, however, that the teams, their boosters and consultants should continue to get away with claiming that ever-better ballparks are sound business investments for local communities. "Actually," Noll says, "teams are a slight net drag on the local economy."

Taxpayers should view new stadiums as a consumption expense, not an investment that will produce more jobs and local business. Stadiums are more like public parks a pleasurable amenity used by some local residents than like a local business that draws new spending to town or makes money for the community by exporting local products and services, the economists say.

Who pays how much?

Some taxpayers get stuck paying more than others, the authors say.

In San Francisco, where voters first balked at more expensive stadium proposals for the Giants baseball team and the 49er football team, the $200 million-plus subsidy for two new stadiums probably will cost each city resident about $10 a year for 25 years, Noll calculates. In neighboring Oakland, the recent $135 million in renovations for the Raiders and Warriors will probably cost that city's smaller population about $50 per capita per year, and the Oakland Athletics are still threatening to leave unless something is done for them.

In Seattle, where the voters also initially balked, the Seahawks managed to win a statewide referendum to spread the costs over the state's population, and in Cincinnati, new facilities for the Reds and the Bengals will be subsidized by a sales tax throughout the metropolitan area.

In New York, where the Yankees want at least $800 million from the city for a new stadium in Manhattan, it would be cheaper if the city fathers simply gave the Yankees a cash bribe of $10 million a year, Noll facetiously says. "Even better, the city could pay $100,000 for each game won, with a million-dollar bonus for winning the pennant."

In nearly all cases, Noll says, federal taxpayers are also being hit hard. They provide about 30 percent of the local subsidy in the form of tax-free bonds that the cities sell to build the facilities. The 1986 Tax Reform Act encourages cities to subsidize stadiums, because they can only sell tax-exempt bonds if the revenues from the stadium account for less than 10 percent of their debt service.

The book is required reading for any citizens group hoping to fight plans for a new taxpayer-subsidized football or baseball stadium or hockey or basketball arena in their area. It provides the nitty-gritty details of the many flaws in economic analyses that are prepared by consultants for stadium proponents. Such studies usually conclude that a team and a new stadium will improve the local economy, reduce poverty and increase jobs.

"We are just pointing out two important facts," Noll says. "Stadiums are not a net local economic benefit, and the reasons cities are paying for them is because the [federal] government made the professional leagues monopolies" exempt from anti-trust laws that apply to most other industries.

The result: "A very large number of people are getting harmed a little bit," Noll says, but the subsidies usually are small enough per citizen that people don't tend to organize opposition to them. "That biases the outcome in favor of the well-organized group" of fans and a few businesses that benefit a lot from the stadium.

Luxurious '80s changed sports

The current wave of stadium building began in the 1980s because of new stadium technology. More luxurious stadiums were introduced partly in response to fans' increasing willingness to pay for stadium amenities. As the wealth of upper-income Americans soared, "there was a much bigger demand for luxury boxes and upscale concessions. . . . Going to a football or baseball game 25 years ago was an experience with a cross-section of society. Now, only the upper middle class can afford it," Noll says. Corporations are a factor also, as they often rent the luxury boxes.

But while ticket and concession prices are higher and personal seat licenses have been introduced as another way to collect revenue, the new luxury stadiums have not generated enough revenue to cover their cost a minimum of $200 million. Hence the subsidies from people who don't go to the games.

By far the biggest effect of subsidized stadiums is that "perfectly good facilities are forced to retire prematurely and new facilities are far more elaborate and costly than is justified by the business that they generate," Noll and Zimbalist write. "The next largest effect is that player salaries capture more than half of the value of the subsidy."

Stadiums also can cost a community jobs, they say. Most people have a limited amount of money they can spent on entertainment, so money spent on sports can cause other entertainment businesses to cut back jobs or close. Team studies usually claim the new facilities bring new tourist spending to town, but the studies grossly exaggerate such effects, the authors say. "It's like the Angels trying to argue that Disneyland wouldn't exist if they weren't nextdoor," Noll says with a crescendo laugh.

Another effect of sports monopolies can be seen in the contrast between a fan's choice of televised Saturday college football offerings and Sunday's pro offerings, Noll says. Because of a successful anti-trust suit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the college association cannot pool all broadcasting rights of member teams. With competition among the teams and conferences for broadcast earnings, the consumer gets a choice of football games to watch all day, compared to only two or three games to watch on Sunday when the NFL controls broadcast rights.

Noll, who helped plot the legal strategy that broke up AT&T's monopoly in the 1980s, devotes only about 5 percent of his life to sports but as Sporting News said in naming him one of the power brokers, "It's a big 5 percent." An expert on government regulation of various industries, he has been an expert witness for professional players' associations in battles with professional league owners, and potential buyers of teams have been known to consult him about the dollar value of franchises. With a certain flair for sports metaphors and plain talk about difficult economic concepts, he is often invited to speak in cities where local politicians and team owners are trying to sell the public on providing a tax subsidy for a new team stadium. "What makes Noll happy," the Sacramento Bee reported after one of Noll's recent visits to their city, "is going around America smashing sports fantasies of local politicians and Chambers of Commerce."

The anti-trust solution

But Noll doesn't kid himself about his power. It will be difficult to curb taxpayer subsidies to pro sports as long as those sports are popular with the American public, he says.

The federal government could do the job by removing the leagues' anti-trust exemptions, forcing the existing ones to form several leagues that make independent decisions about how many teams to have and where to locate them, he says.

Members of Congress have periodically taken an interest in applying anti-trust law, but their debates have been "driven by their regional loyalties rather than political ideology," Noll says, so nothing gets resolved.

When major league baseball thwarted the relocation of the San Francisco Giants to St. Petersburg, for instance, "California's liberal Democratic senator, Barbara Boxer, hardly known as a close ally of big business, favored retaining baseball's antitrust immunity to save her hometown Giants," the authors write in the book. "Florida's conservative Republican senator, Connie Mack, the grandson of the legendary owner-manager of the Philadelphia A's during the period when they wrested several American league championships from the famed Yankees of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, argued strongly for lifting the immunity to free the Giants to come to Florida. As before, nothing came of this congressional inquiry."

The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice could act, Noll and Zimbalist write, but it is also "susceptible to political pressure not to upset sports."

"The most likely source of reform, though still a long shot, will be grass-roots disgruntlement and citizen education," they write. "These forces have already taken hold in some cities. Voters, cognizant that sports teams will bring little benefit to the local economy and concerned about the distributional consequences of facility subventions, rejected the idea of public support for stadiums on ballot initiatives in San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle. However, in no case has this caused a stadium not to be built.

"Nevertheless, more guarded, limited and conditional support from constituents will prompt political leaders to be more careful in promoting a team or negotiating a stadium deal."

Cities on their own, however, have little leverage, and while grass-roots movements "may achieve modest success in slightly altering the terms of stadium subsidies," the authors say, "until the structural monopoly and cultural centrality are modified, large-scale public subsidies to team owners and athletes will be a feature of the professional sports landscape." SR

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

NFL Exit Symposium

2006-12-03T23:24:00.000-05:00

No matter how hard you work to try and fight it, there comes a point in every NFL player’s life when you’ve realized your playing days are over and it’s time to consider retirement. Luckily, the NFL Players Association is here to help and recently created a new resource to assist players successfully transition into life after football.

On November 2nd and 3rd, the NFLPA conducted its Inaugural Exit Symposium titled “What Happens Now? Surviving the NFL Career Gap…” in an effort to provide players with the basic knowledge necessary to bring closure to their NFL careers.

“Our goal was to build a symposium that creates a sense of urgency about focusing on extremely important issues such as second careers, future financial goals, and health benefits,” said NFLPA Director of Retired Players Andre Collins. “We want players to realize that taking a long break after your football career ends can be costly, creating a physical, emotional, and financial strain that is difficult to overcome.”

Thirteen players who recently retired from the NFL traveled to Arlington, Va. for the event, which consisted of a variety of seminars that discussed everything from financial planning to benefits and player development programs available to players once they retire.

“Most of us come into the NFL expecting to play for 10 to 15 years, but when your career is cut short in less than five years, sometimes you feel stuck. You’ve lived your dream and now it’s over, and lots of players don’t know where to go after that,” said former wide receiver, Milton Wynn. “This event is very necessary because it provides key information about planning your future.”

Former linebacker and Baltimore Ravens Director of Player Development O.J. Brigance believed the worker’s compensation presentation was especially helpful in part because the players in attendance became aware that each state has its own time limit within which to file a claim. There is a panel attorney in every NFL city to assist with individual claims and questions.

“A lot of guys when they’re in the league may not look at the worker’s compensation package or the other retirement benefits, but here they have the opportunity to ask questions and have it explained to them,” said Brigance.

In addition to informative seminars, the symposium offered attendees the opportunity to speak to and hear from retired players who have successfully managed the transition process as well as NFLPA and NFL executives who work to help former players on a daily basis.

“It’s pretty interesting to hear the different scenarios that players have dealt with, many of which are the same that some of us are currently dealing with,” added Brigance.

“The players were very engaged and seemed to really get a lot out of the event,” said NFLPA Director of Player Development Stacy Robinson who was also very involved with the execution of the seminar.

Former offensive linebacker Ken Ruettgers was one of those players to speak at the event. As the current Executive Director of GamesOver.org, Ruettgers oversees a website that specializes in serving and meeting the transitional needs of professional athletes when they leave the game.

“Transition is a fact of life and the sooner you realize it, the better off you'll be,” said Ruettgers. “It's difficult to maintain the illusion that you have it all together after you leave the game. It can cost you time, money, your marriage and more if you're not willing to compete in this new season of life.”

According to Collins, the department hears from countless retired players who are having a very difficult time during their transition and are glad they have a place to turn and people who are eager to help.

“So be proactive in your choices,” adds Collins. “Take advantage of the resources and opportunities the NFLPA and NFL have to offer.”

The Game can't love you back!

2006-11-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

By Deion Sanders
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Austin, Texas
Saturday, November 11, 2006

I've been blessed to walk away from the National Football League on my
own terms twice.

Believe me, not all athletes are that fortunate.

I retired the first time after the 2000 season because I didn't want to
play for Marty Schottenheimer - not because I'd lost my passion for
the game or I couldn't play at the level I was accustomed to playing.
After all, I had seen Marty on ESPN talk about how he would never work
for an owner like Dan Snyder because he didn't like the way Dan did
business. Later that year, Marty accepted the coaching position from
the man he had blasted on national TV. That told me Marty's decision
was all about money, so I knew he wasn't going to be successful in
Washington.

I joined the Baltimore Ravens in 2004, but I was there to do more than
play football. I was there to affect lives. I was there to mentor and
to be a liaison between players and management, coach and help people
spiritually, from the chefs who prepared our meals to the custodian who
cleaned the building. The last thing I was there to do was play
football.

Once I had fulfilled my assignment - the one God gave me - it was
time to go. Of course, having toe surgery after each season made it
easier to accept God's plan for my life.

As I said, God allowed me to walk away twice when I got ready. My close
friend, Atlanta Falcons cornerback Kevin Mathis, wasn't so lucky.

Some of you might know him from Gainesville High School, about an hour
north of Dallas. Or you might know him from Texas A&M-Commerce. Or you
might know him from the years he played with the Cowboys, Saints and
now the Falcons.

His career ended last Sunday when he suffered a neck injury on the
opening kickoff against Detroit.

It's disappointing that he didn't get to leave the game on his own
terms. The game told him it was time to go.

When you can't leave on your own terms, it's an empty feeling that
can't be filled quickly. Imagine having a 10-year relationship end with
an e-mail or a text message the day after a lovely evening of dinner
and dancing.

There's no warning sign. There's nothing you could've done differently.
The relationship is just over and you never had a chance to tell her
good-bye.

That's why I hurt for Kevin. It's over for him.

Now, maybe you can understand why athletes sometimes act the way they
do when it comes to compensation. After all, the NFL average is no more
than four years, so we only have a few years to make enough money to
last a lifetime. We must always do what's best for our family even if
fans don't always understand.

But if you look closely, you'll see that athletes do the same things
teams do. When we perform poorly, the club will ask us to take a pay
cut. When the club doesn't think we can contribute to winning, it
releases us. But when Ricky Williams wanted to retire and live his
life, Miami sued him for a portion of his signing bonus, thus forcing
him to play.

Does that seem fair?

When we perform at a high level, we ask for a raise. Don't you do the
same? I don't think someone would stay at IBM making $50,000, if Dell
wanted to hire them for $75,000. Or what if McDonald's were paying you
$7 an hour and Burger King offered you $8.50?

That's a reality of sports and life - and it's one of the reasons
I've always had a good personal relationship with every owner I've ever
played for: I understood it was always business, never personal, and so
did they. That's probably why I played for nine different
organizations, four in baseball and five in football.

Unfortunately, many athletes never figure that out.

Sports is a business and you must always treat it that way. I tell all
of the guys I mentor: Never love something that doesn't have the
capacity to love you back - whether it's a mansion, a Ferrari or a
diamond watch.

The game can't love you back.

It can pay your bills and give you stardom and fame, but it can never
love you back. It doesn't have a heart.

Sanders played pro football for the Dallas Cowboys, among other teams,
and played Major League Baseball. He writes an online blog at
statesman.com/primetime.

Deion Sanders, the two-sport star turned Austin Wranglers part-owner,
debuts his blog on Statesman.com. In 'On the line with Prime,' Deion
offers a Q-and-A with Vince Young, gives his take on the Miami-Florida
Atlantic fight and pinpoints the No. 1 problem with sports today. Come
back for updates each week, at statesman.com/primetime.

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Roosevelt "Rosie" Brown honored

2006-11-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

By John Yellig
Daily Progress staff writer
Thursday, November 9, 2006

In an emotional ceremony renaming the Ninth-10th Street Connector after
Charlottesville native and football legend Roosevelt "Rosie" Brown
on Wednesday, Mayor David Brown called the dedication a long-needed
recognition of the city's black community. He also gave Brown's
widow, Linda, a key to the city.

"It ... recognizes a member of the African-American community, which
doesn't always get recognized," the mayor told a group of Brown's
friends and family, who nodded their heads in approval.

Roosevelt Brown was an offensive tackle for the New York Giants from
1953 to 1965 and played in the legendary 1958 National Football League
championship against the Baltimore Colts and quarterback Johnny Unitas.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975. He died in
2004.

Ernie Accorsi, the Giants' general manager, attended the dedication
with other members of the team's management. He said Brown was
exceptional both as a friend and an athlete.

"I saw him play, and I idolized him as a player," Accorsi said.
"But to those of us who worked with him, he was a friend, a scout and
a coach."

In a surprise ending to the ceremony, held at the Hampton Inn on the
corner of what is now Roosevelt Brown Boulevard and West Main Street,
Mayor Brown presented Linda Brown with a key to the city.

The widow, obviously surprised by the gesture, gasped, "My God,"
and tearfully thanked the mayor.

"The key to the city - who would have guessed?" said Brown, who
lives in Columbus, N.J. "I just wish my husband was here to see this.
I loved him so much."

Brown said Linda Brown was the first person to whom he has given a key
to the city in his two years as mayor.

He credited Charlottesville native John Gaines with getting the
connector renamed after Brown. Gaines, a past president of the
Charlottes-ville NAACP, has lobbied for renaming the street since 1999.

The street, opened in 1998, connects 10th Street at West Main Street
with Ninth Street at Cherry Avenue. It replaced Ninth Street as the
primary passage across the CSX railroad tracks.

Contact John Yellig at (434) 978-7245 or eyellig@dailyprogress.com.

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Payments to players from Players, Inc

2006-10-24T11:20:00.000-04:00

Guest Commentator: Jeff Nixon

Dear Alumni

At the Retired Players Convention in Phoenix I asked several questions
regarding Players Inc. Here are the questions I asked and the answers
I got:

Question: How much revenue is currently generated by Players Inc, and
from what sources

Answer: $22.4 Million Total. $11 Million from Football Cards / 8
Million from Sponsorships / 4.4 Million for Player Marketing
Opportunities

Note: I assume that $22.4 is the net revenue, because their annual
retail sales of Players Inc. licensed products is over $750 million!

Question: How much of the revenue going into Players Inc. are for
Players (Retired and Active) and how much is for Operations (Staff and
other costs) Answer: 40% of funds go to operations; 40% go to Active Players.

Note: I could be wrong, but I don't believe they could tell us, at that
time, how much went to to Retired Players. For the purposes of
discussion I will assume that the remaining 20% goes to retired
players.

Question: I understand that each Active player signs an agreement with
Players Inc. that allows them to use their image, name etc. for
marketing purposes. How much money does an Active Player get when they
sign the licensing at the beginning of the season? Answer: The amount has recently gone up from about $6,500 to
approximately $7,000 or $8,000 for each player.

During the presentation, the presenter (I can't remember who it was)
showed us several charts. One of them was a pie chart showing that 375
retired players received some form of compensation from Players Inc.
and that 104 were (HOF) Hall of Famers and 271 were non-Hall of Famers.

They seemed quite proud of the fact that more non-HOF retired players
were compensated,. Unfortunately, they did not tell us what the actual
amount of compensation was for the HOF and non-HOF retired players.

Based on the figures they presented at the convention and my assumption
that the retird players received 20% of $22.4 million net revenue, then
$4,480,000 would have been paid out to retired players. How much of
that was paid to HOF's and how much to non-HOF's? I don't know, but I
would imagine that a high percentage is going to the HOF's, and rightly
so.

If the 104 HOF's received just 50% of the money they would each be
receiving an average of $21,538 annually. If the 271 non-HOF retired
players received 50% of the money, they would each be receiving an
average of $8,266 annually. Obviously, these are just averages, and
some HOF and non-HOF players would receive more or less.

In order to be considered for any compensation via Players Inc. you
first need to sign their licensing agreement. Secondly, you must be a
member in good standing (pay your dues!) Thirdly, you probably need to
be a Hall of Famer or someone "in demand" (how do they determine
that?), and lastly you probably have to be on Player Inc.'s good
behavior list. If you have made critical comments about the NFLPA or
Players Inc. you might be on the shit list for quite some time. When
exactly does hell freeze over?

It's interesting to note that Players Inc. boasts of representing 3,500
retired players. On their Website www.nflplayers.com they state, "Each
year the player marketing department negotiates and manages more than
3,500 player marketing opportunities for 1,800 active and 3,500 retired
NFL players. They say they "represent" 3,500 retired players, but based
on the information they gave us at the convention, their only paying
375 retired players. What marketing opportunities do the other 3,125
retired players get? Are they including all dues paying members of the
NFLPA Retired Players in this figure. Are they saying they have
licensing agreements with 3,500 retired players? If so, is your
licensing agreement collecting dust in the basement of Players Inc.? I
have to admit, I have not signed one, but I have asked for a copy. If
you would like a licensing agreement contact:

Josh Goodstadt
Assistant Vice President, Multimedia - Players Inc. @ 1-202-463-1276.

Now that you know what Most of the retired players are getting from
Players Inc. (The short end of the stick)...... I should also note that
in addition to the approx. $8,000 each active player gets at the
beginning of the season for signing the licensing agreement, many of
the "in-demand" players get huge sums of money for their appearances
both during and after the season. They divvy up approximately
$8,960,000.00. Not bad for hanging out at a golf tournament, Super bowl
party or some charity event.

Now that I've shared this information with you, I need to make one
thing very clear. I have no problem whatsoever with the fact that many
of the "high profile" Active and Retired players get compensated by
Players Inc. That's the way it should be. Players Inc. has done an
exceptionally fine job of increasing its revenues since its inception
in 1994. What bothers me is the way they make it sound like 3,500
retired players are benefiting from this companies representation. When
was the last time you received a check?
Obviously, there are other ways to compensate players, and its not all
in the form of cash. I don't know if Players Inc. counts airfare, hotel
stay, food etc. when they determine benefits to players. I know that
many of the retired players that are not in 'high demand" would enjoy
an invitation to an event even if they were not being paid. Maybe this
is happening, and that is where they are getting the 3,500 figure from.
When was the last time you were invited to a golf tournament or Super
Bowl party?

It would be nice if Players Inc. could find a way to get more of the
retired players invited to and compensated for events, but the reality
is, most of us that played never lit up the marquee and as we get older
the fans begin to forget our generation of players and therefore we are
no longer "in demand"........maybe we never were......but we did
contribute in some small way to the greatest show on earth....the NFL.

There are a lot of good people that work for Players Inc. and they are
doing an excellent job of marketing the NFL and its players. I just
wish there was more they could do for the majority of retired players
that are slowly disappearing from the memory of the fans.

For your information, the paid staff (approx. 35 people) and the
operating expenses of Players Inc., based on what they told us at the
convention, are approximately 9 Million dollars annually.

The Players Inc. executive staff includes:

Gene Upshaw - Chairman
Doug Allen - President
Pat Allen - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Pam Adolph - Vice President, Apparel & Operations
Dawn Ridley - Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Business
Development
Karen Bush - Assistant Vice President, Trading Cards & Collectibles
Felice Jones - Assistant Vice President, Special Events
Josh Goodstadt - Assistant Vice President, Multimedia
Angela Manolakas - Assistant Vice President, Player Marketing
Lara Potter - Assistant Vice President, Communications
Doug Ramsay - Assistant Vice President, Internet
Joe Nahra - Staff Counsel

If I have stated anything that is off the mark, then I welcome a
rebuttal and/or accurate information from Players Inc., or anyone else
for that matter. I don't have all the information I would like to have,
therefore I can only comment on the information that has been given to
me by Players Inc.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please feel free
to contact me at jeffnixon@aol.com

Sincerely,

Jeff Nixon, Vice President

Buffalo Bills - Retired Players Chapter

The MDS Report: Appreciating Al Davis

2006-10-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

By Michael David Smith
FootballOutsiders.com
October 7, 2006

Dave Pear was in pain when he called me this week. Pain is something
he's felt a lot of in the quarter-century since he retired from
professional football.

Pear, who played nose guard for six years in the NFL, suffered a
herniated disk in his neck in 1979. He has lived with pain ever since
that injury, which would force him to retire a year later. Pear played
hurt in Super Bowl XV. On the Raiders' official Web site, his efforts
are credited as a big reason the team won. That was the last game he
ever played.

Pear called me this week to let me know that he disagreed with the kind
words I had for Al Davis in last week's column.

"I continued to play with a herniated disk in my neck," Pear said. "Al
Davis encouraged me to play. He told me I was an all-pro and that I
could play better hurt than the other players could play healthy. With
that injury, I went from all-pro to being cut in two years, and during
that time I continually asked Davis for help, and the response was that
I wasn't injured, I was a hypochondriac.

"I went to see Al in his office and said, 'I came to you as an all-pro
two years ago and now I'm leaving to have a neck operation and I've
lost my job. I broke my neck playing for you. You can't turn your back
on me.' He told me he would call me. That was 25 years ago and I still
haven't heard from him."

I don't know what happened in closed-door conversations between Pear
and Davis. But I do know, and my conversation with Pear made me even
more acutely aware, that the NFL has a real problem with retired
players who suffered serious injuries and now feel that the league has
turned its back on them.

"It's just wrong," Pear said. "If I sound bitter, it's in the sense
that the NFL goes on TV and tells us what good they do with the United
Way, and they spend money trying to help other causes, and they do that
to take the focus off themselves and the way they treat their former
players."

Pear is far from alone in feeling that way. Former Buffalo Bills safety
Jeff Nixon urged his fellow ex-players to withhold NFL Players
Association Retired Players Chapter dues to protest what he called a
lack of attention to issues relating to retired players in the most
recent collective-bargaining agreement negotiations. Chuck Bednarik,
the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer, said of his pension two years
ago, "It stinks. It's nothing." Former Colts and Chargers safety Bruce
Laird started a blog where he posts articles about retired players who
have gone through tough times since leaving the game.

Many ex-players who are doing well financially have taken it upon
themselves to provide the assistance that the league and the union
won't. Former Green Bay Packers lineman Jerry Kramer has organized
fundraisers to, as he says on his web site, "provide direct financial
assistance to those retired players who are disadvantaged or indigent
due to the inadequate pension and disability compensation the league
provides to older players." Former Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns
quarterback Arthur Roberts, a cardiologist, provides free heart
screenings to ex-players. Mike Ditka hosts a golf tournament in Chicago
each year to raise money for indigent retired players.

At his Hall of Fame induction speech in August, former New York Giants
linebacker Harry Carson said the league needs to do more to help
retired players. "I would hope that the leaders of the NFL, the future
commissioner, and the players association do a much better job of
looking out for those individuals," Carson said. "If we made the league
what it is, you have to take better care of your own."

The league and the players association maintain that they do plenty. In
July they jointly announced a host of improvements to current and
retired players' benefits. NFL player benefits total $700 million a
year, and benefits have been improved for both current and retired
players four times since 1993. Retired players receive almost $60
million a year from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement Plan. The
union's Players Assistance Trust, the NFL Alumni Association's Dire
Need Fund and the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Enshrinee Assistance Fund
all give more than $1 million a year in financial assistance to retired
players. Harold Henderson, NFL executive vice president of labor
relations and chairman of the NFL Management Council, called the NFL's
package "the most extensive benefits package in professional sports."

But Pear, like many other ex-players, says those benefits need to be
distributed more equitably, so that former players who paved the way
for the current generation of multimillionaires and are now living with
serious football-related injuries can reap some of the rewards from the
$6 billion a year industry that pro football has become. Players who
retired before salaries exploded with the dawning of free agency in
1993 say it annoys them that people assume that they're rich just
because they once played pro football.

Many retired players blame NFL Players Association Executive Director
Gene Upshaw for their inadequate pensions. Pear, his former teammate,
said, "Gene Upshaw has definitely sold out his players." But under
labor law, Upshaw works for the current players, not the retired
players. You can't blame the players who helped build the league for
feeling that they deserve a bigger slice of that $6 billion pie, but
you also can't blame Upshaw for making the current players his top
priority.

So if the union's priority is the current players, who can help retired
players? I believe individual teams should do more. Before he joined
the Raiders, Pear was the first member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to
make the Pro Bowl. I'd like to see the Bucs do something to honor him,
and I'd like to see every NFL team reach out to its former players, the
ones who played before MRIs and eight-figure signing bonuses. Most of
those players still love the game, but many of them wonder whether the
sacrifices they made to play football were worth it.

"I don't want to sound like it's sour grapes, because football was my
passion. It was something that I loved to do," Pear said. "But it
leaves a bitter taste in your mouth toward your former employer."

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Fw: [Retired NFL Players] Tackling life after the game

2006-10-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

Baltimore Sun
By Rona Marech
Sun reporter

October 14, 2006

HAGERSTOWN -- Inside the Hagerstown Rescue Mission, up the stairs, into
the dormitory, next to a bed with a thin tan coverlet, atop a dark
locker -- this is where Donnie Green keeps his memorabilia. He has
three tiny plastic helmets, one for each of the National Football
League teams he played on: the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles,
the Detroit Lions.

Behind those -- he has to groan and stretch to reach it -- is a blue,
loose-leaf binder filled with photographs and articles. He turns the
pages matter of factly, betraying little. Here he is in his No. 74
Bills jersey, staring out seriously, his fists clenched. Here he is
coolly sitting on the bench, helmet pushed back. Here he is at Purdue
University, a bright-eyed first-year student with a broad smile. He is
watching a game in a fedora, his hands lifted over his head,
victorious.

He pulls out a fan letter. "It sure is a pleasure to write to one of
the greatest players who always gave 110 percent," it reads.

Green played for the NFL for seven years in the 1970s, most famously as
part of the Bills' formidable offensive line that helped O.J. Simpson
run a record-breaking 2,000 yards in a season. He and his fellow
linemen were dubbed the Electric Company because they "turned the Juice
loose."

But that was long ago, before Green's gait slowed and his brawn
softened. Before family troubles. Before drugs.

In 2003, financial and emotional woes sent Green from his home in
Annapolis to this Western Maryland shelter where men can find temporary
housing or join a longer-term, religion-based recovery program. He
arrived with little but some suitcases of old clothes. It didn't take
long for him to find God -- truly find him and not just in a
wishy-washy way, he says. Three years later, he's hopeful. He gets paid
to work as a night watchman at the Rescue Mission. He's more peaceful.

And yet he's still here, a lumbering, gentle presence carrying a Bible
and talking religion and trying, still, to figure out what to do next.

"I just take it from day to day," he said. "I'm really thankful God
gave me another chance."

Green's predicament, some former players bitterly complain, is all too
common. Men who played in the NFL prior to the 1980s were paid a
pittance compared with current players, and until 1993, they retired
without substantial pensions, health insurance or other now-standard
benefits. Many suffer from ailments stemming from old injuries and
years of play. And they're often too proud or embarrassed -- especially
after all the athletic success and reverential treatment -- to seek
help when their luck turns. Recent pension increases and changes in
care coverage for retired players are inadequate, many who were in the
business say.

They often know the saddest stories: Jackie Wallace, who played with
the Colts among other teams, was found living under a New Orleans
overpass; Mike Webster, once a Pittsburgh Steeler, was frequently
unemployed and homeless in the years before his death.

"It goes on and on. There are hundreds of players who are hurting,"
said Bruce Laird, another former Colt who recently founded The
Baltimore Football Club to assist ex-players. "We are working with the
union to try to make them understand that these are the players who
made the game, and they need help."

Joe DeLamielleure, a Hall of Famer who played right guard alongside
Green on the Bills, calls it a "disgrace." "Why does the most lucrative
business in the world have the worst pensions?" he said. "You know
where Donnie is living? ... And Donnie Green isn't a dumb man, not an
ignorant man. He's not a man who's lazy. He's a good man. For him to
have to do this is absurd in my book."

At his peak in the NFL, Green said he never made more than $65,000. At
58, his monthly pension payments are a little more than $400.

It was only seven years of pro football, to be sure, but that was what
Green had devoted his life to from the time he was a 219-pound
eighth-grader in southeastern Virginia. High school coaches were
already checking out the mountainous teenager, and he ended up playing
football and basketball at Crestwood High School in Chesapeake before
heading off to Purdue University on a football scholarship. He left
school when he was drafted by Buffalo in 1971

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Simms' case highlights NFL doctors' dilemma

2006-10-01T14:42:00.000-04:00

By ANTHONY CORMIER
anthony.cormier@heraldtribune.com
Article published Oct 1, 2006

It's an old National Football League standard: If you're hurt, you
play. If you're injured, you don't.

But the difference between being sore and needing surgery is subtle in today's NFL, where the line between a serious ailment and pedestrian pain is blurred by doctors working for the teams and athletes who want
to play, even at risk of their own health.

Last week brought a pair of dangerous incidents -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms playing with a ruptured spleen, and Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens returning to practice one day after
overdosing on pills -- that sounded an alarm in the medical community about the conflict between the teams, their physicians and the players in pro sports.

The cases were a reminder, some say, of the long-standing struggle to balance ethics, money and player safety in the NFL.

Critics say the league is tiptoeing through a minefield, where the drive to get star players back in the game can cloud medical decisions
with serious, sometimes fatal, consequences.

"There is a huge problem in the National Football League," said Dr. Robert Huizenga, a former team physician for the Oakland Raiders. "And it doesn't seem like anyone wants to address it."

The debate is as old as the game itself and as complex as the West Coast offense. On one side are the players, and on the other are coaches and front-office personnel.

In the middle are team physicians, doctors and trainers whose
allegiance to the health of players can be tested by the owners who pay their salaries.

"The real question is: 'Who does the doctor work for?' Does he work on
behalf of the athlete or is he working for the team?" asked Dr. Stephen Rice of the Jersey Shore (N.J.) Medical Center, who is a College of Sports Medicine fellow and former physician at the University of Washington.

Critics say team physicians sometimes fall prey to their bosses' demands, scrambling for "miracle cures" that mask serious injuries and
put players back on the field when they shouldn't be.

"I don't think there's any question that, when you get a strong coach in your face saying, 'This guy needs to be ready,' you do what it takes to get them back on the field," said Ralph Cindrich, a former player and now one of the league's premier agents.

"There are a lot of instances where they push a guy back before he's ready."

In the business of football, roster spots and million-dollar contracts are won by the players who grit through twisted joints and shredded tendons -- even if they're risking a serious injury that could lead to devastating consequences in the long term.

In a landmark study at the University of North Carolina, researchers found that nearly 60 percent of retired NFL players had suffered at least one concussion during their careers. The survey also concluded
that retired NFL players have a 37 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than other men of the same age.

Former team physicians and longtime sports medicine professionals say he doctors are put in a tenuous position each week, where snap decisions carry serious ramifications in the billion-dollar world of the NFL.

Each team employs a staff of trainers to deal with pedestrian ailments such as sore muscles and sprained joints. They also have a squad of doctors to diagnose and treat injuries.

NFL teams generally will not allow media access to trainers and physicians, and Bucs doctor Joe Diaco could not comment for this story.

"It's a business, a two-sided business that is driven by the fact that, if you can't perform, you can't play," said Dr. Jon Schriner, who operates six sports medicine centers in Michigan and has worked with collegiate and Olympic athletes.

The sidelines and the training rooms where athletes rehab can be lonely places, where the sense of invulnerability that drove an athlete to the NFL can lead to isolation from coaches and teammates.

In a world of machismo, toughness can be a player's defining attribute.

Take Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers quarterback whose legacy was determined more by his ironman streak of 224 straight starts than his
Super Bowl win or 402 touchdown passes.

There is no label feared more than "injury-prone" or, worse yet, "soft." So while there is pressure from coaches to send players back prematurely, the players often put the same pressure on themselves.

Said Bucs receiver Michael Clayton: "A lot of guys play this game with
a passion (that) we'll play until we die, until we can't anymore."

Careers can be made, or lost, on a reputation of playing with pain. The first three weeks of this season have seen players suffer through organ damage (Simms), concussions (Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner) and possible broken bones (Seattle running back Shaun Alexander).

In each instance the players refused to leave the field.

"The athlete thinks he is invulnerable, that nothing bad can happen," Rice said. "They almost need to believe that, in order to face the risks that they do."

For Tampa Bay Bucs veteran Dave Moore, a raging rib cage pain in NFL week one wasn't enough to keep him out. The long snapper couldn't breathe, and he spit up blood as he sat in the locker room.

He planned to return to the field as soon as Diaco gave him the go-ahead.

An assistant coach asked Moore if he was OK, and Moore said yes. But he wasn't -- Moore had a broken rib and punctured lung. What he thought
was a bruise was a more serious injury that has kept Moore out since the season opener.

"If I didn't actually spit up blood to realize something inside was going on, I would have gone right back in the game," he said.

But what happens when the injury goes undiagnosed?

In Simms' case, trainers and physicians said a ruptured spleen can be difficult to detect, as the symptoms -- dizziness, abdominal pain and blurry vision -- are similar to cases of dehydration or simple x exhaustion.

The Bucs' trainers and physicians would not comment, but coach Jon Gruden is confident that they made the right decision on Simms, based on the information they had at the time.

But recognizing the difference between pain and injury extends beyond the NFL, Gruden said, to weekend warriors who try to understand the difference between a sore knee and a torn ligament.

"It's every phase of sport," Gruden said. "It's amateur sports, it's professional sports, it's being a human being. Sometimes a man or a woman has to push themselves through it. A normal human being knows what their limitations are."

But a player's needs are sometimes weighed against the team goals, and critics say doctors are caught between competing interests.

Several years ago, many players raised serious questions about the care they were getting. According to an NFL Players Association survey,
players were asked if their physicians were "good" or better. On four teams, 60 percent of the players found their medical staff lacking.

The Cincinnati Bengals' doctors were held in the lowest regard, as only one in five of the players called them "good" or better.

That's where the union stepped in to fight for changes to the
collective bargaining agreement that would offset potential medical conflicts. Players can now pick their own surgeons and receive second opinions from doctors of their choice.

It's all on the team's dime, according to NFLPA official Carl Francis,
and was put in a formal agreement to shield players from making a decision based on a doctor who is paid by the team.

"We made it a priority for the player to be able to protect his rights," Francis said.

But with so much pressure to find "miracle cures," team physicians also are faced with an additional threat: malpractice lawsuits. Just like their civilian counterparts, team doctors are seeing a huge rise in
malpractice insurance and recent litigation by former NFL players that equate to multimillion-dollar settlements.

For example, the family of Korey Stringer, a Minnesota Vikings lineman who died of heatstroke during training camp in 2001, is suing the
team's doctors for $100 million -- enough to cripple a team doctor's long-standing private practice.

"The lawyers are always telling us to get out," said Huizenga, the former Raiders' physician. "They say, 'You've got to be an idiot to do this. It's just not worth it.'"

Now an associate professor of medicine at UCLA, Huizenga spent seven years on the sidelines with the Raiders and became disillusioned by
what he calls a tug-of-war between clubs and doctors. Huizenga's book, "You're Okay, It's Just a Bruise," was an inside account of the way pro football sometimes ignores injuries and turned a blind eye to the 1980s steroid spike.

He believes the ethics that guide civilian doctors get lost in the four-month shuffle of the NFL regular season, where big games come with a big price. The title of his book, he said, was taken from a line used
by a Raiders doctor to diagnose just about every player who came into the trainer's room.

"Your star quarterback has a concussion before the game, but maybe the
team doesn't tell him," Huizenga said. "Or maybe a player has a severely injured knee before the Super Bowl. Give him an injection of cortisone and send him in the game.

"These are serious ethical issues facing team doctors, but it's a system that we've railed against for years and nothing seems to have changed."

______

Korey Stringer An offensive line- man for the Minnes- ota Vikings, Stringer died of heatstroke in the 2001 training camp. His wife, Kelci, is suing the
team for $100 million.

O.J. McDuffie

The former Miami Dolphins receiver is suing team doctors because of a 1999 toe injury that ended his career. The case remains in circuit court.

Dick Butkus

The Chicago Bears legend won a $600,000 settlement in the 1970s from
the team doctor over repeated cortisone shots to his knees. ______

Herald-Tribune writer Tom Balog contributed to this report.

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~

Tom Lowman's ReportGuest Commentator: Ray Schoenke

2006-09-29T20:55:00.000-04:00

Dear Retired NFL Players,

This is to inform you that Tom Lowman, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) has posted on his company website (http://www.boltonpartners.com/NFL%20Retirees%20Q%20and%20As%20092606.pdf) his report on the July 25th Goucher College meeting. Tom was retained by the DC and Baltimore Chapters, at a cost of $1000. He was to provide an actuarial overview and insight for the Retired Players on the NFL Pension Plan, as well as presentations made by other participants at the July 25th meeting. Tom participated along with Bob Williams of AON, a pension consultant, representing the NFL, and Doug Allen and his staff for the NFLPA. We owe a debt of gratitude to Tom for this report. He wanted to do an extensive review for us following the meeting. However, we could not come up with additional monies for his fee. Tom agreed to do a condensed version of the report without charging a fee, but it had to be worked in with his commitments to paying clients. Consequently, that is the reason for the delay in our receiving his report.

I did not feel it was appropriate to give my overview or respond to the commentaries made about this meeting until Tom’s report was complete. I had hoped by now, that Doug Allen and Bob Williams would have also filed theirs as they had agreed. My objective in actively participating and helping to coordinate the events of the evening was to provide a stage whereby we as retired players would be given factual information about our Pension Plan. With that information, we could then determine what was or was not achievable. I believe that goal was met. Tom’s report will help us as we try to determine the best course moving forward. I think we all agree our Pension should be dramatically increased. While I think we all appreciate the increases we recently received, I believe that all retired players benefits should be increased to the active players level which is currently $467.50 per month per credited season @ age 55. Based on Tom’s evaluation the cost to move everyone to that level is an additional $760 million or $134 million over 7 years or $80 million over 15 years. This practice by the NFLPA of parceling out pension increases and spreading them out only pits one generation against another and in our case we will never get caught up.

Whatever our goal is, we need to determine the best course of action in order to be ready for the next CBA. Will we work under the current structure provided to us by the NFLPA or will we create a new one? There is clearly a trust issue with the NFLPA that has to be overcome. We should give them the time and commitment to see if they can sufficiently address this issue. If not we should consider creating a new one. Our major problem is the NFLPA has both the money and the power. Would they agree to transfer money and influence to a third party, independent of them and would more often than not have an adversarial relationship? Probably not, but it is something to consider. While our group is blessed with successful, smart individuals we will need qualified professional help. They cost money, lots of money which we do not have. How to overcome this issue is something we all need to think about.

As we go forward, I would encourage everyone to be respectful of one another. While I am sure we will disagree with one another over ideas and strategies, please try to support your comments when ever possible with factual information. We should all recognize that some of the late additional Pension increases and new benefits under the latest CBA were achieved because of the enormous pressure brought on by us the Retired Players.

Respectfully,

Ray Schoenke

Dallas Cowboys 1963-65

Washington Redskins 1966-75

Fw: [Retired NFL Players] When the Cheering Stops

2006-09-16T20:40:00.000-04:00

From: "Baltimore Colts Alumni" <baltimorecoltsalumni@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 13:37:34
To:"Retired NFL Players" <Retired-NFL-Players@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Retired NFL Players] When the Cheering Stops

When the Cheering Stops
Fearing that players weren't prepared emotionally or financially for
life after football, the NFL looked to business schools for help

By FARA WARNER
Wall Street Journal
September 16, 2006

When star quarterback Drew Brees first folded his lanky 6-foot frame
into a cramped chair in one of the Wharton School's austere auditoriums
in the spring of 2005, he had reason to wonder why he was sitting at a
desk instead of chilling out during the off-season.

Twenty-six years old at the time, Mr. Brees figured he had at least a
decade or more of play left in him. He was already one of the top-paid
players in the National Football League, and that was before he signed
a six-year $60 million deal with the New Orleans Saints earlier this
year.

He'd also made certain he got his college degree -- in industrial
management at Purdue University -- if he needed something to fall back
on. But it didn't take long before the steady stream of talk about
competition, market analysis and exit strategies from Wharton
professors got him asking tough questions. "If football ended right
now, what would I do?" he remembers thinking.

It was exactly the kind of question the NFL and its players union hoped
players would ask themselves when they enrolled in the league's
business-management program.

Started in April 2005 at Wharton and Harvard Business School, the
program now includes Northwestern and Stanford, with close to 200
football players having graduated from the program so far.

So Many Sad Stories

Despite growing salaries for players over the decades and basic
financial education offered through the players association, the NFL
had noticed a troubling trend of players being unprepared --
financially and emotionally -- for a life after football.

On the money front, there were enough sad stories of players ending up
broke after retirement that the league knew it needed to take action.
"Not everyone in the NFL is going to make $10 million," says
Christopher L. Henry, the NFL's director of player development. Mr.
Henry says the average player makes $1.4 million a year, with a
significant number making far below $1 million. The starting salary for
players is $275,000 a year. While that may sound like a lot to the
average viewer of Monday Night Football, that salary may be short-lived
if a player gets injured or doesn't have his contract picked up.

Even trickier was the emotional side, where players had to grapple with
finding a career that could come close to replacing one that includes
fame and adoring fans.

"It's not about the financial state I'll be in that worries me," said
Matt Joyce, a veteran of 11 NFL seasons as an offensive lineman, during
a break at the Wharton program. "It's the mental state I need to think
about. I need something that will challenge me."

No Coddling

In an effort to address both the financial and emotional challenges,
the league decided to partner with respected business schools, Mr.
Henry says. It wanted programs designed to push, not coddle, players in
ways they rarely get pushed off the field.

Players must apply for the 120 positions available across the four
universities. They need letters of recommendation and must write an
essay. They also pay between $4,500 and $10,000 for the program,
reimbursed by their teams. In the first year, there was a waiting list
at Wharton.

Each school offers classes on investment strategies and watching out
for stock and real-estate scams. But from that base they differ widely.
Wharton focuses on entrepreneurship and real-estate investments during
its six-day course, which is split into two three-day seminars. It
offers business coaches for at least a year to the players to help them
move forward with business plans they may have created during the
program. Harvard, which also offers two three-day seminar programs,
focuses on management. Northwestern offers a specialization in
marketing, and Stanford focuses on sports business and
entrepreneurship. Those last two programs are only 3½ days.

Wharton's professors say they have been most surprised by the intensity
the players bring to the classroom. In fact, some players -- such as
the Buffalo Bills' Troy Vincent -- have gone to three of the programs
already.

"They're the best students you could imagine," says Mori Taheripour, a
Wharton lecturer in legal studies and associate director of the Wharton
Sports Business Initiative, which helped create the curriculum with the
business school. "They would be as excited at 7 p.m. to learn as they
were at 9 a.m."

Ms. Taheripour, who served as Mr. Brees's business coach over the past
year, teaches a negotiation class where typically one player pretends
to be a team owner and the other is a player. They are taught how to
give up certain demands, but stay firm on others. It's often an intense
class and one that many of the players continue to talk about during
breaks.

"It's humbling for them because they usually have agents who negotiate
their contracts for them," says Ms. Taheripour. "But they won't have
that when they are out in business. So the learning curve can be really
huge when they have to do it on their own for the first time."

Talking Fears and Hopes

Outside the formal lectures and classes, Wharton builds in time for
one-on-one meetings with their business coaches and small groups so
that the players feel comfortable talking about their fears and hopes
about life after football.

"It's not as easy as having them read 'What Color is My Parachute?'"
says Kenneth Shropshire, director of the Wharton Sports Business
Initiative. "Most of these guys aren't going to get a job. What they
need is something that will be as fulfilling as the cheering they got
on the field."

It likely will take more than a few days in the classroom for most
players to find anything close to that, but for Messrs. Joyce and Brees
a few days at Wharton at least sparked some ideas for what will happen
when they do leave the gridiron.

Mr. Joyce says he'd like to think of a way to turn what's been a
not-so-great situation -- numerous surgeries -- into a business. "You
name a body part and it's probably been worked on," he says as he
touches both shoulders and points to a scar on his hand, where pins
hold a bone together. "So maybe I'll get into medical devices."

A year later, Mr. Brees says he finds himself dreaming up business
ventures during airplane rides. He toys with writing business plans and
researching the competition.

He hasn't found one that he wants to stick with yet, he says. But
Wharton gave him at least one concrete idea for what he wants after
football. "I know exactly what my first steps will be when football
ends," he says. "I want to get an M.B.A...at Wharton."

--Ms. Warner is a writer in Ann Arbor, Mich. She can be reached at
reports@wsj.com5.

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They manage pain and then get the message

2006-09-14T13:04:00.000-04:00

by Brian Ettkin, Albany News

First published: Thursday, September 7, 2006

They manage the pain, then get the message

Bob Whitfield aches.

His joints creak like a rusty barn hinge and rasp truths he'd rather not hear.
"They tell me stuff, 'You can't do that little maneuver you used to do, try this one,' " said Whitfield, the Giants' 34-year-old offensive tackle.

Whitfield was once a Pro Bowl player in Atlanta. But he aged, broke a fibula, had bone spurs surgically removed from his ankles. You don't start 169 NFL games (playing in 204 altogether), ramming your 310-pound body at full speed into another 70 times or so per game, each impact as forceful as a minor car accident, without the hits and collisions damaging your body and psyche.

The theme of this NFL special section is not a favorite topic of veteran players. Who likes to be reminded they're aging in a young man's game?
Although the compensation and rewards for playing this game are beyond anything Joe Six-Pack could imagine, there's a reason the job of NFL player is ranked among the worst by the reference book "Jobs Rated Almanac."

The job's occupational hazards cripple bodies and minds.

The average NFL player's career lasts fewer than four years. Some play longer, much longer, but it becomes harder in a player's 30s, when leg fatigue becomes more acute, said Hall of Fame defensive end Jack Youngblood; consequently, quickness, concentration and reaction time suffer.
Older players heal slower, too.

"No longer is Tuesday (following a game) when you're ready to go," said Youngblood, who played in seven straight Pro Bowls for the Rams. "It becomes Wednesday, it becomes Thursday when you feel you're back up to speed."

"You notice over the years this (body) does not ever feel right," Whitfield said. "But then you understand that I guess that it's never going to feel right, so how do I play with it?"
With a cocktail of drugs, a resolute will and the ability to perform mental gymnastics.

"I'm one of the oldest guys on the team," said Whitfield, who started a franchise-record 123 consecutive games for the Falcons. "How many practices do I miss? I don't miss any. My (body) hurts all the time, but I don't miss practice. ... Even when it hurt, it don't hurt, so you're going to have to break it to hurt it. You just don't feel the pain, and do whatever it takes not to be hampered by it.
"A lot of it is psychological. You know when you can't go. Until I can't walk, I can go. Because I'd rather be in the game and get broke up then be sitting on the sideline thinking, Well, maybe I can go a little bit. (Forget) that."

Youngblood famously played in 3 1/2 games with a broken leg. After he suffered a stress fracture of his fibula in the 1979 divisional playoffs against Dallas, trainers shot Youngblood up, taped him up, and he returned to play, sacking Roger Staubach. Youngblood played every down the following weeks in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XIV (with a two-week break afterward, he even played in the Pro Bowl).

Youngblood, who played in a franchise-record 201 straight games for the Rams and missed just one game in his 14-year career, retired when he was 34, though he had 9.5 sacks in his final year.

"I left the game with something left in the tank, but I didn't feel as thoughI could play at the same level for an entire season," Youngblood said. "I could have gotten double-digit sacks.
The goal was always 16. It would be a detriment to what I had already established." Youngblood chose to retire.

The thing about aging in the NFL: The choice is usually made for you because players' bodies shout out messages their minds ignore.
"I don't care how good you are -- you could be a Hall of Famer -- you play the game long enough, you're going to get replaced," said Joe Cribbs, the former Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl running back. "That's just the nature of the way football is organized. "A professional athlete never sees it coming."

They feel it, though
David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Bottom Line Today's Players are in it for the money

2006-09-08T19:06:00.000-04:00

In his induction speech, John Madden swore the busts inside the Pro
Football Hall of Fame chatted with each other in the middle of the
night.

The old legends from a nickel-and-dime era must talk about money. They
won't argue that they were better players. They already know that. They
just happened to play in a time when the NFL was a second-string sport
to the college game and sports television was just a crazy idea.

In retrospect, the staggering rise in player salaries has been the most
significant change in the 87-year history of the pro game. The players
are bigger and faster. And the 1977 rules changes made the NFL the land
of milk and honey for quarterbacks and receivers. Yet, the busts of
those legends will tell you the biggest change in the game involves
salaries.

Credit former players executive director Ed Garvey and attorney Dick
Berthelsen for the money tree. They finally won enough court fights to
gain the right to obtain copies of each player contract.

"It was essential," Garvey said, "because not knowing what other
players were getting, you had no bargaining leverage whatsoever. The
word was out that Vince Lombardi had two sets of contracts." Garvey
even recalled hearing that Forrest Gregg, an all-pro Packers tackle,
had played for $19,000.

The players union distributed its first salary survey after the 1982
season. The numbers were shockers. St. Louis Cardinals quarterback Neil
Lomax ($130,000) earned only $30,000 more than Joe Bostic, one of his
guards. Many earned less than $40,000.

Everson Walls, a cornerback signed by Dallas in 1981 as a free agent,
intercepted 18 passes in his first two years. His salaries were $32,000
and $37,000. After two Pro Bowls, the Cowboys offered him a modest
raise that Walls rejected.

"Ronnie Lott and Lawrence Taylor used to kid me about my salary at the
Pro Bowl," Walls said. "One night, Ron Springs and I had a couple of
beers and came up with a plan. I didn't want to get fined, so I retired
for five days."

The fuming Cowboys brought Walls back with a $125,000 signing bonus and
a $120,000 base. When the nervy United States Football League launched
a salary war, the Cowboys signed Walls to an annuity deal that
guaranteed him $100,000 for 10 years.

Meanwhile, the NFL owners agreed to a historic free-agency/salary-cap
system in which the players were guaranteed a percentage of gross
revenue and were free to move after four years. Garvey had proposed the
system for years.

"It was one of the greatest innovations for salaries in terms of labor
peace," Garvey said. To keep their players, teams began offering
signing bonuses right up there with CEO deals.

Today teams employ money crunchers known as capologists. And if they
never touched a football, who cares - as long as they keep the team
under the $102 million salary cap. Players last year earned 65.5% of
DGR (defined gross revenue such as ticket sales; TV revenue, etc.). In
1973, teams paid players only 39.2% of gross income, an average of
$2.452 million a team.

Agent Leigh Steinberg said there were two factors that held salaries
down before the boom. "The revenue base was exponentially smaller," he
said. "And there was no free agency."

Then the base exploded, with each new TV deal virtually doubling
revenue. There were renegotiations and huge bonuses and tricky
free-agent deals in which the capologists were magicians with the
numbers. "Pro football became an established primacy, the No. 1
attraction in the United States," Steinberg said.

As the late George Young once said, "It was a great time to be a
player." Yet, agent Peter Schaffer notes the owners prospered, too,
with franchise values soaring past the billion-dollar mark. "Everyone
associated with this fantastic sport recouped the benefits," he said.

So the game is draped in thick layers of money. It is the perfect sport
for TV in terms of action, event spacing and time frame. Remarkably,
there isn't a tiny clue that revenue will eventually level off.

The busts in Canton will tell you they played for the love of the game.
Now they play for the love of the big money.

Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/columnist/forbes/2006-09-07-forbes-column_x.htm

David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

Ruettgers provides transition support for Athletes

2006-09-07T13:01:00.000-04:00

>By DAVE BOLING
>August 29, 2006
>
>The frequency of failure startled Ken Ruettgers.
>
>Some former colleagues struggled desperately with finances or their
>marriages, some dealt with addictions and depression. One troubled
>friend escaped from a psychiatric hospital and was gunned down in a
>police standoff.
>
>Like Ruettgers, they were NFL alumni.
>
>Ruettgers saw that this is what can happen when players spend most of
>their lives preparing for games on Sundays, and almost none of it for
>what happens when the games are over.
>
>Finding very little in the way of structured assistance for athletes,
>Ruettgers started GamesOver.org, a nonprofit organization based in
>Sisters, Ore. It offers counseling and support to post-competition
>athletes.
>
>NFL roster cuts often bring a rude introduction to a vastly different
>world. Ruettgers will be busy.
>
>The statistics he offers are stunning.
>
>"Seventy-eight percent of NFL players are bankrupt, divorced or
>unemployed in two years (after retirement)," Ruettgers said.
>
>He said he recently conducted a small conference with former athletes
>of various professional sports in which the players reported problems
>with "infidelity, addiction, gambling, bankruptcy, drinking,
>unemployment and domestic abuse," he said. "And that was in a
>conference with just 12 guys."
>
>Getting players to even address the issues is a major challenge,
>Ruettgers said, because it runs counter to the programming they've
>faced for decades.
>
>"They've been trained their whole lives to never show a weakness," he
>said. "They've been trained not to get help when they need it."
>
>Ruettgers was a first-round draft pick out of Southern California, and
>played 12 years on the offensive line for the Green Bay Packers. He had
>a bachelor's degree and an MBA, and a position waiting at a publishing
>firm when he retired.
>
>Yet the transition was still difficult for him.
>
>"It's such a big change, and if you don't start making changes yourself
>when your career ends, you're going to fail your marriage, your
>finances, that sort of thing," he said.
>
>Of the players who get divorced after their careers, 50 percent do so
>in the first year, Ruettgers said.
>
>"Such a dramatic change also changes your relationship; it's an
>identity change even for the wife," he said. "It can be as hard for
>them as it is for the player. It's an identity issue, and a lot of it
>is a matter of expectations not being met.
>
>"In some cases, football has been an excuse for guys not growing up and
>the wife says, 'OK, football is over, now you're going to grow up.' But
>he doesn't, and the wife says, 'I'm not going to put up with this
>little-boy stuff anymore.'"
>
>With larger contracts accompanying the advent of free agency,
>bankruptcy is not as prevalent as it once was, but players still are
>vulnerable to the misperception that all are set up for life.
>
>"The perception is that everybody is a Brett Favre or a Trent Dilfer or
>a Matt Hasselbeck," Ruettgers said. "They think they're going to play
>12 to 15 years and have millions in the bank. The reality is that only
>50 percent of NFL players play more than three years. Those guys are
>averaging about $450,000 a year. That is a lot of money, but with Uncle
>Sam and an agent, you're losing half of it right off the top."
>
>The physical toll of a career in the NFL is obvious, as anyone can
>witness at an alumni event or gathering of "old-timers." Ruettgers sees
>the damage extending well beyond the collection of bad knees and
>mangled fingers.
>
>"You go to a retired players event or NFL alumni golf tournaments, and
>a lot of the guys in their 50s and 60s are still angry about the way
>they left the game," he said. "Some of them are bitter, angry old men.
>They are still upset over things that they think didn't go their way.
>That's a problem with not taking responsibility for yourself and your
>future."
>
>And with it sometimes comes depression.
>
>"Sports psychologists have said it's a type of social death when a
>player leaves professional athletics; there's a lot of denial, and then
>anger and depression," he said.
>Ruettgers doesn't expect fans to feel sorry for players who had
>big-money and high-profile careers. Likewise, he has to work to not
>allow former athletes to feel as if they're victims. As he points out,
>this is not the case of single mothers holding down multiple jobs to
>feed their children.
>
>"They may want to feel like they're victims of having been cut, or of
>not getting a fair shot," he said. "We try to help them see what it
>means to be a man of responsibility. Most of these guys grow up in the
>sports culture from as early as elementary school, where they aren't
>forced to be responsible.
>
>"There's always somebody there to pick up their towel, to pick up their
>jock, and to tell them to sign on the dotted line."
>
>After 20 or 30 years of such pampered treatment, to be suddenly cut
>loose can be wickedly disorienting.
>
>"People will say, 'Quit your crying, you were a pro athlete and you
>have the whole world going for you,'" Ruettgers said. "But it sure
>doesn't feel like that. It comes back to self-worth and value and
>identity. We're trying to get them to understand this and to navigate
>the transition so they can move on in life and do even greater things
>than they did as athletes."
>
David E. Garnett
President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.926-9134 - mobile

NFLPA to boost retiree benefits

2006-07-27T14:59:00.000-04:00

Posted 7/26/2006 9:52 PM ET
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY

Retired NFL players often say the game they helped popularize ignores
them when they are old and ill. How to compensate them has long been a
contentious issue between them and the NFL Players Association, which
bargains on behalf of its active members.

Thursday, the NFL and the NFLPA plan to announce a beefing-up of
benefits for retirees and active players alike that they value at $120
million a year.

Retirees who played prior to 1982 would see a 25% hike in their
pensions; those who followed get a 10% bump. The minimum increase for
the older retirees would be $50 per month, which is multiplied by years
of service.

"This is a recognition of what those players did to build the game.
We're saying we haven't forgotten them," said Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA's
executive director.

The new plan will also triple benefits for widows and surviving
children of a player who dies before his retirement plan kicks in.
There will also be eligibility for payment of certain medical and
custodial expenses for retired players in the pension plan who suffer
from dementia. They could receive up to $50,000 for home care and
$88,000 for institutional care. This has been nicknamed the "88 plan"
in honor of Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, a former union
president.

Upshaw said it is difficult to balance the needs and desires of current
players with those of their predecessors and noted that many industries
now are trying to take back pension and health care benefits they
promised to retirees.

"In every labor extension we have done since 1993, we have gone back
and improved the pension and benefits for the retired players," he
said.

These increases will not satisfy everyone, he acknowledged.

"It's inadequate," said Bernie Parrish, 70, a defensive back with the
Cleveland Browns from 1959-66 and a long-time critic of the union and
the pension plan. "It's not even close to what it should be."

NFL player benefits are now worth $700 million a year and Upshaw said
these new programs came from funds that could otherwise have gone into
the salary cap or to benefits for current players alone.

"I think it's the right thing to do," said Don Hasselbeck, 51, a former
tight end with the New England Patriots and other teams who has two
sons (quarterbacks Matt and Tim) in the NFL. "We should be responsible
for the guys who came before us. Gene has to educate the players that
sooner or later they will be one of us (retired). There are lots of
guys he knows who could use a little more retirement and health
benefits. This is a step in the right direction but it's not enough."

Current players will get a few add-ons. They'll be eligible for up to
$15,000 per year for tuitition reimbursement for the first three years
they are out of the game, following the 2006 season. They will also get
a health reimbursement account to fund post-career medical benefits. A
12-year veteran would leave the game with $300,000 in such an account.

About the Collaboration Portal

2006-06-19T08:17:00.000-04:00

This is the protype of the Retired Players' collaboration Portal. The look and feel will change and the database and other capabilities will be part of the phase I July rollout. During the prototype phase we will focus on getting feedback from the all of the chapter Presidents. Please feel free to add your comments below as we develop the site.

The purpose of this site is to provide a Global collaboration portal for the Retired Professional Athletes as they transition to life after the league. Each chapter will have a core group of individuals that will work with iAM Solutions, LLC in an effort to give retired athletes a voice and increase opportunities for the entire retired player community. These individuals will be part of the advisory committee for their state and will take the lead in implementing this Global Collaboration initiative. The International targets for the phase II will be identified in the August timeframe.

We regret to inform you that Len Teeuws has passed away. Keep his family in prayer as they finalize the funeral arrangements.

Our focus is on:

* Retirement Information
* Publishing Job Opportunites
* Sharing Best Practices between chapters
* Providing info on New Federal State and local government Program Awareness
* How to's for Business Start ups
* International Affairs impacting players
* Grant and Contract Opportunities
* Mentoring - linking to role models
* Establishing a secure database of what players are doing
* Linking players to players ... so players can help players!
* Spouse's corner - monthly message from one of our better halves!

We need your feedback. We want to provide you with the best information available to assist your ongoig transition to life after the league.

Sincerely,

David E. Garnett, President
iAM Solutions, LLC
dgarnett@nextel.blackberry.net

P.S. Note: iAM Solutions,LLC provides this site for information purposes

Only and does not provide financial guidance or support.