ChickenMan
February 2nd, 2007, 08:50 AM
In a league were the owners are literally sitting on a pot of gold and the current players average over $600,000 per year... the treatment of the 'players who made the game'... the pre 1977 guys is a true disgrace. You would think that since the owners are swimming in cash and most of the current players are in a position to be very financially secure when they retire... that they might be willing to share some of that bonanza with the ex-players who really need it. But I guess not...
It was the NFL's greatest generation, a battered and bloodied assortment of football pioneers from blue-collar cities, Midwest farmhouses, bayou swamplands and every other corner of America.
The mantra these players forged: Play hard. Make no excuses. Tape it up and get back out there.Their football souls were like coarse-grit sandpaper. They were proud and tough. And they always played hurt.
Today, many former NFL players fighting for better pension benefits and representation on the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement and Disability Plan board are swallowing their pride. They are because they hurt in an assortment of ways.They feel cheated and victimized by an NFL pension plan that pales in comparison to similar plans in the NBA and Major League Baseball for players of their generation.
Former Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini, 57, who had a sterling 13-year NFL career, earns just $1,202.32 a month in pension benefits.Having been afforded no health insurance by the NFL in retirement, Pastorini must meet an annual $5,000 deductible because of pre-existing conditions that include back, neck and knee problems.
NFL Hall of Fame safety Paul Krause, who played 16 NFL seasons (1964-1979) for the Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, gets $300 a month in pension. Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly, a 10-year star running back for the Cleveland Browns (1964-1973) gets $800 a month.
Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, who played 185 consecutive games during his 13 NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, receives $800 a month. None has received NFL health insurance benefits.
But when the NFLPA upped pension benefits for pre-1977 players after a recent CBA agreement, Upshaw hailed the increase as unprecedented. Players were unimpressed with those benefits, many going from $100 a month to $200 a month for vested players.
"Yeah, he's got some window dressing he can put out there, but when you look at it, it's pathetic," said former Colts and Chargers (1972-1983) defensive back Bruce Laird. "Everybody is happy for what the union has done for the active players. They've done some wonderful things. If I played in 1995 and saw Gene Upshaw, I'd kiss his (backside).
In the past, Upshaw, who earns $3 million a year as NFLPA chief and recently received a five-year extension to his contract, has said he does care about former players. But he also has called those calling for better benefits, "misinformed" and "ungrateful."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4243617.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/16604071.htm
It was the NFL's greatest generation, a battered and bloodied assortment of football pioneers from blue-collar cities, Midwest farmhouses, bayou swamplands and every other corner of America.
The mantra these players forged: Play hard. Make no excuses. Tape it up and get back out there.Their football souls were like coarse-grit sandpaper. They were proud and tough. And they always played hurt.
Today, many former NFL players fighting for better pension benefits and representation on the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement and Disability Plan board are swallowing their pride. They are because they hurt in an assortment of ways.They feel cheated and victimized by an NFL pension plan that pales in comparison to similar plans in the NBA and Major League Baseball for players of their generation.
Former Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini, 57, who had a sterling 13-year NFL career, earns just $1,202.32 a month in pension benefits.Having been afforded no health insurance by the NFL in retirement, Pastorini must meet an annual $5,000 deductible because of pre-existing conditions that include back, neck and knee problems.
NFL Hall of Fame safety Paul Krause, who played 16 NFL seasons (1964-1979) for the Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, gets $300 a month in pension. Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly, a 10-year star running back for the Cleveland Browns (1964-1973) gets $800 a month.
Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, who played 185 consecutive games during his 13 NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, receives $800 a month. None has received NFL health insurance benefits.
But when the NFLPA upped pension benefits for pre-1977 players after a recent CBA agreement, Upshaw hailed the increase as unprecedented. Players were unimpressed with those benefits, many going from $100 a month to $200 a month for vested players.
"Yeah, he's got some window dressing he can put out there, but when you look at it, it's pathetic," said former Colts and Chargers (1972-1983) defensive back Bruce Laird. "Everybody is happy for what the union has done for the active players. They've done some wonderful things. If I played in 1995 and saw Gene Upshaw, I'd kiss his (backside).
In the past, Upshaw, who earns $3 million a year as NFLPA chief and recently received a five-year extension to his contract, has said he does care about former players. But he also has called those calling for better benefits, "misinformed" and "ungrateful."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4243617.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/16604071.htm