Old School Players Take NFLPA to School: A BASN/FRO Exclusive
By Michael – Louis Ingram- Scouting Director Football Reporters Online/ Host-Black Athlete Sports Network
Editor’s Note: The following is a continuation of a series of articles first broken by the Black Athlete Sports Network last September; regarding the plight of many of the football players who laid the foundation for the National Football League’s rise in becoming the number one spectator sport in America.
Throughout the duration of this series, BASN staffers will offer their opinion and contribute pieces to a very convoluted puzzle.
This past Monday, over 2,000 retired professional football players scored a major legal victory in a San Francisco courtroom when they were rewarded $28.1 million in a verdict against the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and its licensing and marketing division, Players, Inc.
The Hon. William Allsup, presiding over U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that NFLPA and Players Inc. must compensate thousands of retired players. Citing a “breaching of their fiduciary duty” on the part of the defendants, jurors, in addition to finding the two entities culpable, ruled for $21 million to be handed over in punitive damages.
The jury of eight women and two men concluded NFLPA and Players, Inc. failed to market retired players' licensing rights under a group licensing authorization contract covering the licensing of electronic games, collectables and other merchandise.
Listed as point men on the original suit was Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Herb Adderley and former Cleveland Browns’ defensive back Bernard Parrish, with the original claim filed approximately two years ago.
Adderley, whose career was laced with accolades and championships, received everything he could from football – except proper compensation after his retirement in the early 1970s, barely surviving on $125.86 as his pension from his 12 years in the NFL prior to the filing.
Mr. Adderley and the victorious former NFL players were represented by attorneys from the national law firms of McKool Smith, P.C., and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. The McKool Smith team included firm principal Lew LeClair, senior counsel Jill Naylor and associates Brett Charhon and Anthony Garza.
The Manatt, Phelps group included firm partners Ronald S. Katz, Chad S. Hummel and L. Peter Parcher, in addition to associates Ryan S. Hilbert and Noel S. Cohen.
"This verdict is a great victory for the men who devoted their lives to building professional football," says Mr. LeClair of McKool Smith, attorney for the retired players. "We are thankful the jury decided to right this wrong."
Throughout the three week trial, several former NFL stars testified about the benefits promised by the union that were never received, and the difficulties in gaining information about the NFLPA's finances and licensing agreements.
First & Goal
While the verdict provides some long overdue git – back, there is a downside to this.
The numbers, on their face sound justifiable, but I beg to differ.
Just as insurance companies are wont to do, these numbers, even with the addition of punitive damages factored in, calculate surprisingly low; and this is something I feel the League expected it would take a beating on, as I feel this judgment represents acceptable losses by the League.
If you breakdown $28 million over 2,000 players, it comes out to $14,000 apiece. When you consider the timeframe of two generations; and the fact the League was drowning in liquidity from television packages, international revenue through expansion of the game to Europe, Japan, Mexico and Canada, the concept of the Super Bowl, facilitation for Electronic Arts (EA Sports) to put a stranglehold on the electronic video game business and the creation of the League’s own cable television network, it would be hard for me to fathom NFLPA and Players, Inc. appealing any decision.
But Liffort Hobley thinks these jokers got off easy. Hobley, a defensive back who played seven seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, says the amount is even less. “The NFL should be ashamed of itself,” said Hobley, “in allowing this to fester into going to court.
“The money that the players finally get won’t be more than ten grand a head; and while it may offer some immediate relief, it doesn’t speak to some of the long – term concerns many of these veterans have.”
Hobley, now an account executive with Thomson Reuters in Dallas, Texas, says this first check should be an appetizer for a main course in the very near future. “It’s not like these guys (owners and union) were ever in danger of missing a payroll – and no one in NFLPA had the decency to do the right thing by the former players.
“You knew this wasn’t going to be a situation like the USFL debacle, where you kicked out three bucks in damages; but it may as well have been for what little you’re paying out now.”
LeClair confirms Hobley’s numbers. “At the beginning of the lawsuit, 2,074 players were listed on the class action. Twelve opted out, so by the time of the decision, 2,062 players are eligible for the payout.
“But it looks like the NFLPA legal counsel will appeal the decision, and given it takes upwards of two years before anyone sees a check, the per – person breakdown comes out to somewhere between eight and ten thousand per man.”
While that cash will be a welcome sight to those who need it and earned it right now, I’m thinking about the dozens of players the NFL callously let die because they waited for something they knew they were entitled to, but were told otherwise.
I can see a direct correlation between former NFL players dying prematurely to people who were killed after the big gasoline shortage in the 1970s. Motorists were killed for wanting gasoline; jumping ahead of lines, hoarding, etc. – but the oil companies were never taken to court in class action or personal litigation to my recollection because of the preposterous notion these companies aided and abetted someone losing their life – for wanting to fill their gas tank would remain beyond adjudication.
Or how about the hundreds of players whose lives spiraled into depression, pain, blues and agony because of conditions developed from playing a collision sport compounded with stress from continuous denial by NFL doctors refusing to acknowledge said affects as cause.
To conclude that men in their 40s, 50s, 60s and up were in damaged condition due to “natural wear and tear” is tantamount to spitting in their face; but the propaganda machine will remind you of what “noble gridiron gladiators these stout men were” – complete with martial music in the scale of C and John Facenda’s bellowing baritone.
Sure, these cats knew the job was dangerous when they took it – but so did you, you greedy bastards. Why couldn’t you just share and be fair with the understanding that it would be good business in taking care of those who helped you become stinking rich? It wasn’t like you were scrambling to make a payroll…
Show Me The Money!
Which now brings us from the Old Heads to the Young Bloods – the self – indulgent, the clueless (not all, but some); the ones who dance and gesticulate but miss the big picture even after seeing a Kevin Everett or an Anquan Boldin’s life change in one play.
What I’d be asking myself right now if I were a current player or recently retired one collecting what would seem to be a nice check is this: “If they went to such a great extent to screw these cats out of their money, what makes me think they’re not screwing me out of my money?
If you stretch out $14,000 over 20 years, that’s an average of $700 yearly; over 40 years, $350. I’m no accountant, but you would have to include a cost of living adjustment over a similar time frame, then, allowing for inflation, compute how much that would have accumulated if even a third of whatever cash was allowed to sit and accrue interest for a reasonable assessment of what each player really deserves.
It has been said often, and bears repeating: football players have the lousiest contract situation in all the major sports. Your bonus – if you get one – is your foundation. If you get hurt, all those numbers on your contract are as valuable as a roll of Charmin; and your usefulness to that organization after the fact makes you as valuable as the used Charmin that just got flushed away.
Suffice to say this cash should represent the first deposit in a workman’s compensation/royalties/reparations condition; to be expedited to those who need it with all deliberate speed.
The NFLPA and Players, Inc. ran their B.S. marathon; now it’s time for the money to talk.
michaelingram@blackathlete.com
mingram@suavvmagazine.com
mike@footballreportersonline.com
(Managing Partner's note: The last thing we want to do at FRO is damage the reputation of the many fine people who are involved in the business of Football. Many of these said persons have no known knowledge of these Issues. However, as we expect to be thought of as credible journalists, we must "dig deeper" to tell the whole story, to make sure that justice gets done for those who are deserving of it and who are
waiting for it!)
Showing posts with label Class Action Suit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Class Action Suit. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Pimp & Circumstance
Pimp & Circumstance
By Michael – Louis Ingram
BASN & Football Reporters Online
A Tale of Two Packers: On August 7, Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets.
Upon release of this information in the Big Apple, Favre’s new #4 New York Jet jerseys were as abundant as bratwursts on game day at Lambeau Field.
According to area sources, 3200 pieces sold in less than a day – at $80 a pop.
A few days earlier, another former Packer, Herb Adderley, received his monthly pension check from the Players’ Union – in the amount of $126.85.
Adderley, a five time Pro Bowl selection, eight time All – Pro selection, three – time Super Bowl winner, member of the National Football League’s All – Decade team of the 1960s, and, in a survey done by The Sporting News ranked at the turn of the century as #45 out of the 100 greatest players to ever play the game, made less in his entire illustrious career (1961 – 1972) than the revenue earned in a few hours over the Internet.
While you digest the probability of this feat meaning progress, think about a man who sees his name in the Ring of Honor at Lambeau Field, but can’t see making it through his future at a level far below the quality of life he should be entitled to.
Bernard Parrish was a contemporary of Adderley’s, playing from 1959 - 1966, winning a world championship with the 1964 Cleveland Browns. “That was a big deal, winning the championship,” said Parrish, over the phone from Washington, D.C. “My winners’ share from that pool was $8,000.”
Parrish, who also garnered two Pro Bowl selections, revealed the game was not the afterthought it seems to be in the modern era. “Winning mattered. If you were on the winning side, you got $1500 a man, the losers got $750.
“In 1960, that had some weight. In 2008, that’s about a year’s worth of pension.”
Parrish, now 72 years old, spearheaded a class action suit (along with Adderley) against the NFL Players’ Association (NFLPA) and their marketing arm, Players, Inc. in 2007; and the gavel is about to drop on adjudication on October 20. The amount being sought for Parrish, Adderley and about 3500 other former pro players is $100 million dollars.
“The NFL makes $7.1 billion dollars a year – almost three million more than Major League Baseball – yet baseball seems to have found a way to take care of the older players with a tad more fairness than us,” said Parrish. When asked about the largest salary he made as a player, he said, “I was considered one of the best cornerbacks in the league early on – and I made $26,000 a season.”
It has been said by this writer and other BASN writers that the pittance laid out by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick of $750,000 for their corruption of football in the aftermath of the SpyGate scandal didn’t even manifest to a slap on the wrist as far as a deterrent was concerned.
However, when you take into consideration that there are at least five NFL franchises worth over a billion dollars in a depressed market such as this, one hundred million ultimately adds up to what these players probably should have received over the same time period, if you consider major medical, maintenance, long – term disability, and coverage for widows and children.
Anyone who drives a car or owns / rents a home pays some kind of insurance. You also know insurance companies love to take cash in, but hate paying out.
Management vs. Labor
In many ways, several aspects of this suit amount to what is a workers’ compensation issue.
So that we can give this as impartial and objective a look as possible, we’re going to go Sports MCs on this one; this time, our senior member, Mr. Finley “Doc” Pinkard will flex on behalf on what management’s argument could be while DJ Hunnycomb will attempt to lay the lumber down on behalf of the players.
I will further state that Doc is eminently qualified to speak on this, having over 28 years experience in banking and finance.
Doc: Okay -- now you have to consider this as one layer off of a very large onion. Players from 50 years back were making less money back then, but so was everyone else. Given what a dollar was worth, you can argue some players were doing a lot better than most back in the day.
If we go back to the “Greatest Game” of the Colts vs. Giants, it was the breakthrough game for pro football’s ascendance as a major spectator sport. After that game, we got games on free television on those black and white sets in the early 1960s.
Owners of teams at this time weren’t adding television revenue from football into the equation, so that didn’t factor into player’s contracts either. Whatever salary was made was determined by drawing power and the overall success of the team.
HC: I’ll grant you that, but you just made my argument on one important aspect of this: COLA – the cost of living allowance. Part of the reality leading up to this suit is due to those players not being given benefits that account for inflationary variables. How does $25,000 spend 50 years later? Unless it was saved and accrued interest, it can’t even come close.
Doc: Well, I can say honestly that there was a time when I had bang for my buck as a younger working guy than later in life. I had an apartment just off Central Park West, paying $225 a month in rent. I was earning $12,000 a year and had money in the bank.
At another point as I got older I had more than tripled my salary, but had even less to show for it than when I was younger.
Back when a lot of these cats played, a Cadillac Coupe de Ville cost $4,000; and a Jaguar XKE right out of the showroom was $7,000. You could buy a house for next to nothing; now $250,000 might buy you a raggedy house in New York City…
HC: Which means the inflationary slope has affected these guys, too!
Doc: But you have to also ask them what did they do with their money? How did they spend it or invest it, if at all?
HC: Which bumps us back to the insurance thing; there is nothing crueler than being subjected to hospital tests that you know were connected to your playing days, only to have a team physician or your own doctor tell you they can’t help you because your insurance doesn’t cover the disability.
Doc: Yeah – but you need to remember medical care has jumped light speed over what was done fifty years ago. You couldn’t ‘scope a knee; if you got cut at the knee, you were lucky if you ended up walking with a cane. Cat scans, MRIs, “Tommy John” surgery, hell, any kind of surgery.
No one could attribute what other dangers there were with soft tissue damage; and the connection with concussions weren’t even a major cause for discussion until the 1990s.
What the real cruelty is if say an Earl Campbell played now, his career probably would last but two or three years, given his running style. With the size, strength, added bulk whether chemically or naturally of modern players, Campbell today running the way he did would make him Christian Okoye; and he wouldn’t have put in enough time to qualify for a pension.
HC: Perhaps – but he would have a serious legal leg to stand on in a lot of video evidence attesting to his line of work; there would be no way any club could weasel out of their medical commitment to a guy who attracted collisions like Magneto manipulated metal objects.
You look at Campbell’s battered body and he’s just one clear example. What about all the others whose problems weren’t immediately evident? Do they get penalized because of the lack of medical knowledge?
If someone like a Brent Boyd, Conrad Dobler or Carl Eller had migraines and severe headaches years after their playing careers were done and nothing in their family medical history would indicate otherwise, the only way they could have acquired this condition would be from their previous vocation of playing a collision sport like football.
So now we’ve caught up medically and everyone knows what they might have, but they still can’t get help because they’re getting screwed by management.
Doc: Hey, my brother – that’s how it goes. Unless I have proof, as management, my job is to keep operating costs down. That’s why I would want this to come down to arbitration; whatever amount settled on would be a more thought out plan than anything labor could offer.
HC: I don’t think so. Arbitration would work for you, but not necessarily for the rank and file. There was a reason why unions were fought against, especially after Brother Parrish tried to form one among the players soon after the AFL – NFL merger.
These cats weren’t puppets, they knew playing ball was a job; and a job that came with great perks but also should have benefits like most workers did. Glamorizing these cats with sound bites and celluloid from the halcyon days is not paying their rent – or medication, or health care. I mean if baseball is trying to take care of their people, why not football?
Doc: That’s a whole ‘nother thing, Mike. Look – what’s the worst injury you can get in baseball? Someone throws at your head. How many people have died in baseball from injuries on the field?
So compare that with football, a collision sport. Different priorities from an insurance standpoint – different costs, too; as in a lot cheaper.
A doctor could argue injuries sustained from a post – football career could be from wear and tear on the body. On an individual case – by – case basis, the players might win some; but I bet you they’d lose a lot more.
HC: I can see where it would be easier to care for baseball players in that regard; but a user – pay system as health insurance for football players is like having no insurance at all.
If you are having annual checkups and everything’s all good, no problem; it will even pick up minor shit like Tony Romo’s owwie on his pinky;
Doc: (laughs) Don’t get me started on that boy cryin’ like a bitch about his pinkie!
HC: (laughing) But this is no joke – when the situation calls for potential long – term disability, these jokers look to find a way out of their agreement; you know this! You were in the business…
Doc: Well, the point of our discussion was to give management’s take on it, right? I’m not saying your argument isn’t valid; in the final analysis, it’s going to be about determining a proper adjustment rate for a pro – rated cost of living allowance; and possibly, restructuring of the pensions of the players.
One thing of which we both agree – no matter what is said, this is truth; these early players – the old – school cats – they built this game and allowed these young knuckleheads making all this money now to prosper.
HC: Damn Skippy! Just like everybody should be breakin’ off something to Curt Flood’s family, these guys need to catch a break and get some of what they helped build.
One area where the old rank – and – file could get some justice is in the actions of the NFLPA and Players Inc.; using their exclusive representation of NFL players to generate hundreds of millions of dollars through group licensing agreements (GLA’s).
But none of the players who have filed suit have received any of this money; and active players have only received 31%. The NFLPA and Players Inc., which have both been run by the same group of executives, have kept the remaining 69%. Through this lawsuit retired players are seeking their fair share of group licensing revenue.
If a company like Electronic Arts (EA Sports) is using likenesses of players who were playing long before permission to use an image became a codicil to a contract, then it will be a tremendous challenge for NFLPA and Players, Inc. to bullshit their way out of that.
The trial is set to begin on October 20, 2008, in San Francisco in district court.
BASN & FRO will keep you posted with interviews from some of the players whose voices will finally be heard during and after the trial’s conclusion.
mike@footballreportersonline.com
sportsmc@blackathlete.com
By Michael – Louis Ingram
BASN & Football Reporters Online
A Tale of Two Packers: On August 7, Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets.
Upon release of this information in the Big Apple, Favre’s new #4 New York Jet jerseys were as abundant as bratwursts on game day at Lambeau Field.
According to area sources, 3200 pieces sold in less than a day – at $80 a pop.
A few days earlier, another former Packer, Herb Adderley, received his monthly pension check from the Players’ Union – in the amount of $126.85.
Adderley, a five time Pro Bowl selection, eight time All – Pro selection, three – time Super Bowl winner, member of the National Football League’s All – Decade team of the 1960s, and, in a survey done by The Sporting News ranked at the turn of the century as #45 out of the 100 greatest players to ever play the game, made less in his entire illustrious career (1961 – 1972) than the revenue earned in a few hours over the Internet.
While you digest the probability of this feat meaning progress, think about a man who sees his name in the Ring of Honor at Lambeau Field, but can’t see making it through his future at a level far below the quality of life he should be entitled to.
Bernard Parrish was a contemporary of Adderley’s, playing from 1959 - 1966, winning a world championship with the 1964 Cleveland Browns. “That was a big deal, winning the championship,” said Parrish, over the phone from Washington, D.C. “My winners’ share from that pool was $8,000.”
Parrish, who also garnered two Pro Bowl selections, revealed the game was not the afterthought it seems to be in the modern era. “Winning mattered. If you were on the winning side, you got $1500 a man, the losers got $750.
“In 1960, that had some weight. In 2008, that’s about a year’s worth of pension.”
Parrish, now 72 years old, spearheaded a class action suit (along with Adderley) against the NFL Players’ Association (NFLPA) and their marketing arm, Players, Inc. in 2007; and the gavel is about to drop on adjudication on October 20. The amount being sought for Parrish, Adderley and about 3500 other former pro players is $100 million dollars.
“The NFL makes $7.1 billion dollars a year – almost three million more than Major League Baseball – yet baseball seems to have found a way to take care of the older players with a tad more fairness than us,” said Parrish. When asked about the largest salary he made as a player, he said, “I was considered one of the best cornerbacks in the league early on – and I made $26,000 a season.”
It has been said by this writer and other BASN writers that the pittance laid out by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick of $750,000 for their corruption of football in the aftermath of the SpyGate scandal didn’t even manifest to a slap on the wrist as far as a deterrent was concerned.
However, when you take into consideration that there are at least five NFL franchises worth over a billion dollars in a depressed market such as this, one hundred million ultimately adds up to what these players probably should have received over the same time period, if you consider major medical, maintenance, long – term disability, and coverage for widows and children.
Anyone who drives a car or owns / rents a home pays some kind of insurance. You also know insurance companies love to take cash in, but hate paying out.
Management vs. Labor
In many ways, several aspects of this suit amount to what is a workers’ compensation issue.
So that we can give this as impartial and objective a look as possible, we’re going to go Sports MCs on this one; this time, our senior member, Mr. Finley “Doc” Pinkard will flex on behalf on what management’s argument could be while DJ Hunnycomb will attempt to lay the lumber down on behalf of the players.
I will further state that Doc is eminently qualified to speak on this, having over 28 years experience in banking and finance.
Doc: Okay -- now you have to consider this as one layer off of a very large onion. Players from 50 years back were making less money back then, but so was everyone else. Given what a dollar was worth, you can argue some players were doing a lot better than most back in the day.
If we go back to the “Greatest Game” of the Colts vs. Giants, it was the breakthrough game for pro football’s ascendance as a major spectator sport. After that game, we got games on free television on those black and white sets in the early 1960s.
Owners of teams at this time weren’t adding television revenue from football into the equation, so that didn’t factor into player’s contracts either. Whatever salary was made was determined by drawing power and the overall success of the team.
HC: I’ll grant you that, but you just made my argument on one important aspect of this: COLA – the cost of living allowance. Part of the reality leading up to this suit is due to those players not being given benefits that account for inflationary variables. How does $25,000 spend 50 years later? Unless it was saved and accrued interest, it can’t even come close.
Doc: Well, I can say honestly that there was a time when I had bang for my buck as a younger working guy than later in life. I had an apartment just off Central Park West, paying $225 a month in rent. I was earning $12,000 a year and had money in the bank.
At another point as I got older I had more than tripled my salary, but had even less to show for it than when I was younger.
Back when a lot of these cats played, a Cadillac Coupe de Ville cost $4,000; and a Jaguar XKE right out of the showroom was $7,000. You could buy a house for next to nothing; now $250,000 might buy you a raggedy house in New York City…
HC: Which means the inflationary slope has affected these guys, too!
Doc: But you have to also ask them what did they do with their money? How did they spend it or invest it, if at all?
HC: Which bumps us back to the insurance thing; there is nothing crueler than being subjected to hospital tests that you know were connected to your playing days, only to have a team physician or your own doctor tell you they can’t help you because your insurance doesn’t cover the disability.
Doc: Yeah – but you need to remember medical care has jumped light speed over what was done fifty years ago. You couldn’t ‘scope a knee; if you got cut at the knee, you were lucky if you ended up walking with a cane. Cat scans, MRIs, “Tommy John” surgery, hell, any kind of surgery.
No one could attribute what other dangers there were with soft tissue damage; and the connection with concussions weren’t even a major cause for discussion until the 1990s.
What the real cruelty is if say an Earl Campbell played now, his career probably would last but two or three years, given his running style. With the size, strength, added bulk whether chemically or naturally of modern players, Campbell today running the way he did would make him Christian Okoye; and he wouldn’t have put in enough time to qualify for a pension.
HC: Perhaps – but he would have a serious legal leg to stand on in a lot of video evidence attesting to his line of work; there would be no way any club could weasel out of their medical commitment to a guy who attracted collisions like Magneto manipulated metal objects.
You look at Campbell’s battered body and he’s just one clear example. What about all the others whose problems weren’t immediately evident? Do they get penalized because of the lack of medical knowledge?
If someone like a Brent Boyd, Conrad Dobler or Carl Eller had migraines and severe headaches years after their playing careers were done and nothing in their family medical history would indicate otherwise, the only way they could have acquired this condition would be from their previous vocation of playing a collision sport like football.
So now we’ve caught up medically and everyone knows what they might have, but they still can’t get help because they’re getting screwed by management.
Doc: Hey, my brother – that’s how it goes. Unless I have proof, as management, my job is to keep operating costs down. That’s why I would want this to come down to arbitration; whatever amount settled on would be a more thought out plan than anything labor could offer.
HC: I don’t think so. Arbitration would work for you, but not necessarily for the rank and file. There was a reason why unions were fought against, especially after Brother Parrish tried to form one among the players soon after the AFL – NFL merger.
These cats weren’t puppets, they knew playing ball was a job; and a job that came with great perks but also should have benefits like most workers did. Glamorizing these cats with sound bites and celluloid from the halcyon days is not paying their rent – or medication, or health care. I mean if baseball is trying to take care of their people, why not football?
Doc: That’s a whole ‘nother thing, Mike. Look – what’s the worst injury you can get in baseball? Someone throws at your head. How many people have died in baseball from injuries on the field?
So compare that with football, a collision sport. Different priorities from an insurance standpoint – different costs, too; as in a lot cheaper.
A doctor could argue injuries sustained from a post – football career could be from wear and tear on the body. On an individual case – by – case basis, the players might win some; but I bet you they’d lose a lot more.
HC: I can see where it would be easier to care for baseball players in that regard; but a user – pay system as health insurance for football players is like having no insurance at all.
If you are having annual checkups and everything’s all good, no problem; it will even pick up minor shit like Tony Romo’s owwie on his pinky;
Doc: (laughs) Don’t get me started on that boy cryin’ like a bitch about his pinkie!
HC: (laughing) But this is no joke – when the situation calls for potential long – term disability, these jokers look to find a way out of their agreement; you know this! You were in the business…
Doc: Well, the point of our discussion was to give management’s take on it, right? I’m not saying your argument isn’t valid; in the final analysis, it’s going to be about determining a proper adjustment rate for a pro – rated cost of living allowance; and possibly, restructuring of the pensions of the players.
One thing of which we both agree – no matter what is said, this is truth; these early players – the old – school cats – they built this game and allowed these young knuckleheads making all this money now to prosper.
HC: Damn Skippy! Just like everybody should be breakin’ off something to Curt Flood’s family, these guys need to catch a break and get some of what they helped build.
One area where the old rank – and – file could get some justice is in the actions of the NFLPA and Players Inc.; using their exclusive representation of NFL players to generate hundreds of millions of dollars through group licensing agreements (GLA’s).
But none of the players who have filed suit have received any of this money; and active players have only received 31%. The NFLPA and Players Inc., which have both been run by the same group of executives, have kept the remaining 69%. Through this lawsuit retired players are seeking their fair share of group licensing revenue.
If a company like Electronic Arts (EA Sports) is using likenesses of players who were playing long before permission to use an image became a codicil to a contract, then it will be a tremendous challenge for NFLPA and Players, Inc. to bullshit their way out of that.
The trial is set to begin on October 20, 2008, in San Francisco in district court.
BASN & FRO will keep you posted with interviews from some of the players whose voices will finally be heard during and after the trial’s conclusion.
mike@footballreportersonline.com
sportsmc@blackathlete.com
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