Bruce Laird’s Open Letter to the NFLPA Executive Committee and Player Representatives

Dear NFLPA Executive Committee Members and Player Representatives:

The NFLPA has asked all retired players to stand with you in your labor negotiations with the NFL owners. Your Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith says that we are one team and one voice, but when the NFL made a proposal to increase the pension plan for retirees, Mr. Smith torpedoed the negotiations by saying he would only do it if owners agreed to a two year extension of the CBA.  That proposal was dead on arrival and “D” knew it before he proposed it.  Additionally, the NFLPA Retired Player Director, Andre Collins told retired players that if there is no “new money” offered by the owners, there will be no increases in retired player pensions.  Is that the union’s official position?

It is important to understand that most retired players never received – and never will receive – the benefits that you are fighting to retain. I have listed some of them below. These benefits are not being funded by the owners in this uncapped year, including Pension Plan payments going forward – this does not affect active or retired players already vested in the Pension Plan.

In his “White Paper” submitted to the Congress of the United States, the late Gene Upshaw supplied information on benefits for retired players, but he neglected to state that those benefits were predominantly for players that were active from 1993 to 2006 and it did not include any salary information. A lot of his statements started with the phrase “Since 1993, retired players have received……..” so with that in mind, I thought it would be informative to provide a total breakdown of what the Benefits and “average” Salary would be for an NFL Player retiring after the 10 year period [2000 – 2009]

• NFL Salary: = $15,000,000 Million (1.5 million annually for 10 years) note: average salary for 2009 was $1.896 million, with a median annual salary of $790,000.

• Annuity Plan: = $455,000 (does not include earned interest)

• Second Career Savings Plan: = $132,000 (does not include earned interest)

• Severance Pay Plan: = $145,000

• Tuition Assistance Plan: = $45,000

• 5 Free Years of Health Insurance (Medical Benefits): = Estimate $24,000 annually   The plan pays out over 11 million annually for this benefit.

• Health Reimbursement Plan (After 5 Free Years): = $300,000

Here is the total from the above figures:

$ 15,000,000 Million in salary
$    1,101,400 in “other” benefits – not including pension
$ 16,101,400 Total

The same 10 year player would also receive an annual pension of $56,400 at age 55.

Keep in mind the above figures are just the “average” salary and benefits. Philip Rivers made $25,556,630 last year.  Will he really need a second career savings plan or an Annuity Plan?  

The above figures do not include potential money that can be made through NFL Players, the marketing arm of the NFLPA. Some players can make over $1 million annually, although that is not the norm.

Additionally, all active players get a check at the beginning of each year by signing a Group Licensing Agreement with the NFLPA. The last time we checked, players were getting around $10,000 annually. The NFLPA generates this money for players by entering into third party agreements with companies like EA Sports – Madden Football and Topps Football cards, etc. giving those companies the right to use your image. The NFLPA currently pulls in an estimated $80 Million annually from their third party agreements, which is interesting to note, because if they divided that equally among the 2,000 active players, each player would get an annual check for $40,000. As we learned in the retired player Class Action suit against the NFLPA, they were keeping approximately 70% of that money for a lockout, or a possible strike fund. I hope you all get reimbursed, in the event that a deal is made before the 2011 season.

Many of you also enter into private endorsement contracts with companies that will pay you handsomely for the right to use your image in advertisements and on products and merchandise. That is just good old fashioned free market enterprise and no retired player can argue with that. Make as much as you can, because an injury could end it all tomorrow.

Speaking of injuries, all of you are covered by the NFL Disability Plan…… something most retired players never had. The main Plan was not instituted until 1993. Active players have the added comfort of knowing they might be able to collect a substantial monthly check if they are injured and can no longer play. This will undoubtedly keep some players from losing their homes and going bankrupt. Obviously, there are still some hurdles in the disability approval process that make it hard to win a case, but active players need to recognize that, even though it was retired players that brought a lot of the attention to this issue, it is you, the active players that are benefitting from our advocacy.  The Line of Duty and the Total and Permanent Disability payment structure is the best in all of professional sports.

I think it is important for you to know that retired players are pleased to see that you  are covered by a disability plan and are making excellent wages.  All we ask, is that you take the time to research and study how much of this came about.  Who paved the way? 

The history of how older NFL players battled with the owners is well documented on the NFLPA’s own website.  The 1993 CBA was the catalyst that opened the door to free agency. Through that historic agreement the active players were finally able to get paid for their true market value and subsequently salaries shot through the roof.  League revenues from television, ticket sales, merchandise and intellectual property rights have consistently grown and there is no reason to beleive that the pool of money will not continue to get bigger.     

The issue for most retired players is not the salaries active players make, but the way the benefits have been distributed and apportioned. Instead of putting money into the pension plan to help All vested players, the NFLPA – with the blessing of the active players – started “piling on” additional retirement type benefits like the Annuity Plan and the Second Career Savings Plan. Those plans have only been in effect since 1998 and 1993 respectively, but the combined assets in those two plans are already greater than the assets of the NFL Pension Plan which has been in existence for over 50 years!

The NFL Pension Plan has $927,400,000 in assets and the Second Career Savings Plan and Annuity Plan have a combined total of 1,478,300,000 in assets.  That’s almost 1.5 Billion that could have been used to fund the NFL Pension Plan.

Some active players have been critical of retired players, asking the question “Why didn’t you guys fight for better pensions when you were active players?” The fact is, we did negotiate over that issue, but we were never in a strong enough position to get what we really wanted. We organized strikes in 1974, 1982 and 1987, but those efforts failed to win free agency or other desired changes in League rules. Consequently, in 1989 the Players Association chose to decertify as a union and abandon collective bargaining in favor of renewed antitrust litigation.

The NFLPA got its real strength when Reggie White and four other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on behalf of all players. The complaint sought antitrust injunctive relief and damages stemming from various League rules, including the mandatory right of first refusal system, the standard NFL contract, and the college draft. On April 30, 1993, the district court approved a consent decree that provided the players with monetary relief and made a variety of significant changes to League rules. The agreement also allowed for the re-certification of the Association and the resumption of the collective bargaining relationship between the players and the owners. This was the victory that players needed to gain leverage in CBA negotiations. Active Players finally got free agency and the floodgates were opened to the enormous salaries and benefits that today’s players are receiving.

Retired players are now asking you, the active players, to recognize and understand how the hard work and sacrifices of our generation helped you get to where you are today. No matter what anyone says, every player strike was a successful strike! Each one strengthened our resolve and made us a little wiser for the next battle.

As active players, you have the power and authority to tell the NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith what you want him to do. Retired players do not want to be used as pawns in the struggle to reach a new agreement.

As the negotiations continue, please keep retired players in your thoughts. Despite what some people have said, most of us are thankful for the benefits that we receive and we are fully cognizant of the fact that only active players can negotiate any increases in benefits for retired players. When the NFLPA hired DeMaurice Smith, he immediately came out and said “We have a moral obligation to the retired players, we have a fiduciary obligation to the retired players. That obligation has to be both in words and deeds. If you fail in either one, you fail.”  

DeMaurice Smith has talked the talk……….now its time for him walk the walk.

In honor of the players that came before you, we are asking you to do everything in your power to negotiate a new CBA that provides an increase in retired player pensions. 

Sincerely,

Bruce Laird
President, Fourth and Goal
Member, NFL Alumni Board of Directors
President, NFLPA Retired Player -Baltimore Chapter