Written by Mike Florio (Pro Football Talk) on March 13, 2010
As the NFL and the players’ union continue to jockey for the hearts and minds of football fans who don’t care about a fight involving millionaires against billionaires, the two sides apparently believe that currying favor with retired players represents the best way to win the mob.
The latest development comes from a tit-for-tat online exchange. On Saturday, the league posted at NFLLabor.com a letter recently sent to Congresswoman Linda Sanchez by Commissioner Roger Goodell in response to a question ostensibly submitted by a member of the public who saw fit to take a jab at the decision of the union to conduct its annual meetings in Hawaii, just as NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did earlier in the day.
Here’s the key language from the Commissioner: “I have said publicly that there will be no agreement without improvements for retired players. On the contrary, when the union last week informed us that it was willing to make a new deal under certain conditions, there was no mention by them of increased benefits for retirees. The union leadership was willing to make a deal without any improvements for retired players.”
The union has responded with the following statement, posted this evening at its official web site: “Truth becomes a casualty when we see the Comissioner’s statement, having watched the Management Council call our plan to tap a mere 2% of owner profits to better retiree’s pensions ‘disingenuous.’ Neither the NFL nor its NFL Alumni have decided to get into the real game to improve retiree pensions and give players more than five years of health care when they retire if they are lucky enough to play four years. When will the NFL start paying the former players who built this game for the legacy it sells?”
We recall NFLPA Executive Director De Smith stating during the union’s pre-Super Bowl press conference that he’d like the league to carve off a piece of its profits to help retired players. But we think that both sides need to make a contribution to the men who helped make the game what it currently is; the owners’ profits are boosted by the history of the league, and the players’ salaries continue to go up due to the ever-growing popularity of the sport.
It should be an easy process. The fact that they can’t get past the point of trading insults on the Internet tell us that an answer isn’t coming any time soon.
We as retired players (PRE 93) the ones who were left out of the last CBA should be seeking benefits equal to the benefits awarded to the post 93 retired players. Its a travesty that we were left out in the first place. We truly don’t care whose idea it is but we will not sit quietly by while the NFLPA and the Owners trade insults or shout the political rhetoric of “help retired players” and do nothing. We are watching and even though we don’t have a voice at the table our shouts can be heard through the walls. Keep fighting guys and we can’t lose……;