Dear Drew:
At the NFL Players Association convention in Hawaii this past Sunday, you presented a resolution that would give former players two seats on the NFLPA Board of Player Representatives.
The two seats are for “non-voting members.” In my book, that’s just a bark without a bite. In fact this is nothing but window-dressing by the NFLPA to give retired players the illusion that they have some power. Retired players may be sitting at the table, but when it comes time to vote….. we have to sit quietly in the corner and watch.
In touting your amendment you said “As one team, we will fight to improve a health care system that currently only gives players five years of health care if you play three years and a plan that doesn’t cover all preventative health care for our wives”.
Did you actually say that in front of retired players? How in the world does that statement have anything to do with helping most retired players? Not one single player, before 1993, had 5 free years of health insurance after they retired, not to mention coverage for their wives!
You want retired players to be on your team. You gotta be kidding me! On every team that I ever played on, we all had the same game plan. Well, your game plan is a lot different than the one most retired players want to see executed.
Could one of the reasons you want us to join the “Team” be because the NFL Owner’s have discontinued their contributions to your Annuity Plan, Second Career Savings Plan, Tuition Assistance Plan, Health Reimbursement Account? Well, if you want us to fight for your benefits, you better start fighting for ours!
You forgot to mention in your press conference that after your 5 free years of medical benefits end, you will have a Health Reimbursement Account that will kick in. The NFL owners have been depositing $25,000 annually into your pre-tax account. Your account can increase up to $300,000, therefore you can rest comfortably knowing that this will help you pay for direct medical expenses, medical insurance premiums, and medical insurance co-pays and deductibles for all your family members including your wife!
If you really wanted the retired players to rally around you Drew, you should have mentioned something about increasing the Pension Plan, or reforming the Disability Plan, which are the top two issues that concern retired players.
So where were you when the owners recently proposed to increase retired player pension benefits by $100 Million? The money for that expense would have come from a wage cap on rookies.
Why would you want to continue a system that gave $462 Million in guaranteed bonuses to the first 32 players selected in last years draft? Those guys had never played a single down in the NFL. This year it will happen again and that is a slap in the face of all retired players who built the foundations of the NFL that you are now standing on………and benefitting from. Would your silence on this issue have anything to do with the fact that Tom Condon is your agent and that he would stand to lose millions of dollars if the rookie wage cap was put in place. I certainly hope not.
It is simply astonishing to me that you expressed your concern about better health insurance for NFL wives, especially in light of the fact that there are thousands of retired players that never received a plug nickel for post-career health insurance and a Health Reimbursement Account like the one you will have when you retire.
Some players have been denied an NFL disability and as a result, their bank accounts have been drained dry due to hospital and doctor bills. Many retired players can’t find affordable health insurance because they’re self-employed. Many others have the added problem of insurance companies dropping them, capping their annual payments, or outright denying them coverage because of (football related) pre-existing conditions.
Fortunately, you have a disability plan that can help you, should you get injured. Before 1993 there wasn’t much of a plan to speak of. If, God forbid, you should have an injury that ends your career.
This past Sunday wasn’t the first time you’ve made comments that make retired players question your commitment to improving the Pensions of retired players. Back on January 29, 2009 you made some rather insulting comments about retired players when you said “There’s some guys out there that have made bad business decisions. They took their pensions early because they never went out and got a job. They’ve had a couple divorces and they’re making payments to this place and that place. And that’s why they don’t have money. And they’re coming to us to basically say, Please make up for my bad judgment.”
Yes, there are some guys that made bad decisions, but unlike your generalized characterization, the majority of us made good decisions.
As for me, my work ethic speaks for itself. I never missed a day of practice in 13 seasons in the NFL. Since my retirement, I’ve worked every day of my life. I also worked during the football offseason too, just like many other players of my generation.
I’ve been married to my wife Gerri for 38 years. She works so we can make ends meet and also have health insurance coverage through her employer. I have 4 biological children, 2 adopted children and 3 other children that I raised and put through college and trade schools. I currently have 8 grandchildren.
Just like you, I want to make sure I can provide for my family, but it hasn’t been easy on our incomes and my current pension which is $1,247.96 a month.
Unfortunately, I received some bad advice from the union and was encouraged to take my Pension at age 45. We were given bogus information that told us NFL players were dying at a much younger age than the general population, so I did what I thought was best for my family.
Many retired players had to take their pension money out of necessity. We didn’t make the millions that you and other players now make. I should note that the NFLPA finally realized their mistake and stopped allowing retired players to take early pensions and the Social Security Adjustment Option too.
I would also like to point out that back in my playing days, we didn’t have the security of knowing that an Annuity Plan and a Second Career Savings Plan would be waiting for us after retirement. I recently read that those two funds have almost 1.5 Billion dollars in total assets, but those monies are only for the more recent generation of players – guys that played after 1993. If that money had been put into the Pension plan it could have helped ALL retired players, not just the guys that were fortunate enough to come along after all the player strikes, court battles and fighting for free agency was said and done.
In addition to your 5 free years of medical coverage and your health reimbursement account, you will also have $455,000 in your Annuity account, $132,000 in your Second Career Savings account and if you were to retire today, you would also receive a Severance Check of $145,000 and an NFL Pension which would pay you $56,400 annually at age 55.
This is all on top of the 6 year, $60 Million contract you signed in 2006, of which 20.1 million was guaranteed.
These figures do not include the moneys you also make from the NFLPA Group Licensing Program, NFL Players (the marketing arm of the NFLPA) and all of your endorsements.
Like a lot of retired players, I’m sick and tired of hearing multi-millionaire players talk about increasing their own benefits, while at the same time giving lip service to retired players.
In closing, I want you to know that I am aware of all the good things you are doing in your community and that you are very involved in raising money for charities. I too, am very involved in raising money for organizations and charities.
We both know what needs to be done to help the less fortunate and that is why I am calling on you to help the pioneers of the NFL by advocating for a significant increase in retired player pensions and instituting additional reforms to the NFL Disability Plan.
If you, or anyone else, would like to discuss my comments, or the issues I have raised in this letter, feel free to call me at 704-649-9833.
Sincerely,
Joe DeLamielleure
NFL Hall of Fame – Class of 2003
Way to go Joe. You said it all.. Why can’t they get it? Why do they keep shoving everything we say under the rug and pretend that players like yourself, Jeff Winans and the other players and families that are hurting and struggling, just made bad money decisions. Players like Wayne Hawkins, one of the original Oakland Raiders, played 11 years and suffered 22 concusssions, whose pension is only $206.00 per month. My husband and I had to file bankruptcy years ago due to overwhelimng amount of medical and physciatric bills.. I am so proud of you and all the players and families who continue to fight for what is right and to get them to do what they told all of you guys when you were playing, “take care of their own.” Together wwe are one. Brandi Winans
Joe, I don’t think anyone could have said it any better, and I am dishearten to read these statements by a person that I truly thought was on the ball. I keep saying to myself, there has got to be some young players out there in a leadership role, that really gets it. I don’t want to believe they have all become rich and forgetful of the past.
Sincerely,
Tony Reed, formerly of the KC Chiefs
Well said, Joe D. You covered all of the points that are truly relevant here. We’ll be in Vegas next month discussing these very issues, and continuing this very discussion at the 2nd Annual Independent Retired Players Summit…should be good. Thank you for speaking my truth.
Please tell me what the Independent Retired Players organization is.
Retired Players Summit on Facebook or go to http://www.therpaa.com/Summit2010.
Thank you Joe…I am glad you took your knowledge and experience and took Drew to task. This was insightfulopen letter.
Very well stated.
Right on brother
Joe, As always it a takes an offensive lineman to make a quarterback understand how the game is played. It is insulting to me that the current player continue to think that all the retired players are just dumb jocks. That we don’t have the brains to read between the lines and call bulls..t when we read statements of this kind. That is what is really insulting to us is their belief that we don’t know it is just window dressing. They really don’t have much respect for us. That is what it really boils down to is their lack of respect and them believing its all about them…The ME Generation. I wish there was a game show where we could pit current players against retired players on history, business and law and let the world see who is really the dumb jocks. Conrad Dobler
Big Joe, I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for taking the time to address so many of the issues that us ‘old guys” are facing right now. I also took to heart the studies that showed that lineman most likely would not live past the age of 62 and so I took my pension at 45! I have had health issues but am still alive and working, since my pension is now cut to $131 per month this year at age 62. We were sold a bill of goods a long time ago and I urge you and all of the others to continue the good fight for the pre ’93 guys!
Joe,Thank You for Championing our Cause…WE WILL BE HEARD LOUDER THAN ONE COULD EVER IMAGINE…THANKS..KB
Joe, Excellent letter. I’m not sure how to do it, but your letter should be published, circulated, and promoted as widely as possible. Send it to ESPN or FOX SPORTS and see if you can’t get some air time. Clearly you know what you are talking about and have the NFL career longevity to make people listen. You don’t come across as a whiner or victim looking for a hand-out, which you (we) need to avoid like the plague. These are real issues that can and should be addressed and rectified. Opening the eyes and ears of the current players is the trick. Sound reasoning supported by the facts you mention may do the job. Nothing quite like a head-slap to get people’s attention. Keep up the good work.
Joe, I’m proud to call you my friend and fellow Buffalo Bill. Thank you for what you are doing and looking out for us.
Well done, Joe, you covered all the bases. Abe Gibron, Bill Howton, Bill Pellington, and the rest of the old timers who started all this would back you up 100%.
Thanks.
Joe ,if they cared they would do something about it. They have a lot to teach their kids about success and honesty. We know or I know the past. Especially implementing the Player Association in 1963. I can tell you about a lot of the stories. But you see they do not care. They think this money is theirs. Do you know what we did. We flopped the papers down on the table. We said sign theses papers or, we walk. 1956-1967 Preston
Joe,I am a big bills fan and a big joe d. fan!! Keep pressing on b/c you are leading a charge that many cannot do!!
Hit it right on the nose. But may I ask, why was his phone number published?
It’s time for me to get off the bench. I participated in every NFLPA strike from 1968 till I left the NFL in 1980. I was a player rep and a member of the NFLPA executive committee for 5 years during the 70′s. It’s interesting even though times change issues remain the same. I recall an executive committee meeting called to hear from the players who had played before 1959. They were not included in our newly negotiated NFL Pension plan. I can still see Leon Hart, a big fit man in his 50′s railing down at us from the podium who did we think we are, that they had organized and sacrificed to build this union and all the money we were paid would never have been possible if it weren’t for their selflessness. Joe, the passion, indignation and resoluteness of your letter evokes all the emotion Leon’s speech elicited from us that day long ago. In the end, after serious arguments for and against, we brought them into the pension. The point of all this is very basic. To achieve worthy goals (increased pension, disability/health insurance etc) we have to organize ourselves, be clear and concise as to our issues and exert constant and consistent pressure on our own active players. Just like the pre-59er’s did to us 35 years ago.
As ALWAYS Bro Joe right down the middle…….. Blessings of Strenght as OUR Brothers awake TOGETHER………
$131 a month. How’s that make you feel Drew? From your writings I guess it wouldn’t mean a damn thing to you would it?
Joe, thank you for speaking on behalf of the retired players such as myself, who have either become too apethetic, lazy, or worn out by the politics of the system, to continue the battle of educating the current players and shining a light on the injustices of the NFL.
Joe “D Head” ! Thank you for sharing what many of us felt. God has choice to use you Joe and I am blessed to have been a team mate of yours. How is it that we loose our pension at 62. When I share this with others who are to retire from there companys they can’t beleive what I am saying. When I see guys only getting $100. a month after all the work they’ve done is sad. I’m coming up to that point this year and my wife ask me often what are we going to do. I”ve told her “I pray We are not going to be like all those that have left this earth before us who paved the way and openned doors did not receive heathy benifits after giving there all to a job called a game” I pray there hard work and committment and labor was not in vain” I also pray the work being done today on our behalf is not in vain! We’re loosing some good brothers! Again thanks Joe “D Head”
Joe,
Excellent letter. If it wasn’t for you folks I would never have been able to play the game even at the high school level (unfortunately my highest level). I sincerely believe (being a fan, not a former pro athlete) that Mr. Brees has the purest of intentions in what he was trying to accomplish, but I also do agree that those of you retired from the game deserve representation in the voting process of this board.
Long story short, I am 22 years old, never capable of playing at your level, but fully understanding of the risks and sacrifices you made to make America’s REAL passtime better.
If there is anything an average fan can do to help, I am all ears.
-Olin
Joe,
I’m damn proud of you… and SHAME on you Drew Brees.
David
As always Joe, you are right on point. Sooner, hopefully than later they will get it.
Call me sometime.
JC
Dree Brees has No Respect for the Former Players who laid the Brick to the Foundation of the NFL. He makes Comments and has no Clue who he is talking too or what he is talking about. The NFL is a unique Sport. Could You imagine if Derek Jeter was to talk down to a Hall of Fame Player Like Micky Mantle? You would have to be Kidding me. It doesn’t make sense! No other sport is like this. The Current Players and the NFLPA needs to step in and do the right thing.
The NFLPA is no more than a JOKE to me and I will tell you why. I was on there web-site to see what they are all about and their mission statement states:
“The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League. Established in 1956, the NFLPA has a long history of assuring proper recognition and representation of players’ interests. The NFLPA has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to assure that the rights of players are protected—including ceasing to be a union, if necessary, as it did in 1989. In 1993, the NFLPA again was officially recognized as the union representing the players, and negotiated a landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. The current CBA will govern the sport through 2011. The NFL Players Association”
If they are looking after and protecting the rights of the Players. Then why are there Hall of Fame Football Players with Pensions of $300 a Month? There are even some Players that are Homeless. If anyone can justify this, please respond! The NFLPA needs to take there mission statement down or correct to Helping all the Current Players Get Richer and Richer, while the former players who played Football to play Football, Not the Money, Suffer – Mentally, Physically, and Financially!!!
In Closing the NFL would not be what it is Today without these Former Players Hard Work and Love of the Sport. Its a Different Game Now! You watch these young kids in College and you still see them play with there Hearts and desire to get better and Win. I Wish the NFL was still like that, Now you over pay them before they even play a down and it takes away from helping the other Players!
- AD
Dree Brees has No Respect for the Former Players who laid the Brick to the Foundation of the NFL. He makes Comments and has no Clue who he is talking too or what he is talking about. The NFL is a unique Sport. Could You imagine if Derek Jeter was to talk down to a Hall of Fame Player Like Micky Mantle? You would have to be Kidding me. It doesn’t make sense! No other sport is like this. The Current Players and the NFLPA needs to step in and do the right thing.
The NFLPA is a more than a JOKE to me and I will tell you why. I was on there web-site to see what they are all about and their mission statement states:
“The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League. Established in 1956, the NFLPA has a long history of assuring proper recognition and representation of players’ interests. The NFLPA has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to assure that the rights of players are protected—including ceasing to be a union, if necessary, as it did in 1989. In 1993, the NFLPA again was officially recognized as the union representing the players, and negotiated a landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. The current CBA will govern the sport through 2011. The NFL Players Association”
If they are looking after and protecting the rights of the Players. Then why are there Hall of Fame Football Players with Pensions of $300 a Month? There are even some Players that are Homeless. If anyone can justify this, please respond! The NFLPA needs to take there mission statement down or correct to Helping all the Current Players Get Richer and Richer, while the former players who played Football to play Football, Not the Money, Suffer – Mentally, Physically, and Financially!!!
In Closing the NFL would not be what it is Today without these Former Players Hard Work and Love of the Sport. Its a Different Game Now! You watch these young kids in College and you still see them play with there Hearts and desire to get better and Win. I Wish the NFL was still like that, Now you over pay them before they even play a down and it takes away from helping the other Players!
- AD
Joe. Fantastic. Keep knocking on the door like that and hopefully it will all bust down some day.
My heart goes out to the older guys who are hurting so and need and destve assistance. It was guys like you and Conrad and Joe Ferguson who taught me to respect those who came before us, wish that was true today. Some of the pensions I see from the 70′s, 80′s group isn’t enough to buy milk. Please. Keep up the fight and God bless you and yours. Joe Bock
I got to talk to Joe D right before he rode a bicycle from Michigan to Mexico to raise money for orphans in 2009.
The classiest guy you’d EVER want to speak with.
To say he cares about his NFL brethren, and the human race, is a vast understatement!
Joe has been trying to get the guys who paved the NFL path, the players, for DECADES!
He has worked with Mike Ditka, former Colts safety Bruce Laird, and countless others to WAKE UP A TAX FREE ENTITY in RESPECTING the MEN who allow guys like Drew Brees to lay around the house all off season stuffing their fat asses with pastries.
Let us not forget that in Joe’s days, players worked 9-5 in regular jobs to make ends meet, while trying to find time and energy to train for upcoming seasons.
Th NFLPA does not give a damn about retired players. Gene Upshaw, the former NFLPA President who screwed over his brethren and even his own teammates he sweated to win a Super Bowl with, is on record saying so. There is a reason NO ONE cried at his funeral.
Hey Drew? You putz? You do REALIZE that one day you too will be a retired player, right?
Don’t allow comments if you’re just going to allow the ones that cheerlead for you.
We post all comments at Fourth and Goal Unites unless they are unusually offensive.
Most football fans are aware of Joe DeLamielleure’s outstanding record on the field and his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. I am one of the fortunate people to also know and frequently associate with Joe and his family off the gridiron. If there was ever an illustrated icon for an all around, ideal role model, it would have to look a lot like Joe D.
Joe, your letter clearly addresses serious issues plaguing an awful lot of retired players which average fans are never aware of. Most of us are now used to reading about multi-million dollar contracts and all too often scandals and law breakers. Typical fans’ attitudes look upon NFL players today as if they make so much money that they should be able to handle any situation in stride. We sometimes forget that many retired greats are not in that unique position.
The above favorable reactions to your letter are mostly from players and those closely affected by the inequities you describe. I think that the masses of fans and even some non-fans would be shocked to know that many great players of the past are humbled financially.
I intend to do what I can to bring your letter and this website to the attention of the media (sports and other reporters in general) to see if this plight can’t be spotlighted and improved by popular demand. The media is sure making hay with the Tiger Woods scandal. If more of them knew about retired players living conditions, maybe they might take up the a more important, positive nature cause.
I know only of Drew Brees’football accomplishments and accordingly respect him for that. I believe he would be well advised to listen carefully to what Joe is saying.
Ray Kluth
Charlotte, NC
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I HAVE KNOWN JOE FOR A LONG TIME AND HE IS A GREAT VOICE FOR US. BREES WOULD NOT HAVE LASTED A SEASON UNDER THE RULES WE PLAYED UNDER. JOE, YOU ARE THE MAN SO KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! AFTER RETIREMENT I HAD FOUR JOBS( PRESIDENT TWO MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAMS,RADIO SPORTS DIRECTOR, MY APPEARANCES, ETC.) IN ORDER TO MAKE ENDS MEET. I NOW AM UNABLE TO DO THESE THINGS BECAUSE OF FOOTBALL RELATED INJURIES. TAKE CARE OF EVEN THE GUYS THAT PLAYED BEFORE US AND JUST RAISE OUR PENSIONS AND I WILL CONTINUE TO PAY FOR MY OWN HEALTH CARE. MY DAD TAUGHT ME THAT THE HARDER YOU WORK, THE HARDER IT IS TO SURRENDER. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN MAKE QBS GREAT. THANKS TO ALL O LINEMAN AND ESPECIALLY MINE. GO JOE AND GOD BLESS YOU AND AMERICA! ROMAN GABRIEL 18