Over the past several years we have had preseason games in Europe. The
NFL was trying to get the Europeans more interested in American
Football versus the European “futbol” known better to us as soccer. A
league was formed called the NFLE (National Football League Europe),
and it was mainly used as a minor league to develop players who were
not yet up to speed to play in the NFL here in the States.

When it was first formed, the commissioner was Paul Tagliabue who was
pushing heavily for the development of the new European league. He had
convinced the NFL owners to fork over one million per team to support
this offshore league. When Roger Goodell took over as commissioner, he
wasn’t as keen on this idea, so the league folded. But, this weekend
we have a regular season game scheduled in London.

Okay, here’s my point. The retired players pension and disability
benefits. Can you imagine the new influx of revenue that will be
coming to the NFL from the international television rights? It’s going
to be staggering. Will the owners still balk at putting more money
into the retired players’ fund to help bring the NFL benefits up to par
with the other professional sports? That’s the question! As they get
richer, will they remember the players that helped build the NFL so
that it could grow into the international sport it has become? We
shall wait and see.

A Good Friend of the NFL is Gone.

Gene Upshaw, the NFL Players Association union leader, passed away only
days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Gene’s entire life was dedicated to the NFL. First, his entire 15-year
playing career was spent as an Oakland Raider, where he played in two
Super Bowls and seven Pro Bowls. He went on to spend more than 25 years
as head of the players union.

He tenure as union leader was not without criticism. He was once
quoted as saying, “Why should I help the retired players, they don’t
pay my salary, the active players do that.” And the salary he was
talking about was close to $3 mil per year.

Upshaw made great strides for the active players, getting them the free
agency deal and the salary cap. But what was always lagging behind was
improved benefits for the retired players, ie. pension benefits along
with benefits for the disabled. As an NFL retired player, I’m more
aware of the improvements needed to help a great number of retired and
disabled players. Until just this year, you had to be blind, crippled
and confined to a bed or wheelchair to get disability benefits from the
NFL. Players would plead their cases, stating that Social Security
recognized them as being disabled and so should the NFL. But the union
would not budge and went so far as to say that even if Social Security
accepted your disability claims, they would not.

Finally this year a “Plan B” was adopted which reversed those rulings.
If Social Security was paying you disability benefits, it then became
automatic for the NFL to do the same. To the many disabled former
players out there this was great, albeit late, news.

NFL players have a unique camaraderie and we are saddened and shocked
by the sudden death of one of our own. My sincere condolences go out
to his wife, Terri, and their three sons.