Retired NFL Players Want Better Benefits
Added on Jun 21, 2011 by Jack Thurman in
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As if the NFL didn’t have enough problems with their active players as they try to resolve their labor issues they’re now hearing it from retired players as well. The league is facing a class action lawsuit from former NFL players seeking more retirement benefits and on Monday a group of current and retired pro football stars held a press conference to bring attention to the situation.
Hall of Fame Guard Joe DeLamielleure called out the league after listing the many surgeries he’s undergone due to the physical abuse he suffered playing pro football:
“We’ve earned the right to have a livable pension. The NFL is the most lucrative sport on the planet and they can’t take care of 2,000 guys? That’s wrong.”
Former Vikings’ great Carl Eller is one of the suit’s plaintiffs:
“These are real people, real players and real pain. Football is a game; life is not. We are suffering from the game.”
Former Redskins’ safety Paul Krause spoke of the mental health component:
“I don’t know how many concussions I’ve had, but there is a mental impact. I didn’t want to admit it, but I’ve thought of (suicide). You just want to get away from everything. People have to know what players are going through — it’s physical, financial and mental.”
One of the attorneys for the players hopes that the league will address the situation at their annual meeting:
“We are absolutely confident that a resolution can be reached that would do, as the league has said, what is fair and right on behalf of the retirees. Today is the time, before the owners meet and before this hopefully moves to conclusion, that these interests can be heard and these needs can be resolved.”
At least one current NFL player was in attendance–Ravens’ linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo said that he wanted to support the league’s veterans:
“These are courageous men and I came here for them. I came here for the current players because this is far from the glitz and glamour of the NFL. If you’re talking to a 24-year-old young man, he’s not thinking about these types of issues, so we have to bring these issues to the public, so everybody is aware of exactly what’s going on. We need to support these men and do what’s right. These men earned it.”
The high salaries earned by today’s NFL players is a relatively recent phenomenon. As late as the 1970′s a good percentage of the league’s players worked summer jobs to make ends meet.
