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System broken and must be fixed, starting with massive red tape
ASK THE NFL EXPERT
By Don Pierson
Updated: 12:59 p.m. ET June 13, 2007
MSNBC

The emotional disputes between retired, disabled NFL veterans and the NFL Players Association continue to escalate, heading toward a June 26 showdown before a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Frustration is the order of the day, as veterans complain that the union is unresponsive, and the union argues that retirees don't understand the process.

The process infuriates Mike Ditka, Jerry Kramer, Joe DeLamielleure and the "Gridiron Greats," who have been raising money and awareness of problems since a Super Bowl press conference. They have blasted NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw for ignoring players who sacrificed their bodies to make the game as popular and profitable as it is.

The latest example is Brian DeMarco, a former Jaguars and Bengals offensive lineman who is only 35 and appeared at a press conference at Ditka's restaurant in Chicago this week and claimed he had a phone record of 128 unanswered calls to the union. DeMarco walked to the podium with a cane and help from two assistants.

DeMarco said he had applied for disability benefits three times from the NFLPA after a 2001 back surgery. DeMarco said he and his family have been homeless.

Later, Upshaw said DeMarco never has applied for disability and that union employee Andre Collins talks to DeMarco on a regular basis and wired $300 to him recently. Upshaw produced checks for $9,748.81 written within the past nine months to help DeMarco, mainly to pay rent.

"No one in my office could believe this was the guy they were talking about," Upshaw said. "We've been taking care of this guy."

DeMarco acknowledged the emergency help but said the disability status is the issue. DeMarco contends he's not the only ex-player who thinks the system is broken.

"I don't know what's wrong. I can't point the finger," DeMarco said. "I just want my disability. I want to see a doctor, but they have never, ever sent me to an NFL doctor. I've heard every excuse in the book. �We've lost it. It's in somebody else's office. It's in another file.� There's deception going on and it needs to be fixed."

Ditka added: "This is a joke. If they think that $10,000 over the last seven years is meeting this kid's needs, the problems at the NFLPA are worse than we ever imagined. Have you seen this kid? He can't walk, he can't hold a telephone, he can't shave his own face. He certainly cannot work and support his family.

�I don't call $10,000 meeting Brian DeMarco's needs. This is about disability. This is about taking responsibility for what happened to this kid while playing the game. This is about doing the right thing."

Dave Duerson, an ex-Bear who played for Ditka, is one of three union representatives who sits on the retirement board that oversees the benefits process and manages the $2.4 billion in nine benefits funds. Duerson blasted Ditka for not caring about players' injuries when he coached and for being anti-union.

Ditka and Duerson engaged in a shouting match on Chicago radio before Ditka hung up. Duerson said the union only oversees a disability system guided by ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and directed by doctors.

"All I'm saying is, I'm trying to help these guys, trying to get them some money. Does it come from the players association? Does it come from the owners? I don't know," Ditka said.

Said Duerson: "I just don't want you to embarrass yourself in front of Congress."

After Upshaw threatened to break DeLamielleure's neck in a Philadelphia newspaper article, DeLamielleure said Upshaw's union leadership stinks during the Chicago press conference.

Jennifer Smith, executive director of Gridiron Greats, laments that the issue has degenerated into a name-calling contest.

"I don't care what Mike Ditka and Joe DeLamielleure say, it's not about Gene Upshaw," Smith said. "It's about a system that's screwed up and broken and needs to be fixed. We supply services to these guys, and some of them don't even know about getting on Medicare or Medicaid or other social services. You have to be a healthy individual of right mind to try to navigate something like that. The league's is just as difficult if not more so.

"I wish this wasn't about a shouting match. I was so mad at Joe. We're holding press conferences to call attention to a need and put a face on it. We're taking the high road, no name calling. And then the headline becomes, �Joe DeLamielleure says, �Screw you, Upshaw.� � That hurts us."

Lost amid the tumult is the one thing all parties seem to agree upon: The red tape can and should be streamlined. Duerson said initial screening by benefits employees of management and the union is where many applications get bogged down.

Where are the owners? Mainly on the sidelines, chuckling probably, because players can't seem to agree on how to address their own best interests. When owners re-open collective bargaining in a couple of years, players already will be divided, ready for owners to conquer.

Duerson and Upshaw remind retired players that active players are the ones who control the purse strings and make the decisions of where collectively bargained monies should be directed. It's always been that way. Almost always, young players opt for money now in the form of bonuses and salary, ignoring long-term security.

"We can't do enough for our retired players," Duerson said. "It's the fastest-growing fraternity in pro sports, and that's what the current guys don't realize, just like we didn't when we were playing. I was like everybody else. I thought I was going to play 30 years."

Duerson said he has advised retired players to schedule their meetings to coincide with annual NFLPA meetings in Hawaii.

�I tell retired players, �Come into their meeting 200 strong, you'll get whatever you want,� � Duerson said. �That's the only way these current players are going to come to realize, �That's our brotherhood and we're very soon going to be there.� �

Meanwhile, what does DeMarco do?

"I'll send in another application," he said.