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Feud escalates over NFL pensions
Special to The Buffalo News
Updated: 06/06/07 7:16 AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. � Joe DeLamielleure has long been a critic of the lack of an adequate pension for many retired NFL players and he blames Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw for not doing more to help indigent and physically disabled former players.

Now, however, the former All- Pro guard with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns is more fired up than ever over the issue after what he regards as threatening statements recently made by Upshaw.

�A guy like DeLamielleure says the things he said about me; you think I�m going to invite him to dinner? No. I�m going to break his . . . damn neck,� Upshaw was quoted as saying in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News.

DeLamielleure said he and his family are taking the threat seriously.

�I can�t believe a union leader that visible would make a comment like that,� DeLamielleure said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. �I am really hot about that. My wife is petrified.�

DeLamielleure, who says his intention is to get Upshaw fired as the NFLPA�s chief executive, is one of

several Pro Football Hall of Fame members who have lobbied for more equitable pension and health benefits for retired players, especially those who played in the 1950s and �60s.

�Our pensions stink,� the 56-yearold DeLamielleure said, adding that any feud between him and Upshaw is not the real issue.

�This has nothing to do with me and him,� DeLamielleure said. �It has to do with what�s right and what�s wrong.�

DeLamielleure said the average NFL pension is $13,000 a year and the health benefits are restrictive and sometimes difficult to obtain.

�Nobody is asking for $100,000 a year, just a respectable plan so you don�t have to go through hoops [to get health care benefits],� DeLamielleure said.

DeLamielleure contends that Upshaw and the NFLPA leadership haven�t done enough to educate the present players of the problems faced by some of the men who helped bring the NFL to its present level of popularity and profitability. He doesn�t blame team owners.

�The owners have given more than enough. They give the players 60 percent of gross revenues,� said De- Lamielleure who, along with other Hall of Famers such as Mike Ditka, Herb Adderley, Deacon Jones, Willie Davis, Paul Hornung, John Elway, Marcus Allen and Gale Sayers believe that some of that 60 percent should be earmarked to improve pensions for retired players.

DeLamielleure claims 26 employees of the NFLPA make $100,000 a year or more, including Upshaw, who draws a reported $4.5 million in salary and benefits, and assistant director Doug Allen, who earns a reported $1.9 million.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in Charlotte Tuesday for a luncheon honoring Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, wouldn�t comment directly about Upshaw�s remarks.

�Retired players are important to us. They helped us build the game,� Goodell said. �I think it�s unfortunate this kind of thing is going on. . . . I don�t think it�s helpful, but I understand it�s an emotional issue.�

Upshaw could not be reached for comment Tuesday. His position in the past has been that he works for current players, not retirees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.