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By THOMAS GRANT JR.
Orangeburg, S.C. Times & Democrat Senior Sports Writer

Almost 20 years have passed since Harry Carson last suited up for an NFL football game.

Even in retirement, the Hall of Fame linebacker and former South Carolina State great still finds himself "playing in pain."

All of Carson's efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle still can't provide comfort for a right knee which is degenerating to the point where replacement surgery is an unavoidable option.

There's also a right shoulder ailing from nerve damage which brings on pain as excruciating as the one which occasionally flares up with Carson's lower back. Perhaps the most serious of Carson's post-NFL maladies are the lingering effects from years of constant blows on the gridiron which has resulted in post-concussion syndrome. The diagnosis was received two years after Carson's retirement in 1988 and has become quite common among other Hall of Fame greats like running back Earl Campbell.

Despite the physical difficulties to himself as well as his children (daughter Aja was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2006, around the same time son Donald was being treated for severe aplastic anemia), Carson continues to soldier on as he did for 13 seasons with the New York Giants.

"From a physical standpoint, I think I'm probably like so many other players with the aches and pains and arthritis and so forth in various parts of the body," he said. "For the most part, we learn to adjust to those aches and pains and we can't let those things stop us or deny us from doing what we need to do for our own survival."

Compared to some of his former teammates and fellow retired players, Carson is currently waging a campaign to receive better disability and pension coverage from the National Football League, but considers himself fortunate.

Daily exercises keep the 53-year-old in reasonably good shape and he's managed to maintain a financially independent lifestyle through his business ventures in the New York metropolitan area.

"You learn you have to take care of yourself and you can't look for the cavalry to come and take care of you," he said. "You have to take care of yourself. For the most part, I'm very fortunate that I go to the gym and I have an exercise regimen that if it had not been for staying in good, physical condition, I would have been broken down a long time ago. So my body is pretty much like, well, not too far off from when I played years ago. I have to maintain my weight and keep my blood pressure down. I really do have to work to order to maintain my physical appearance.

"I'm not going to allow myself to deteriorate in any way. I'm going to work and fight to maintain the physical presence that I have. I feel relatively good right now and at 53, I just think about some of my brethren who have passed away in their 40s and 50s and even some guys who are in their 30s who have passed away. So I have to make sure I take good care of myself because if I don't, nobody else is going to care about me."

Carson learned firsthand about the cold reality about dealing with the NFL Players' Association in retirement 11 years ago. Despite being diagnosed by doctors with post-concussion syndrome in 1990 after two days of testing, Carson was still declined for disability assistance by the NFL after only a 10-minute meeting with their experts.

It was during Carson's agonizing wait for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame that the issue over fair treatment for retired players took on a bigger priority than getting into Canton, Ohio.

"Each year, I would see players who are Hall of Fame players get introduced and have to hobble onto the stage or are barely able to walk and I said to myself 'That really is sad'," Carson said. "And then, in looking at that, I thought to myself, 'These guys were warriors when they played and now they're at a point where they can
hardly walk.' I thought it was sad, but in a way, I was sort of looking at my own future and I felt like if I didn't say something, especially with all of the guys that were screaming out about pensions and benefits being inadequate, if I don't speak out when I have an opportunity to speak out, then when I get to the point where I can't walk up on the stage to be introduced as a Hall of Famer, I have nobody to blame for myself."

Carson was more than ready physically and emotionally to receive his Hall of Fame induction last August. With former SCSU head football coach Willie Jeffries and other friends and family members in attendance, Carson did indeed use his enshrinement speech to bring attention to the plight of retired NFL players.

Since then, the issue has gained further momentum as former players like Mike Ditka and even the widow of NFL great Johnny Unitas continue to assail the disability policy as implemented by the NFL and Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw. On June 26, Carson and Ditka testified under oath at a hearing in Washington, D.C., before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law,
which was looking into the matter.

The hearing provided another harsh revelation for Carson.

"It really brought to light the mere fact that the NFL Players Association really does not represent the retired players," Carson said. "We really need to have our own union. We're a body without representation. The NFL Players Association all but admitted they did not represent us."

At the same time, Carson does not want to see the controversy reduced to an argument which pits current players against the retired players.

From his perspective, Carson believes the outcome of this issue should benefit both sides if handled properly.

"If people see it that way, that should not be the case because it's not 'Us versus Them'," he said. "Obviously, (the NFLPA) control the purse strings because the money the NFL gives to the Players' Association, they basically dictate what the retired players get so I don't necessarily see it as 'Us versus Them'. I see it as a case as,
Mike Ditka has already indicated, as just doing the right thing.

"Whether it's the retired players working with the current players or the retired players working with the NFL, whoever is involved really should come to the table and rectify a problem that is there. All of those players who are playing now at some point in the very, very near future will become retired players and they'll get a true understanding of what we're trying to fight for."

With another meeting set for late July, this time with Upshaw and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expected in attendance, Carson is hopeful for a resolution which would insure the next generation of retired players will not endure the same problems.

"If players are smart - and I'd like to think that players are smart - they need to understand what they're doing is very temporary and it's going to be over," he said. "It might only last for another year or two for them. At some point, they're going to be retired players and some of those guys who may look at it as that we're chastising them, some of those same guys are going wind up being on the same side as we are right now."