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Arkansas News Bureau
Thursday, Jun 28, 2007

By Harry King

LITTLE ROCK - Normally, ESPN clips don't move me. This one did.

It was a 63-year-old woman detailing the lengths her late husband had to go through to sign an autograph; Sandra Unitas talking about John Unitas.

Her stark and disturbing words were much more riveting than the normal montage of long home runs, diving catches and wicked sliders that show up at 10 p.m. in late June. She was in Washington on Tuesday, along with former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, Garrett Webster, son of former Pittsburgh center Mike Webster, and others for a congressional hearing.

They are upset with the NFL Players Association's disability benefit system for retired NFL players.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., pushed for the hearing by the House Judiciary Subcommittee, including a plea in which she was quoted as saying, "The NFL is a billion-dollar organization built on the backs of individuals who have, in many cases, sacrificed their mobility, suffered traumatic brain injury, or worse."

Not into diplomacy on or off the field, Ditka made it clear that he wasn't interested in explanations, only action. Congress is often slow-moving and blunt might work in this case, but it was the widow's words that were touching.

To set up those words and to be fair, know that NFL spokesman Greg Aielllo said Unitas' application for total and permanent disability was denied. "In other words," he said, "he was able to work."

Unitas, who left the NFL in 1974, had two knee replacements and heart bypass surgery. He was involved in a variety of businesses, but his wife said she used rubber bands to strap pens to his right hand and that he employed a similar tactic to play golf.

"He would take a glove to a shoe repairman and they would put Velcro in and he would wrap it around the club so the club wouldn't go flying," she told the Baltimore Sun.

I did not see the testimony of former Minnesota guard Brent Boyd, who suffered concussions during his playing days, but he asked the subcommittee to be patient with him.

"I do have brain damage, when under stress, my brain gets less blood," he said.

His testimony and that of others are jolts about the violence of the game. Eyes wide open, players sign up for the mayhem, but they are uniform in their belief that they will escape long-term damage or that the pain is worth the pay.

To me, the legal issues are mumbo-jumbo, but humane treatment of the people who sacrificed their bodies for the NFL should be automatic.

It also seems that Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could have found their way to Washington for the hearing. Both cited scheduling conflicts.

In their stead, Douglas Ell, counsel for the players association and the disability plan, told Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., that 317 former players receive disability payments.

Pressed by Waters, Ell said there are about 8,000 retired players. "In one of the most dangerous sports in the history of mankind, only 300 players are receiving disability payments?" she said.

Supposedly, applying for benefits is a tedious process. On the other side, Ell defended the process, saying skilled lawyers are misrepresenting the facts.

Don't confuse me with the facts on either side. Surely, there is money available for the gladiators who sacrificed their bodies and their future to lay the groundwork for a league that is so big it has created its own network.

For instance, the Washington Redskins franchise is supposed to be worth more than $1.1 billion and the Dallas Cowboys franchise is worth more than $920 million. Franchises in Houston, New England, Philadelphia and Denver are worth $815 or more.

Players, too, have reaped benefits. Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush and others make megabucks, but a fourth-year player who does nothing but cover kicks received a minimum of $510,000 last year.

Sadly, some of those players probably don't have a clue about Unitas or what he meant to their bank accounts.



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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.