Washington Post
Saturday, June 23, 2007
With criticism mounting about medical benefits for retired football players, NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw will meet next month with Commissioner Roger Goodell and several retired players to discuss the issue.
Scheduled to attend the July 24 meeting at the union's downtown offices are former NFL stars Roger Staubach, Jack Kemp, Willie Lanier, Frank Gifford and Jerry Kramer, the former Green Packers guard who has been one of the leaders of the retired players movement that has been demanding better benefits from the NFLPA.
Former players have complained that pension payments are smaller than those for players in other sports and that the process of obtaining disability payments is too difficult. The NFLPA says it is working with the NFL Alumni Association, the Hall of Fame and NFL charities to see if other benefits can be added.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on Tuesday to study the subject and has invited several former players to attend.
Kramer has been one of the loudest critics recently, forming a group called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund that collects funds for former players in need.
Although Upshaw and Goodell recently agreed to adopt Social Security standards for disability payments, dialogue has been limited between the union and many of the unhappy former players.
-- Les Carpenter
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