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Los Angeles Times
by Jerry Crowe
July 4, 2010

After playing only one game as a professional in the 1960s, Roberts focused on a career as a surgeon. He now has partnered with the NFL Players Assn. to screen retired players for heart disease.

Reporting from New York � Archie Roberts knew he faced daunting, almost impossibly long odds, but he was young, ambitious and maybe a little naive.

He wanted to be a surgeon and a professional football player.

So there he was in the mid-1960s, the Columbia graduate and aspiring quarterback endeavoring to make an impression on the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins while also attending medical school, a daunting double few would even attempt.

Roberts, his professional football experience limited to one game, ultimately left a more indelible legacy with a scalpel than a football, performing more than 4,000 open-heart procedures during 2� decades as a cardiovascular surgeon.

More recently, he founded the Living Heart Foundation, which pioneered advanced mobile methods for cardiovascular screening in an attempt to raise awareness about heart disease.

Concerned about the increasing size of NFL players and the risks associated with the added weight, Roberts has partnered with the NFL Players Assn. to screen retired players.

"It's really something wonderful," Andre Collins, a former NFL linebacker and director of the NFLPA's retired players division, says of the program. "There have been life-threatening situations that have been avoided because of these routine screenings."

Roberts, 67, estimates that about 1,500 former players have been tested so far, with about 10,000 more to go.

"It feels natural and comfortable," the physician passer says of his return to the NFL universe all these years later. "I can make a contribution where I feel there has been a real need."

A three-sport letterman as a prep star in Holyoke, Mass., and again at Columbia, Roberts decided before he ever set foot on the Ivy League campus in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood that he would pursue a career in medicine.

But his football and baseball success at Columbia, where he set numerous Ivy League records in football and was an All-American shortstop, gave him opportunities he never anticipated.

The Kansas City Athletics, he says, wanted to make him a high pick in the 1965 amateur baseball draft � but only if the undergraduate would leave school a semester early.

The New York Jets showed interest too, making him the 51st pick in the 1965 AFL draft � after making Joe Namath the first.

"It was tempting," Roberts says over coffee during a late-morning interview at a midtown Manhattan eatery. "The money in sports back then wasn't what it is now, but to a kid that had very little money, from a small town in western Massachusetts, any kind of money like they were talking about, whether it was football or baseball, would have been appreciated.

"But it was not meant to be for me because of the way I was brought up and the value systems I had developed."

Medicine was his mission.

But then the Browns made an offer he couldn't refuse: In a deal brokered by owner Art Modell, a transplanted New Yorker, they paid for Roberts to study medicine at Case Western Reserve University while basically working part-time for the Browns.

For two seasons, Roberts joined the Browns at training camp, stayed with them through the exhibition season and then was assigned to the taxi squad as an emergency backup.

"In today's age, it wouldn't be possible," he says of the arrangement, "but even in those days, it was way out."

Roberts, however, longed to do more than sit and watch.

In 1967, sensing a greater opportunity elsewhere and without objection from the Browns, he signed with the Dolphins, who had joined the AFL as an expansion team a year earlier.

"But as luck would have it," Roberts says, laughing, " Bob Griese was drafted and came in that year."

During a semester's leave of absence from medical school, however, Roberts finally got onto the field.

In a 41-0 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, he completed five of 10 passes for 11 yards, with one interception.

And that was that.

He never played again and, after the season, returned to med school to resume his studies. A few years later, Roberts launched a distinguished career as a cardiologist.

Settled in Little Silver, N.J., with wife Nancy, the grandfather of six looked forward to several more years of open-heart procedures when, in 1997, he felt numbness in his right arm and helplessly slurred his words while giving a lecture.

He had suffered a stroke.

"I was a doctor giving advice to my patients but not living healthy myself," says the 6-foot, 190-pound Roberts, who at the time carried an additional 25 pounds. "There were risk factors that any good doctor would have recognized � I had put on weight and my cholesterol was high � yet I was too busy doing my thing.

"And that's pretty stupid."

The stroke may have prematurely ended Roberts' surgical career, but it led him back to the NFL through his foundation.

What if, years ago, he'd devoted his full attention to football?

"I've often wondered," Roberts says. "I'll always wonder. But I can never answer the question."

Thousands of heart patients, of course, are the better for it.

Hearing to be held on approval process for disability claims

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.retired07jun07,0,3455296.story?coll=bal-sports-football

From the Baltimore Sun
By Ken Murray and Jeff Barker
Sun reporters

June 7, 2007

With a questionable record for approving disability claims by former players, the NFL and its embattled players association will be asked to explain the process in a June 26 congressional hearing, a former NFL star and congressional sources told The Sun.

The House Judiciary Committee confirmed yesterday that it is inviting witnesses for an "oversight" hearing, which means it is not necessarily tied to any legislative action and is intended to educate members.

The hearing is to be held by the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, chaired by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez, a California Democrat.

Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson, who played for the New York Giants, said he has been asked to appear.

The NFL recently announced that 284 former players are receiving disability payments totaling $19 million this year. Some of those recipients, the league said, get as much as $224,000 annually.

But that's from a pool of approximately 9,000 retired players. Many former players say they distrust a system that sometimes takes two years for a resolution and often sends them to doctor after doctor.

"A lot of these players are losing when they are before the [retirement] board," said a committee staff member. Because the hearings have not been announced formally, no aide from the committee would be quoted by name.

Among the things the panel wants to look at is whether cases should come to arbitration sooner than they do, and whether players were disproportionately losing cases related to benefits.

Some retired players get lost in the system. Jennifer Smith, executive director of Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, which provides temporary help for former players in need, pointed to one such case.

She said her organization is supplying money for rent, food and prescriptions for the family of a 35-year-old former player with two children who "is as crippled as anybody I have ever seen."

Smith declined to identify the player but said he had been trying for four years to get a response from the union and "hasn't been assigned a doctor to go see."

"This is a fairly significant NFL player who spent the money he had left after his career on his personal medical care," she said. "He was unable to work. So we have come into the picture and stabilized the situation. We paid their rent for them; not just one month, but for four months.

"If the guy had been collecting disability, the family wouldn't be in this situation."

According to committee staff, interest in the process did not originate with any single lawmaker, but rather from a general concern over whether the system is working fairly and effectively to resolve issues related to retired players and disability.

The National Football League Players Association's retirement board consists of six trustees who render disability judgments. Three are management representatives: Ravens president Dick Cass, Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill and Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

The other three are considered player representatives and include former players Tom Condon, Jeff Van Note and Dave Duerson.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Philadelphia Daily News last week that all disability rulings must be unanimous or they go to an independent arbitrator. In the past 14 years, only one disability claim has gone to an arbitrator.

Yesterday, Aiello acknowledged that the league had been contacted by the subcommittee, but he deferred comment on details to the committee.

The NFLPA did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.

It is believed that both commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw will be invited to speak, along with several players who either have gone through the process or are familiar with it. A university professor or other arbitration expert also may be asked to testify.

Former players who already have been asked to participate are Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka and Carson.

June 5, 2007
Panthers.com

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke at the Charlotte Regional Partnership's luncheon honoring Panthers Owner/Founder Jerry Richardson on Tuesday. Following the event, he talked about his first year as NFL commissioner.

On what it means to present an award to Carolina Panthers Owner/Founder Jerry Richardson: A great deal. Jerry Richardson is not only an important person to the NFL, but he's also an incredibly important person to this region. What he's done for this region and to be able to honor him was a great honor for me.

On his relationship with Richardson: It goes back now almost 20 years to when he began his effort to get an expansion franchise. From the moment I met him, you just have a great admiration and respect for his integrity, his values and for his can-do attitude. He's always demonstrated that and he's been incredibly important both to me but more importantly to the League in his tenure as the owner of the Carolina Panthers. I can't say enough good things about Jerry Richardson.

On what kind of addition to the NFL the Panthers have been: I stated earlier I believe he's put together a model franchise here. It's representative of his community. It's representative of his family. He's done everything he can to make sure this franchise represents the community in the best possible way. I think he's somebody this region should be very proud of.

On conduct being a focus this offseason: It hasn't been our focus. Obviously, we've had to deal with that and we believe we're off to setting some important standards to making sure our players and their coaches and everyone involved in the NFL understand the importance of it. But it's an ongoing issue and it's going to continue to be an ongoing issue.

On the feedback he has gotten from the players on his conduct policy: We put this policy together with a lot of input from the players. I met with well over 100 players, including the union, and got a great deal of input to try to understand what are the issues we're dealing with and what should we do to try to address this issue. I think the reaction has been quite supportive. Our players are outstanding young men, and they are doing great things in their community. Obviously, we've had a few incidents we're not happy about and we've dealt with this and we've had the support of players in doing that.

On when he will know if the steps he has taken are successful: I think it's an ongoing issue you just have to address. You have to recognize we're dealing with young people, a large number of people, 2,000 young men, and mistakes, they're going to make mistakes. What we need to do is provide as many resources as we possibly can to help them make good decisions. But it's going to happen, and when it happens, they have to understand the consequences of that also.

On Richardson stressing the importance of character in his players: It's important for Jerry Richardson, because this franchise represents this community and his family, and it represents the National Football League. It's no mistake he's got the NFL shield at the 50-yard line of Bank of America Stadium. It means a great deal to him. I know he's supportive of the policy and so are the players, having met with them this morning.

On the rift between retired players and NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw: The retired players are important to us. They helped us build the game. I don't think there's anybody that I know of that's done more for retired players or players in general than Gene Upshaw. I think he's done a tremendous amount toward that. I think it's unfortunate that this kind of thing is going on. I think that's the reason Gene and I have talked about forming this alliance to make sure we can address these issues in a responsible fashion. I don't think it's helpful, but I understand it's an emotional issue also.

On what to say to both sides: I don't think they are both sides. I think we have a genuine interest, and Gene leans that way, to try to do what's responsible for our players. No one has done more for players than Gene Upshaw.

On if he wonders how much bigger the NFL can get: I think our game is a great game. I think it's healthy on all levels, and we're looking for ways to expand the popularity of our game, not only in the United States but on a global basis. We think there's still tremendous growth out of the National Football League, because the game is so strong and our fans are so passionate.

On his role as the NFL commissioner and being comfortable in his new position: Non-stop. It's always an issue we have to deal with, but I knew that getting into it. There weren't a lot of surprises when you start this job after being in it 25 years. You understand the role and the responsibility and the accountability we have to our fans. It's an awesome responsibility, but I enjoy it. I love the NFL and I want to contribute whatever I can to that.

On conduct being his stamp and other issues he hopes to advance: The media and I understand why it's focused on the player conduct issue. We are not. We have a number of challenges we are dealing with on a daily basis, mostly on how we continue to expand the popularity of the game. I think the player conduct is something that's important to the League, to make sure people respect our players and the NFL in general. But we're focused more on how we can continue to promote the League on a broader basis.

The media world is changing. We have to be responsive to that and make sure we can find ways to continue to deliver NFL football to future generations of NFL fans. So we're continuing to make sure we stay up with those changes and making sure we're positioned properly to continue to do that.

On if he is looking forward to the end of his first year as NFL commissioner: I can't wait.

On his first year as NFL commissioner: There have been no surprises. When you work for the NFL for 25 years, when you work for the two greatest sports commissioners, as I did with Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue, you're not surprised by much. On the other hand, feeling that awesome responsibility is really something you feel as much to the fans as much as to the ownership or anyone associated with the NFL.

by CHARLES CHANDLER
Charlotte Observer
Wed, Jun. 06, 2007

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell praised Gene Upshaw's advocacy for retired players Tuesday despite an ongoing rift between retirees and the NFL Players Association executive director.

"I don't think there's anybody I know who has done more for the retired players and players in general than Gene Upshaw," Goodell said after speaking at a Charlotte luncheon honoring Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. "I think he's done a tremendous amount for them."

Goodell declined to comment on a threatening remark Upshaw made recently about Hall of Famer and Charlotte resident Joe DeLamielleure, one of the NFLPA leader's harshest critics.

"I wasn't part of those discussions, so I don't have any response to it," said Goodell.

Carolina Panthers safety Mike Minter, however, said Upshaw's remarks were inappropriate, though Minter said he supports Upshaw's leadership.

Upshaw was quoted in Friday's Philadelphia Daily News as saying: "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."

Minter said even if Upshaw was upset with DeLamielleure, he should have expressed himself better.

"To say you're going to smash somebody else, that's pretty strong words," said Minter, who was a Panthers' player representative to the NFLPA from 2001 to '06. "I guess when you hold that position, even though you might be mad or upset about certain things, you've got to keep it to yourself.

"Even though (another) guy might be wrong and not looking at all the facts, you need to say what you say without threatening."

Minter said Upshaw should apologize.

"That's my philosophy," he said. "If you're wrong, you apologize and go from there.

"I think once he calms down and looks at it, he'll say, `Let me apologize to this man.' If it was me, I would."

Minter said DeLamielleure also might need to apologize. DeLamielleure has been a relentless critic of Upshaw for more than a year, repeatedly saying the NFLPA chief should be fired and "stinks" as a representative for former players.

Goodell tried to distance himself from Upshaw's comment Tuesday. When asked by the Observer why he wouldn't address Upshaw's comment but did speak recently about Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis' comments about dog fighting, Goodell said:

"That was taking a position on an issue. That was a completely different circumstance to me."

Minter said the comment didn't affect his long-time support Upshaw.

"The guy has been doing a great job as far as being the head of the NFL Players Association," said Minter. "I don't think one comment is going to tarnish this man's legacy of what he has done for the players."

Despite recent increases in pensions and other benefits for ailing retirees, Upshaw has been at the center of a firestorm of criticism from retired player groups.

Goodell and Minter said they wished the strife didn't exist.

"I think it's unfortunate this kind of banter is going on," said Goodell. "I don't think it's helpful, but I understand it's an emotional issue."

Goodell recently formed an alliance with the NFLPA to coordinate medical-support services for former players, which the commissioner said is an example of Upshaw's efforts on behalf of retirees.

Minter, entering his 11th season, said current players should be pro-active.

"We can't act like it's not going on," he said. "Hopefully, at the end of the day, we'll be able to sit down, the retired players with the active guys, and come up with a solution that works for both sides."

Minter said he believes the NFL and the NFLPA have tried hard to help former players but must remain aggressive in their efforts.

"You've got to be able to take care of the guy who built this deal to where we are today," he said. "I would say whatever we can do, and as quickly as we can do it, we need to jump on it and make it happen."

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.

Players union chief has threatening words for a critic

By Ken Murray
Baltimore Sun reporter

June 6, 2007

The simmering feud between the NFL Players Association and retired players boiled over when Gene Upshaw, the union's executive director, made threatening comments about one of his most vocal critics.

Speaking about Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News last week, Upshaw said: "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's outburst comes at a time when the NFL's image has been tarnished by repeated player arrests in the past year.

Commissioner Roger Goodell didn't speak directly about Upshaw's remarks during a visit to Charlotte, N.C., for a luncheon honoring Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson yesterday. But he clearly resented the latest firestorm in the league's relationship with its former players.

"Retired players are important to us," he told the Associated Press. "They helped us build the game. I don't think anybody I know has done more for retired players, or players in general, than Gene Upshaw.

"I think it's unfortunate this kind of thing is going on. I think that's the reason Gene and I have talked about forming this alliance where we can address these issues in a responsible fashion. I don't think it's helpful, but I understand it's an emotional issue."

DeLamielleure, who has criticized the union's pension and disability plans under Upshaw, said he takes the threat seriously, as does his wife, Gerri.

"A physical threat from a man in that position? I'm worried," Gerri DeLamielleure said. "When I can't get Joe on his cell phone, I'm real upset."

The DeLamielleures live in Charlotte, but when Gerri was unable to reach Joe for several hours when he made a trip to Buffalo recently, she feared for his safety.

"Of course Gene Upshaw was in the back of my mind," she said. "This was before any threat was ever made. You have to take something like that very seriously. It's very worrisome to me."

She isn't the only one. Bernie Parrish, a former union leader in the league who has sued the NFL's Players' Inc. over distribution of funds, said he considers Upshaw a "dangerous man."

"Running off at the mouth, threatening to break Joe D's neck, is an exposure of what he is like," Parrish said.

Parrish said he is concerned for the safety not only of DeLamielleure, but Bruce Laird, the president of the Baltimore Colts' alumni chapter of retired players.

"I think maybe [Upshaw] is getting a little desperate," Parrish said.

Although Upshaw's union has gotten pension increases for retired players in each of the previous four bargaining agreements, retired players average about $13,000 a year in benefits and feel they should be entitled to more given the NFL's nearly $7 billion in revenues.

"We have the worst pensions in sports with the best league," DeLamielleure said. "And the owners have given more than enough. The two owners I played for, Mr. [Art] Modell and Mr. [Ralph] Wilson are the best people I know. The owners give up 60 percent [of total revenue] and [the union] can't give retired guys more than $13,000?"

Laird, another critic of Upshaw, said Goodell's recent decision to create an alliance of NFL entities was the strongest statement about the retired players' lack of representation.

"My hope has always been to have true democratic representation in the union," Laird said. "But it's obvious to all of us ... that retired players have no place and no representation in the NFLPA.

"Even now, if I knew that Gene Upshaw would represent all players and have democratic elections and we would be part of the union and work with active players, I feel we have no interest in working with a gentleman of Gene Upshaw's morality. He is a nonentity. ... He means nothing to retired players."

DeLamielleure, a father of six, said he thought the threat was at least part intimidation.

"I do believe that Upshaw thought long and hard before he said that," DeLamielleure said. "There's no doubt in my mind. He thought, 'I can intimidate this guy.'

"It's really ugly, what's going on today. I feel bad for Goodell. He walked into a hornet's nest. He's got all these [player] arrests that he's got to get under control, and the guy who leads these men makes a threat like a gangster, like a thug."

Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
Tue, Jun. 05, 2007
by CHARLES CHANDLER

Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure said Monday he takes as a serious threat comments made about him last week by Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association.

In a story in Friday's editions of the Philadelphia Daily News, Upshaw defended his record for helping retired players and took aim at DeLamielleure, one of his harshest critics who has called for the NFLPA leader's ouster.

"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 by the Daily News.

Upshaw also said he told a group of Hall of Famers last year: "I'm not one to turn the other cheek. You're not going to hit me in the nose and I'm going to sit there and smile."

Upshaw declined to comment when questioned by the Observer in person Saturday at a retired players convention in Atlanta. He also did not respond to e-mailed questions Monday.

DeLamielleure, a Charlotte resident, said Upshaw's comments were unsettling to his family.

"At first, I was angry," he said. "All the competitiveness comes out in you and I thought, `I'd like to see him try.' But then reality sets in.

"My wife was petrified. We grew up in Detroit. You know what unions are. You hear about it. She goes, `Hey, this guy is a head of a union, a powerful union, and (when) he makes a threat like that, you'd better take it serious.'

"I'm not afraid of Upshaw, but he has the means to do what he said."

DeLamielleure has been a persistent critic of Upshaw and the NFLPA, saying they "stink" as advocates for retired players. He and fellow Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and Lem Barney held a pre-Super Bowl news conference in February to air concerns.

Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff, formerly of the Washington Redskins, said no one should take Upshaw's comment lightly.

"You can't say something like that," said Huff. "You're threatening a guy's life."

Former Cleveland Browns defensive back Bernie Parrish, a leader in the anti-NFLPA movement among retirees, said of Upshaw: "He's got a lot of money at stake. I don't trust him not to be violent. I have some concern for my friend Joe DeLamielleure."

Dr. Tom Terrill, an expert on labor unions and a University of South Carolina distinguished professor emeritus, said Upshaw's comments were grossly inappropriate.

"Upshaw has been in that position a long time (24 years)," said Terrill, who taught labor history and still serves as a labor arbitrator. "It sounds like he thinks he owns it. This is not a good attitude to have if you want to keep your position.

"Union leaders do this sometimes. They get in positions where they get elected and re-elected and (they think) no one can challenge them, that they can overcome any opposition. It's just not wise to do that."

If Upshaw, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman with the Oakland Raiders, were a current player or a team or a league employee, his comment might be considered a violation of the NFL's new conduct policy. One violation cited in the policy is "any crime involving the use or threat of physical violence to a person or persons."

However, as head of the players association, Upshaw is not subject to discipline under the policy.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, through league spokesman Greg Aiello, declined comment. Goodell is scheduled to speak in Charlotte today at a luncheon honoring Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.

Former Baltimore Colts safety Bruce Laird, who heads the Baltimore chapter of the NFL Retired Players Association, said he was deeply concerned by what Upshaw said and that it sets a poor example for current players.

"What's amazing is with the way the National Football League has had its problems in 2006 and 2007 and the concern about steroids and active players being out of line with drugs or guns, (here's) the executive director of active players threatening another Hall of Famer," said Laird.

"I think as any player, whether you're active or retired, you really have to sit back and go `Do you want this man representing you and the league?' That is the real question."

Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
June 5, 2007
by MICHAEL PERSINGER

Sometimes people in the news say things that later make them uncomfortable, and Gene Upshaw is uncomfortable these days.

Upshaw, the NFL Players Association executive director, says comments from him in a Jan. 15, 2006, article about retired NFL players' concerns over pension and health benefits were taken out of context. Most recently, he discussed the comments for a story in the Philadelphia Daily News.

The Observer interviewed 13 NFL Hall of Famers for the original story, all of them pioneers in a league that now generates $7 billion in revenue annually. Some of those players described crippling health and financial difficulties and expressed disappointment at how Upshaw was handling those issues.

Upshaw responded sharply to the criticism, both to the Observer and to other sources.

"The bottom line is I don't work for (the retired players)," he said in that January 2006 interview. "They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That's who pays my salary.

"They (retirees) say they don't have anybody in the (bargaining) room. Well, they don't and they never will. I'm the only one in that room. They're not in the bargaining unit. They don't even have a vote."

Those words created a firestorm among former NFL players that continues. That has made Upshaw uncomfortable, and he has fought to distance himself from the comments and discredit the Observer's story.

"The writer called me and said he had this quote from (Hall of Famer and Charlotte resident Joe) DeLamielleure, who says I don't do anything for retired players and every retired player ought to get up every day and try to get me fired," Upshaw told the Daily News for a story published Friday. "I said, `You can tell Joe DeLamielleure he didn't hire me, he can't fire me and I don't work for him.' But that's not the way it came out."

While DeLamielleure was among the 13 players the Observer interviewed, Upshaw's answers were in response to questions about retirees in general. He was quoted accurately. In fact, in the weeks before and after our story, Upshaw maintained the position reflected in our story in at least four instances:

� In a memo to retired players initialed by Upshaw and dated Dec. 2, 2005, before the publication of our article, Upshaw noted that "we help former players not because we have to, but because we want to, and perhaps most importantly, because the active players want us to. Like any other labor union, we represent only active employees. You are not union members and we do not represent you."

� In an e-mail to retired players dated Jan. 20, 2006, five days after publication, Upshaw said, "Much has been made of my recent comments to The Charlotte Observer. These comments were made in response to several retired players' criticism of me and the NFLPA. While my response was not meant to be offensive, I stand by what I said."

� An article in the New York Times on Feb. 2, 2006, said Upshaw "didn't back down" from comments in the Observer. In that story, he touted his record in improving benefits for retired players.

� At a Super Bowl news conference that same day, Upshaw addressed the plight of retired players and our story to the national media, but didn't mention concerns about how he was quoted or the context of our original story.

Also, he has never called the Observer to challenge our story or clarify his position.

So why did Upshaw wait more than a year to say he thought he was taken out of context? We tried to find out. Charles Chandler, the reporter on the original story, went to Atlanta Saturday, where Upshaw spoke to a gathering of retired NFL players. Chandler asked to speak with Upshaw.

Chandler outlined for NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis our reasons for being in Atlanta. Francis said Upshaw would have nothing to say and Upshaw was tired of "commenting on comments."

After initially being told Upshaw had left the meeting site, the Intercontinental Hotel in the Buckhead area, Chandler was told Upshaw had not left yet. Chandler, not a registered guest at the hotel, stayed.

Later, Upshaw twice ignored Chandler when he approached, once on his way from a meeting room to an elevator and once while he was on his way to a waiting car. Neither Upshaw nor Francis answered a follow-up e-mail seeking comment.

Chandler remained at the hotel, seeking to speak to others in the group of NFL retirees and NFLPA officials. A short time later, a hotel security guard asked Chandler to leave the premises at the behest of NFLPA officials.

Upshaw, whose annual salary is $4.5 million, and the league has made changes to the pension and health care packages for retirees since the Observer's story. Those changes, which include doubling older retirees' pensions from $100 to $200 per month per year of service, only begin to address the problem, some retirees say.

So, for now, questions remain about NFL retiree issues. And we intend to keep pursuing the answers.

Defends pension plan, despite ex-players' harsh words
By PAUL DOMOWITCH

WASHINGTON - The picture his critics have painted of Gene Upshaw in the last 16 months isn't a pretty one. It's a picture of a let-'em-eat-cake union boss who has grown rich and fat and has turned his back on the former players who helped build the $7 billion-a-year cash cow that is the National Football League.

It's a picture of a man who has done a terrific job of helping line the pockets of today's players, while ignoring the desperate pleas of their down-on-their-luck predecessors.

But how accurate is the picture? If you look at the dramatic improvements in the NFL retirement plan over the last decade-and-a-half, if you look at the new "88 Plan," the NFLPA-league joint effort named after Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey to aid ex-players suffering from dementia, if you look at the recently announced alliance between the league and the union to coordinate medical-support services for former players, that picture appears to be not very accurate.

But that hasn't prevented several ex-players, including Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, Joe DeLamielleure and Harry Carson, from lambasting their fellow Canton enshrinee for allegedly neglecting the game's retired warriors.

"We have been extremely disappointed by the refusal of the NFLPA and its executive director - himself a retired player - to advocate for retired players," Bruce Laird, a former defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers and head of the Baltimore chapter of the NFL Retired Players Association, said last week.

"However, we recognize that, as writer Upton Sinclair once said, 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.' "

If you think Michael Vick has a public relations problem these days, consider Upshaw, who is blamed for the plight of every ex-player who can't pay his bills or doesn't have proper medical care.

"I played next to a guy who's in a homeless shelter," DeLamielleure, who played 13 seasons for the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns in the 1970s and '80s, said last year. "Our pensions suck, plain and simple."

In February, Ditka saw fit to blame Upshaw and the union for the fact that brain-damaged Hall of Fame center Mike Webster had been homeless before he died 5 years ago in the coronary-care unit of Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital, even though he was receiving $9,000-a-month in disability benefits at the time of his death.

"I can't tell you if Mike Webster would have been alive today or not [with more support from the union]," Ditka said. "But I know he wouldn't have been a damn street person."

Upshaw, who has headed the players association for nearly 24 years, has been reluctant to lash back at his critics, because he knows how it will sound.

"If I speak the truth, I'm portrayed as a guy who isn't sympathetic, who has a million-dollar job and just cares about himself," he said this week during a 75-minute interview with the Daily News.

The truth, Upshaw insists, is that he always has looked out for the welfare of retired players. The truth, he insists, is that thanks to the improvements in pension benefits in the last four labor extensions, many retired players make more today than they did as players.

"Some of these [retired] guys have claimed that no one's representing them," Upshaw said. "That's crazy. We've always represented them. I'm the only one at the bargaining table who represents those retired players.

"When I go in [to negotiate a new CBA], I've got to fight for our 60 percent [the players' cut of the league revenue]. When I fight for the 60 percent, I'm also fighting for their piece. Because their piece has to come out of our piece. That's the only place it's going to come from."

Upshaw came off considerably less sympathetic of his fellow ex-players 16 months ago in a Charlotte Observer story in which 13 Hall of Famers, including DeLamielleure, claimed that the league and the players association weren't doing enough to help retirees.

"The bottom line is I don't work for them," Upshaw told the Observer. "They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That's who pays my salary."

That comment, which Upshaw now says was taken out of context, became the accelerant that turned a small brush fire into today's five-alarm blaze.

"The writer called me and said he had this quote from DeLamielleure, who says I don't do anything for retired players and every retired player ought to get up every day and try to get me fired," Upshaw said. "I said, 'You can tell Joe DeLamielleure he didn't hire me, he can't fire me and I don't work for him.' But that's not the way it came out.

"I told DeLamielleure the same thing to his face last year at the Hall of Fame [inductions] with all of the guys in the room. Because they know my record. They know it's not true [that he isn't an advocate for retired players]. You can't go back anywhere and find one instance where I've turned my back on [retired players].

"I know what we've done [for retirees]. If I didn't have a record to stand on, if I didn't have the history to look back at and know what we've accomplished and how difficult it was to get, maybe I would be overwhelmed [by the criticism]."

Any NFL retirees who have something to tell Upshaw have their chance today in Atlanta, where he is scheduled to speak at the annual convention of the NFL Retired Players Association. But most of his loudest critics, including Ditka, DeLamielleure and Carson, who last week called Upshaw "irrelevant," aren't expected to be there.

"I don't expect to be received any differently than I have been in the past," Upshaw said. "My record is what is. I can't change it.

"I'm not going to be defensive. I don't have anything to be defensive about. That's exactly what I told those guys at the Hall of Fame last year. I told them I'm not one to turn the other cheek. You're not going to hit me in the nose and I'm going to sit there and smile.

"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."

What really eats at Upshaw is that many of the ex-players who criticize him did little to support the players union in its early battles with NFL owners for fair wages and benefits.

When Upshaw took over the NFLPA in June 1983, it was coming off a failed 57-day strike the previous season and was more than $4 million in debt. Now, it has more than $220 million in cash and assets. The average player salary has risen from $120,000 to $1.6 million under his watch. According to the NFLPA, the players' Retirement Plan has assets of about $1 billion.

"The guys that are criticizing didn't help build this organization," Upshaw said. "They didn't help fight for these benefits that the players have, and didn't help fight for the improvements that are there. If you look back at the struggle and the fight, you don't see those guys.

"When I think back to the '70s when [the NFLPA] was starting, what we did and what we fought for, we couldn't get the [player] support. We couldn't get the support to fight for pensions. When we went to court in '74, I saw guys cross the picket line when I was standing on it."

Upshaw has negotiated pension increases for retired players in each of the last four collective bargaining agreements. The benefit credit per season for players who played in the league before 1970 has nearly quadrupled in the last 13 years.

"Look around the country," Upshaw said. "Talk to your [Newspaper] Guild. There aren't too many unions that improve the [pension] benefits for guys already retired. They're not going to do it. But we've been doing it every time we sit down at the bargaining table."

But with the NFL rolling in dough - its projected revenue number for 2007 is $7.1 billion - many retired players want to know why they can't have more. Monthly benefit credits for each season played range from $250 through 1981 to $470 per season for current players.

"Some guys want to know why they can't get the same pension as the active players," Upshaw said. "They want to know why we can't just do that. Well, for starters, because it would cost us $1 billion.

"They say, 'Well, you've got all this money in the pension plan.' Yeah. But when a guy knocks on the door 10 years from now [for his pension], I want to make sure he's got it. I don't want to be like United Air Lines or some of these other big corporations where the pension plan is gone. We're not going to do that.

"I look at the [player] revenue. I look at where we are. What I have to do is balance that between making sure the active players get their fair share and also taking a piece of that [revenue] and putting it away for retired players."

Upshaw said many retirees criticizing the plan started drawing their pensions too early and now are staring at much smaller monthly checks than they would have received had they waited until age 55.

DeLamielleure, who played in the NFL from 1973 through 1985, would collect $3,200 a month if he didn't touch it until 55. But he started drawing on it 10 years ago, when he was 45, and receives less than a third of that amount.

To prevent players from gutting their pension plan, Upshaw and the union insisted on changes to the retirement plan in the 1993 CBA that prevent players from touching their pensions until they turned 55.

"We did it to protect the players," he said. "You used to be able to draw 25 percent [of your pension] up front and take the Social Security option. We took all of that away. Guys today will never, ever have those issues.

"If you're a 10-year player today, and you do the maximum on your 401(k) and leave your pension in there until age 65, you can leave the game with [a pension of] $800,000 a year. If you play 5 years, it's half of that. We've protected them, so that they'll have that in place."

Major League Baseball, whose pension plan is considered the gold standard in professional sports, doesn't allow retired players to take their pension until age 62.

"If our pension plan were like baseball's, where you couldn't start drawing it until 62, it'd be a different story; it'd not be the same story," Upshaw said. "If you look at a guy like Ditka [who played from 1961 through 1972] who left his pension [untouched], Mike's pension is about $7,600 to $7,800 a month."

While Upshaw defends the NFL's pension plan with religious fervor, he acknowledges that there are problems with the other main component to the NFL Retirement Plan - disability.

According to league figures, only 284 former players received disability payments last year, totaling almost $20 million. That's a small number for a sport that wreaks as much havoc on the body as football.

The disability application process can take up to 2 years, with players shuttled to several doctors before a decision is rendered.

"There's a lot of red tape, a lot of delays," Upshaw said. "That's one of the things [NFL commissioner] Roger [Goodell] and I will be working very closely on.

"What we want to do is look at the Social Security standards [for disability]. If Social Security says a player can't work, we should automatically approve him right away. We shouldn't have to have him go through all this other crap."

Disability judgments are made by the plan's six trustees - three management representatives (Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and Ravens president Dick Cass) and three player representatives (former players Tom Condon, Jeff Van Note and Dave Duerson). But the board essentially must rely on the binding opinion of a physician agreed to by both sides.

Upshaw said the league clearly is inclined to reject most disability applicants.

"We [the three player trustees] believe it's our job to get a guy his benefits," Upshaw said. "But [the owners] don't feel the same way in a lot of cases. And I'm not talking about the three trustees. Where it really comes from is the advisers. The advisers don't want to set a precedent where we open the floodgates. They look for every reason [to reject players].

"It's always been a fight, always been a struggle, to add people to disability. It's very easy to see why the players get frustrated about this."

The league disputed Upshaw's contention that it is the reason many players are turned down for disability benefits. Spokesman Greg Aiello pointed out that all disability rulings must be unanimous or else they go to an independent arbitrator. He said only one disability case has been sent to an arbitrator in the last 14 years.

"We find Gene's statement a little puzzling," Aiello said.

The "88 Plan," which provides $88,000 a year for nursing or day care for ex-players with dementia or Alzheimer's disease or $50,000 a year for home care, appears to be going much more smoothly.

Since the plan - approved as part of the bargaining agreement last year - went into effect in February, 54 players have applied for assistance and 35 have been approved. The union is trying to identify as many candidates as possible and get applications to them or their family.

"I looked at all the names [of applicants] and put a red check mark by all of the guys that I played with or who coached me," Upshaw said. "It's a disturbing number.

"Are their conditions caused by concussions they suffered when they were playing? I'll let the medical guys make that determination. A lot of the guys are up in age. Maybe the head blows bring it on faster. But it also could be a matter of age. I don't know." *

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