NFL, union unveil plan for needy retirees

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Baltimore Sun



Fund to cover costs of joint surgeries

By Ken Murray | Sun Reporter

For the third time in the past 13 months, the NFL and the NFL Players Association this week announced new initiatives designed to relieve financial strain on needy retired players.

One day after league commissioner Roger Goodell and union executive director Gene Upshaw met with 11 former players, the NFLPA unveiled a $7 million fund that will offer free surgery for joint replacement to uninsured retired players.

It was part of a four-point plan that also will attempt to simplify and expedite the application process for disability benefits, a major complaint of aging retirees.

While the financial commitment promised to lessen the burden on retirees, it did not entirely satisfy the rank and file who feel they have been treated unfairly by the union.


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.retired27jul27,0,4241730.story

[Doctor_J]

1. I hope this works

$7M sounds like a pittance, frankly, since the NFL TV revenue is about $1B every year. But the NFL is populated by 99% greedy ultra-right wingers and getting them to part with ANY money is a major step.

Good on all of them for making the move.

[BearSquirrel2]

2. If you haven't noticed ...

If you haven't noticed the players aren't without greed themselves. The league minimum is an exceptional salary. Many men and women toil in terrible working conditions for a fraction of what an NFL player receives. Their careers may be short, but very few people spend their entire life working for one company. We're all expected to change for the economy.

At the end of the day ALL of them are parting us from their money. They're building $1B stadiums instead of schools. They're fleecing the taxpayers and we're paying outlandish salaries through money built into endorsement deals.

At the end of the day this begs the question of why we don't take responsibility for the healthcare of ALL our citizens. This would include NFL veterans. Lets keep our eye on the prize.

[Doctor_J]

3. I meant the entire league -

players, owners, management, announcers - the lot of them. Any player who lasts in the league for 3 years makes more than a waitress or nurse's aide makes in his/her career. You can't listen to an entire broadcast without hearing unpaid, unsolicited commercials from the announcers for some right-wing cause.

Like the other rich in the US, the ballers have no sympathy or empathy for those who laid the groundwork for the superhighway that they now travel on. Yes, at some point soon we will have healthcare. For now the super-rich of the NFL should take care of their "ancestors"

[saigon68]

4. Good Post

:-)

[leaninglib]

5. Needy retirees...?

One year in the NFL and anyone with half a brain should be set for life.

[PittPoliSci]

6. i think its for people who retired long ago...

a former pittsburgh steeler ended up practically starving to death in 2002.

[LeftyMom]

7. Exactly

Most of the older players made very modest salaries and worked in the off-season to make ends meet. They often suffer from crippling health problems in their old age, and care for those with dementia (very common in older players) is extremely expensive.

[ryanmuegge]

8. I can sleep easier at night now. Thank you.

Knowing that aging cokeheads that put their (relatively) exorbitant salaries in their noses the the first time around will now get more money handed to them. Meanwhile, many Americans are making $6 an hour.

Of course, who could blame them for wanting more money when the league is so obscenely profitable. The NFL is disgusting, really. Every single thing about that league is a corporate tie-in to something. I can't even stand to watch that shit on TV anymore. The whole fucking organization just screams greed with everything it does.