Forty Six Zone
February 6th, 2007This is sad.
The following will reinforce anyone’s belief that the media’s priorities often are out of whack. On Thursday morning in the NFL Super Bowl media center there was a press conference for retired players, to discuss the league pension/disability problems, hosted by Mike Ditka and Jerry Kramer. Only 12 hardcore football writers showed up. That same afternoon, there was another press conference introducing Prince as the Super Bowl halftime act. About 1,000 media types showed up for that earth-shaking announcement.
[Ditka] could’ve spent Super Bowl week reveling in the resurgence of the team he coached to a Super Bowl crown in 1986. Instead, Ditka stormed around Miami pleading for assistance for retired NFL players who have major health and disability issues, former players who have been left in the cold by their union and league. Ditka, who needs no assistance, stood up, was counted and even told the media that “an owner of a team in another league pledged $100,000 to the cause at dinner Wednesday night.” Ditka is coming up mighty big here.
If you’re wondering what the issue is, exactly, look here.
One of the big issues at the Super Bowl this week has been the help - or lack thereof - afforded the men who played the game before proper safety and high salaries became the norm. There are many men who are suffering because they played professional football in an age when aspirin was used to treat concussions and helmets had about as much cushion as a piece of steel. Some former players can barely walk. Others suffer from dementia. Some are homeless. Others can’t pay their bills. Many are too proud, or too ashamed, to ask for help, and the help that is available is inadequate.
Monthly pension payments, in many instances, wouldn’t cover groceries for a few days, much less medicine, doctors’ bills or physical or mental therapies. The NFL is richer, more powerful and more popular than it has ever been, and yet the forefathers of the game have been kicked outside the periphery. It is an ugly reality. On Thursday, Vincent said he was “at the pulse” of the issue between retired and active players, and said it was “a major concern” of the union’s. But he bemoaned the retired players’ tactics at improving their situation. Vincent said that he hears about it from coaches on the sidelines during games or when he runs into a former player at an airport. It’s always the same, Vincent said: The retired players want more money, while the active players would like a little help - advice, perspective, whatever you’d like to call it - from the men who preceded them.
“The only thing we hear about is the economics,” Vincent said. “We can’t please everybody.” But according to Jerry Kramer, the former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman from 1958 to 1968, not many former players are pleased at all. Herb Adderley, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, receives just $126.85 per month from his NFL pension. Hall of Famer Willie Wood is in an assisted-living facility, and without the help of Mike Ditka and others, he couldn’t afford the care. Kramer started the Gridiron Greats Assistance Program to help players in need and recruited Ditka to help raise money, an effort that includes an ongoing memorabilia auction at jerrykramer.com. “The thing that’s been making my heart ache,” Kramer said, “is some of my teammates and warriors are having a hard time.” Said Ditka: “The guys today who play the game are not the makers of the game. They are the keepers of the game.”
There’s just so much wrong with that. Pensions and healthcare in this country need to be remade, and that starts with a mindshift, beginning at the top, that says people deserve to be treated well. Kudos to Mike Ditka for working to make that happen.