Gene Upshaw from the NFL Players Association is pictured above....Bryant Gumbel said that the Commissioner has this guy on a leash! Wow.
It seems that the retired NFL Players are putting the full court press on Gene Upshaw. I went to Chicago for the Rainbow Push Coalition meetings not too long ago, and I met a guy named Harry, I can't remember his last name. Yeah, it was Harry Carson. I was on a panel with him, Dexter Clinkscale and Alonzo Mourning, but I'd been running late after hosting a radio show with Santita Jackson (Jesse's daughter, who is a wondderful woman) so I didn't make the panel.
At any rate, I learned later that I should have been embarrassed that I did not know Harry's name. It turns out that he (a Hall of Fame player) was the only person with the testicles to make a case for the NFL to take better care of it's retired players, many of whom have no money and broken down bodies. I've seen these guys up close and the sh*t's not pretty! Some of them are 40 years old with the bodies of 70 year olds.....busted knees, bad backs, kidney problems, and whatever else comes up when you've been drugging up your body, taking bone crushing hits and then doing whatever it takes to get back on the field again.
There was a time when I dreamed of becoming an NFL player. But after seeing what happened to some of my friends in that league, I am incredibly happy that my dream never came true.
Apparently, congress is starting to get involved. Rep. Linda Sanchez and others are asking tough questions and forcing the answers from the NFLPA about why it is reported that the league keeps almost no records on injured players. Here is a quote from an investigation on the topic by ESPN :
"While the NFL has insisted that it is committed to helping disabled former players, the league does not maintain records of which players, or how many, are driven from the game by injury, ESPN.com has learned.
That fact is contained in more than 2,000 pages of documents the NFL and NFL Players Association delivered to the House Judiciary Committee last month. It has startled members of Congress who are investigating the NFL's disability benefits. And it has added to a growing feeling among key members of the House and Senate that the league's business practices deserve increased scrutiny and possibly new regulation."
The NFL should get its act together and show respect to the players who have given so much to the league. Also, the public should be better educated on the physical sacrifices players are encouraged to make in order to entertain them. A stronger policy against steroids, along with more objective health professionals would keep the sport on the up and up. I am getting tired of seeing players die before the age of 50.
4 comments:
You are COMPLETELY UNINFORMED! Get your facts before haphazardly making comments. The NFL probably has the strogest and stricktest Steroids policy of any professional sports organization. Have a sit down with both the NFL & the NFLPA and get enlightened about what the whole story is! As a person of color and a scholor, I would have expected more from you!
Wow, what a strong statement! I have personal, in-depth knowledge that the steroid policy is not as strong as you might think. I'll just leave it at that.
Perhaps you are on the payroll of the NFL, who knows?
The NFL needs to adjust its payscale. Guys coming out of college make more than guys who have been there. Name me another job in the world where the rookie makes more than a proven veteran. Rookies from first round pick to undrafted free agent need to be on a strict 2 year contract, making less than 7 figures each year. Make them prove themselves in real competition, not in some fixed college system where you can get 8 home games, and automatic championship status b/c of school tradition.
The NFL is all pucked up. They need to do a serious overhaul.
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