Gene Upshaw, the National Football League players association executive director, said one of the biggest issues in helping retired players with medical and financial needs is identifying them.
Former Baltimore Colts Bruce Laird and Tom Matte agree, but said they are curious why Upshaw didn’t reach out to them when the union, league and a group of retirees met to discuss the issue Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
Laird and Matte have been two of the most outspoken critics of Upshaw?s handling of the issue.
“We’re beyond all the name-calling,” Upshaw said. “We are now in the process of doing.”
Laird and Matte said they believe Upshaw has done little to help retirees in a number of areas, including improving the NFL’s disability eligibility process and representation in the collective bargaining process.
“Why was this meeting just taking place [Tuesday]?” Laird said. “I thought the union had been working on helping retired players for years.”
Upshaw said bringing the players together is the first step in improving health care benefits for retired players. Jack Kemp, Frank Gifford, Cornelius Bennett, Steve Largent and Jerry Kramer were among the retirees who participated in the meeting.
“The most important thing about what is taking place today is that this group of retired players and the players? union understand the plight of retired players,” Upshaw said. “We want to work as a single voice, a single group, to improve the plight of retired players.”
Matte questions why the league did not consult former players who are suffer from debilitating injuries or have been more active in the cause.
“Why isn’t the league and Gene Upshaw talking to the guys who are trying to make things happen?” Matte said. “Our objective is not to fight with the union. We just want to help those ‘makers of the game’ who need it the most. We’re not trying to call anyone names. We just want to give a voice to those retired players who don’t have one now.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the new alliance will unite the factions, giving retired players a single entity to contact when they have a problem.
He also wants to improve the flow of information in order to maximize the league?s health care benefits.
“We want to get more data, more research,” Goodell said.”We want to make sure we understand what condition our players are in and what are their needs so we can structure programs that are responsive and helpful to them.”
