Follow-up Message from Ron Mix

Gentlemen:

Since my letter to the Commissioner and Gene Upshaw was provided for your review, I have received a number of e-mail responses and a few telephone calls. It has come to my attention that many of you are not familiar with the earlier pension plan provision called the “Social Security Election.” Some of you have the impression that these players received an attractive buyout, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Social Security Election provision consisted, basically, of the following: (1) let us take an actual case study: at age 45, the player was entitled to receive a pension of $260.00.00 for 11 vested years of service; (2) the player had an option to make the Social Security Election and receive an extra $80.00 a month; (3) by doing so, the player agreed that his pension benefits would be reduced to $50.00 a month when he was eligible for Social Security (I do not recall that it was made clear that the pension would fall to $50.00 a month at age 62, as opposed to the age most players would have had in mind [65]).

From my conversations with players who made this election, the election was made because of economic duress. There may have been some who made the election because they had been informed by NFLPA representatives that the life expectancy for a professional football player was 55 and so made the leap of logic that “well, if I’m not going to be around anyway, I might as well get as much as I can at age 45” but I have not been informed by anyone that this was their motivation.

As pensions have been increased, they have been increased by percentages and this formula has, effectively, resulted in meaningless raises for the 325. For instance, the first raise was 10% so the fifty-dollar-a-month retirees received an extra $5.00 a month…and so it has been. Now, with subsequent raises, most of the 325 are receiving less than $150.00 a month.

Most of the 325 received extra payments that ranged from $60.00 to $80.00 a month. Thus, over the past 17 years (age 45 to age 62), such retirees received a total of between $12,000.00 to $16,000.00.

In my past lobbying efforts to the League and the NFLPA, I have been rebuffed with the position that the 325 were adult men who made a choice and they should now live with the consequences. I do not agree with that logic. First, the game is wealthy enough that one can be generous in spirit to the absolute detriment of no one. Second, the choices were made under economic duress, not free will. Third, a remedy can be constructed that takes into consideration that the 325 made an election: simply increase their pensions and have a payback provision for the extra money they received by the election.

I think it important to understand some history about the majority of players who comprise the 325. They played at a time when football salaries were at a minimum and a player better have a job waiting for him on Monday after the last game of his career. For example, Sam Huff (not one of the 325) earned $8,000.00 the year he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The 325 were part of the group that started both the NFLPA and the original union for the American Football League. All of you know how quickly the public forgets you once you stop playing. Post-career opportunities are few. Most of the 325 played at a time when the Civil Rights movement was in its infancy. If post-career opportunities were few for former players, post-career opportunities were even less available for African-American retirees. So, life takes over and with that comes illnesses, bad investments, divorces, job opportunity limitations because of football-related injuries, good fortune, and bad fortune.

America is about second chances. In many respects, football is about second chances. The Game can afford to be generous and forgiving, particularly to the players that helped usher football into the modern era of prosperity. The amount of money it would cost to increase the pensions of the 325 so that they can have a livable existence in their old age is modest in comparison with the amount of money that is available.

Your attention has been appreciated.

Ron Mix

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Letter from Ron Mix to Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw

November 2, 2005

The Honorable Paul Tagliabue
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Gene Upshaw
Executive Director
National Football League Players Association
2021 L. Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036

Re: NFL Pension Plan

Dear Commissioner Tagliabue & Gene:

The purpose of this letter is to request that you re-visit an issue I raised before the last collective bargaining negotiations: raising the benefits for the approximately 325 former players who made the Social Security Election, thus condemning themselves, in many instances, to not being a position to have a livable existence.

I fully appreciate that a simple response, and one not without some merit, is that this group (“the Group”) made their choice of their own free-will and should live with the consequences. However, to take such an unforgiving position is to ignore reality:

1. The Social Security Election was an ill-advised provision that defeated the concept of what a pension plan is to achieve: security in retirement;

2. The transition from football to a post-career is often difficult;

3. Many, if not most, of the Group made their election because of financial hardships that come with divorce, illness (chronic illness of my wife), need for extra money to meet obligations (Herb Adderley: college education for children), job loss, and mistake (my Charger teammate, Paul Lowe, thought that his pension would be reduced by $50.00, not become $50.00);

4. The past pension increases were designed to improve the retirement income of all retired players; yet, the members of the Group were left behind.

When the pensions were initially increased, and with each subsequent increase, a structure could have been included to address the Group that was less punitive than using their $50.00 a month pensions as a base.

I would urge you to consider an increase of pensions for the Group that is not limited to a percentage of their current pensions. For instance, I, and many others, am currently receiving pensions of less than $150.00 a month. Those current figures could be increased 100% and still leave the Group wanting. I would like to suggest a program that will take into consideration the fact that the members of the Group made the election and received a larger pension amounts than they normally would from the ages of 45 to 62 (for instance, if I recall accurately, most received an extra $70.00 or $80.00 a month).

The suggested program envisions that the pensions of the Group would be raised to the same dollar amount as other retirees with the caveat that all extra monies received by the members of the Group during their election period would be recovered by the Plan by withholding Fifty Percent (50%) of the improved pension until the Plan recovers all advanced monies plus interest.

As an alternative, the pensions of the Group could be improved to $125.00 a month per year of service. This would be, of course, a less desirable course but that is an amount, when coupled with a Group member’s Social Security, might give him and his family a livable existence.

I can tell you that I have spoken to many former players who did not make the Social Security Election, and some current players; not one of them were concerned with how the Group members reached this unenviable position (their own election); they were more concerned that the current problem be addressed.

Your respective consideration is requested and needed.

Sincerely,

Ron Mix

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Message from Ron Mix

My fellow players:

Your efforts on behalf of all former players are very much appreciated. For several years, I have been urging the NFLPA and the League to correct circumstances that have, effectively, resulted in approximately 325 former players being left behind as pensions have increased. I have attached one of my more recent letters to Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw on the subject. (See next blog entry.)

These players are all vested and many had long careers in the NFL; it is reported that 40 of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I present this information by way of illustrating that, collectively, these players have played a significant role in building the game to its current status.

Most of these former players are receiving pensions of less than $150.00 a month. The full story is in the attached letter.

I will be in direct contact with Butch Byrd on the subject. I ask that you forward this message, and the attachment, to whoever has the largest e-mail list of former players and request that this message and the attachment be forwarded to former players for their consideration and, hopefully, support.

Ron Mix
San Diego Chargers (1960-69)
Oakland Raiders (1971, 1972)

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Screening Tackles Health Problems of NFL Players

It's not just their shoulders and knees that often need attention. Physicians say the athletes frequently develop heart disease.

By Julie Cart
Times Staff Writer

April 3, 2006

Mike Sherrard had no reason to think he was in anything other than excellent health. The 42-year-old was still lean and fit, even after eight bruising seasons as a wide receiver in the National Football League. With three years as the average stint for an NFL player, Sherrard saw himself as lucky to have had a long career to walk away from without limping.

But when the former UCLA star heard about the recent sudden deaths of several former NFL players living in California, he was scared into action. "With so many former players dying at a young age, it is a huge wake-up call," he said Sunday, while waiting to complete a cardiovascular screening in Boyle Heights sponsored by the NFL Players Assn.

The Living Heart Foundation, funded by the players union, put about 60 active and former players through comprehensive testing over the weekend as part of a three-year study to explore the relationship between professional football players and unexpected death, particularly undetected cardiovascular disease.

"We know that body mass is a major factor in heart disease, and we know that football players are often very large people," said Archie Roberts, a cardiac surgeon and founder of the Living Heart Foundation. Roberts, a former NFL quarterback, said data collected from about 700 players will be forwarded to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for analysis. That information, Roberts said, will be compiled into the first-ever medically based report examining the rate of cardiovascular disease among professional football players — a relationship that anecdotal evidence has suggested is quite strong.

The most obvious risk factor is body weight. In a sport in which it is not uncommon for offensive and defensive lineman to weigh 300 pounds or more, physicians say that unless players entering retirement are educated about maintaining a proper diet and continuing to be physically active, they become susceptible to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart attacks and strokes.

Roberts said a condition called "athlete's heart," in which the heart muscle is enlarged and thickened, puts many football players at risk for a sudden heart attack. Thomas Herrion, 23, a 330-pound lineman for the San Francisco 49ers, collapsed after a preseason game last year and died of a heart attack.

"When I was playing, a big guy was 250 pounds. That's obviously different now," said Ed Marinaro, a former All-American running back at Cornell University and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1971. He had a six-year career in the NFL. "My generation was old school. We would eat steak and eggs before a game, thinking we needed all that protein. Think of what that does to your heart.

"It's different now — there is a lot of information. If young players don't know how to take care of themselves, they have their heads in the sand."

Marinaro, 56, has been an actor for more than 25 years and says he's careful about his diet. Still, he's beginning to feel the cumulative effects of football collisions and the eat-all-you-can mentality.

"Guys I played with died recently. It's scary," he said, adding that he was notified about the screening sessions by a letter from the local chapter of the NFL Players Assn. "At my age, I'm concerned about my health. I don't think it's good for the sport to get a letter that tells me I'm at risk of dying when I'm in my 50s."

Like many former players, Bob Zeman expected his biggest concerns after his playing days were over would be orthopedic; he's had two shoulder surgeries and four knee surgeries. But Zeman, a defensive back who retired in 1966 and went on to coach the Oakland Raiders, said he's taking medications to control his blood pressure and cholesterol.

"I think this program is awesome; it's great they are doing this," Zeman said. "I've had friends who have had heart attacks and strokes, some of my good friends. We need to figure out what to do."

While the study's results will guide much of the future approach to aftercare for former players, the key to preventing cardiovascular problems is educating current players, said Alan Levy, team physician for the New York Giants. He said the team was among the first in the NFL to hire a nutritionist.

"If I tell a player to lose weight, he won't — he knows he'll lose his job," Levy said of the linemen. "We focus on teaching them proper diet and how to eat properly when they leave the NFL." Levy said a related health problem for bigger players is sleep apnea, which often occurs among players with necks larger than 17 inches around. Testing for the condition was included in the weekend's screening, in part a response to a study that found 34% of the league's linemen had some form of sleep apnea.

Levy said sleep apnea occurs when a player is sleeping and his neck muscles relax. The weight of the muscles collapses the trachea, cutting off oxygen to the brain. The sleeping player will momentarily wake up and change position, but Levy said the condition carries potentially serious effects, including hypertension and stroke. The sudden death of former Green Bay Packer defensive end Reggie White in his sleep last January was attributed in part to sleep apnea.

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

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Vincent Provides Veteran Opinion

by Chris Brown, buffalobills.com
04/03/2006 10:52 AM

Bills free safety Troy Vincent is always busy, whether it's his construction firm, his financial services company, his community work or raising his five children. Over the past year however, he often found himself without a minute to spare. Being president of the NFL Players Association in a year when an extension to the NFL's collective bargaining agreement was necessary the phrase "down time" did not exist.

Vincent was constantly huddling with NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw and their chief negotiators. He was responding to inquiries made by players through Executive Committee members. And with the delays in negotiations it only made things more hectic as the rank and file wanted an answer to a popular question.

"Do I think it will happen," said Vincent of the most common question he faced during negotiations on an extension to the CBA. "I always knew we would have one I just didn't know when. I believe the men were educated enough to understand the decisions I was having them make for our association presently and for the future."

Vincent knew there were some rank and file players who wanted more communication to remain informed about the goings on at the negotiating table. But he also knew there had to be a limit to what could be released.

"There were certain things I wouldn't discuss with a player," said Vincent. "There were certain things that Gene Upshaw and I couldn't tell anybody, even the attorneys and the people working alongside us because people talk. We did not want to see certain things leak out. We had things that weren't supposed to be discussed by our peer group."

Vincent believes the tight lid on some aspects of their negotiating plans enabled them to secure a very good agreement with the league's owners.

"We're pleased, we're satisfied," he said. "There is labor peace which is always good to have. We've learned a valuable lesson from the other sports with strikes and lockouts and not having a cap. We didn't want that to happen to us."

Among the bigger accomplishments Vincent believes the Players Association made was getting more favorable language for the players for situations like that of Terrell Owens and on signing bonus forfeitures.

Disciplinary action against a player is limited to four weeks and includes weeks when a player is deactivated, thereby removing the option the Eagles made use of with Owens last season.

A player can only lose 25 percent of his signing bonus that year if he acts in a way that undermines his ability to fully participate in a game. An example would be Kellen Winslow Jr.'s motorcycle accident.

NFL teams can't get back signing bonus money if a player retires. It would have to be negotiated in a player's contract for it to happen. Barry Sanders premature retirement would be an example.

Teams also can't go back and collect signing bonuses, performance bonuses or escalators earned in past years, like the Dolphins tried to do with Ricky Williams.

"To get that language in to protect the men was extremely important," said Vincent.

Buffalo's veteran defensive back also understands why Bills owner Ralph Wilson was so outspoken about the labor accord which he voted down.

"When I first saw Mr. Wilson's interview I had my share of things in the agreement that I didn't fully understand either," said Vincent. "Why would you say yes to something you don't know everything about?"

As far as the Bills are concerned, Vincent is encouraged by what he's seen from General Manager Marv Levy in free agency.

"I'm extremely excited to see the action," he said. "I think we've been extremely aggressive in the market. What that says is you have a commitment to win."

With respect to the 'cover-two' scheme in which he'll be playing Vincent says he's solicited the opinion of several players about the scheme and is on board.

"When you look at Tampa and Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis, every one of those places runs a variation of the 'Tampa 2' scheme," Vincent said. "For a defensive back it doesn't get any more vanilla. You line up and play. You take away all the complex terminology and scheming and you just play football."

And while Vincent will be busy learning the new scheme with the rest of his teammates, he'll remain busy with league affairs as well after recently being re-elected as President of the NFLPA.

"I'm pleased and honored the men still trust me," he said.

Vincent said the lesson he learned in his first term as NFLPA president was you can never please everybody. He's also determined to delegate more responsibility to his Executive Committee which is made up of 10 other current NFL players.

"I'm going to expect more of the people that are alongside me."

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Quote of the Day

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it."

- Marian Anderson

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Azumah got out while he still had a chance

The Northwest Herald
Sunday, March 26, 2006

It was good to see Jerry Azumah looking fit and sounding optimistic about the future when he announced his retirement from the Bears on Thursday.

You hope he stays that way.

You hope Azumah, 28, got out before moving too far down the road toward a lifetime of physical agony and emotional depression.

That is the plight of a lot of retired NFL players, who pay a steep price for their years in the limelight.

"I decided it was more important," Azumah said, "to be able to spend quality time with my friends and family and function normally when I'm 45 than to make a lot more money or even win a Super Bowl ring."

Functioning normally, the way most of you reading this are able to function, is a foreign concept to large numbers of retired pro football players.

More than half of the 500 retired players who responded to a recent survey by the NFL Players Association said they suffered from arthritis in their post-playing days. Nearly half had neck, back and vertebrae problems. Depression or irritability, headaches, and weakness in the arms, hands or legs also were common.

The NFLPA's director of benefits, Miki Yaras-Davis, said players "live a normal lifespan. But in a lot of cases, their latter years are not comfortable [physically]."

Even though he got out when he did, Azumah might not be able to avoid the affliction that came up most frequently in the NFLPA survey. He already has shown signs of developing degenerative arthritis in his hip, which required arthroscopic surgery last August and more invasive surgery after the season.

Dr. James Andrews, a renowned orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham. Ala., told ESPN.com arthritis in the hips, knees or spines is among the most painful chronic conditions a person can have.

"What you end up with is a bunch of ex-NFL players in their 40s and 50s who shouldn't have arthritis, but [who] have degenerated knees and need total replacement done at an early age," Andres said.

At least Azumah's surgery happened when he technically was an active player, which meant he did not have to worry about paying for it. If he needs another procedure, say, a decade from now, he will not be as lucky.

Retired players receive group medical insurance at no cost from the NFLPA, but only for five years. If their medical problems linger beyond that, they can get stuck with hospital bills in the five-figure range if they need hip- or knee-replacement surgery.

Even for players who made millions, like Azumah did, the costs take a significant financial toll as the surgeries and bills pile up over the years. For someone who played only two or three seasons at the minimum salary (as of 2005) of $450,000, medical expenses can be a complete drain of resources.

Serious football injuries, then, are life-changing moments, and they can happen abruptly and without warning. The only way players control their destiny is by choosing not to play.

That is what Azumah did. He made the right choice.

He might not know for years whether he made it in time.

* Nick Hut is a sportswriter for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached via e-mail at nhut@nwherald.com.

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