By Mike Vandermause
PackersNews.com
February 2, 2007
Most Packers fans think of Willie Wood as the hard-hitting, sure-tackling safety who was part of five championship teams in Green Bay during the 1960s and earned a berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The picture of Wood today is far less flattering. He resides in an assisted care facility in Washington, D.C., and gets around with the aid of a cane and walker.
Surgeries on his back, hips and knees over the years have left him virtually incapacitated. Overweight and discouraged, the 70-year-old Wood desperately needs physical therapy.
His condition is heartbreaking, and what's worse is, Wood doesn't have the money to pay for necessary care.
NFL pension and disability benefits for players Wood's age are woefully inadequate, and a number of ex-NFL stars like Wood have slipped through the cracks.
The situation has prompted one of Wood's ex-Packers teammates, Jerry Kramer, to take action. Kramer has started a campaign called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund to raise money for former players who have fallen on hard times.
Kramer held a news conference on Thursday in Miami, site of Super Bowl XLI, in hopes of raising awareness about the problem.
"These are your brothers, these are your pals, these are the guys you went to war with," said Kramer in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "It feels good to be able to help them out. It feels bad that they need to be helped out."
Kramer has enlisted the aid of several former NFL stars, including Willie Davis, Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers. An auction featuring NFL memorabilia will help raise money, and donations can be made at jerrykramer.com, a non-profit Web site.
Wood's condition underscores a serious problem among players who competed during that era. Not only were salaries then a fraction of what they are today, but also pensions for anyone who played before 1977 are embarrassingly small.
Former Packers cornerback Herb Adderley, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, earns a pension of $126.85 per month. Adderley is so disgusted he refuses to attend NFL functions and has stopped wearing his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings.
"I thank God that I didn't depend on my NFL pension," said Adderley in an e-mail on Kramer's Web site. "If I had, I would be homeless."
Both the NFL and the players' association have been blamed. Ditka, a former player and head coach, is spitting mad.
"It's a disgrace," Ditka was quoted as saying on the Yahoo! Sports Web site. "The owners ought to be ashamed of themselves. The owners are financiers, and they are all about making money. They don't care about the history of the game."
Kramer hopes the league and the players' union do something. After all, the same players who are struggling are the ones who helped lay the foundation for the NFL's success as a big-money industry.
In the meantime, Kramer isn't going to stand idly by and watch his former comrades suffer. "I've got guys in homeless shelters today," he said. "They've got pneumonia. They need help, and they need it right now."
That includes Wood, whose care over the next 90 days has been paid for thanks to the efforts of Ditka, Kramer and others.
"The whole process is pretty tough for him," Kramer said of Wood. "He needs to get his butt moving pretty good and somebody who gives a damn about getting him moving."
Wood and other players from that era gave themselves up for the game. It's time they receive something in return.
PackersNews.com
February 2, 2007
Most Packers fans think of Willie Wood as the hard-hitting, sure-tackling safety who was part of five championship teams in Green Bay during the 1960s and earned a berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The picture of Wood today is far less flattering. He resides in an assisted care facility in Washington, D.C., and gets around with the aid of a cane and walker.
Surgeries on his back, hips and knees over the years have left him virtually incapacitated. Overweight and discouraged, the 70-year-old Wood desperately needs physical therapy.
His condition is heartbreaking, and what's worse is, Wood doesn't have the money to pay for necessary care.
NFL pension and disability benefits for players Wood's age are woefully inadequate, and a number of ex-NFL stars like Wood have slipped through the cracks.
The situation has prompted one of Wood's ex-Packers teammates, Jerry Kramer, to take action. Kramer has started a campaign called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund to raise money for former players who have fallen on hard times.
Kramer held a news conference on Thursday in Miami, site of Super Bowl XLI, in hopes of raising awareness about the problem.
"These are your brothers, these are your pals, these are the guys you went to war with," said Kramer in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "It feels good to be able to help them out. It feels bad that they need to be helped out."
Kramer has enlisted the aid of several former NFL stars, including Willie Davis, Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers. An auction featuring NFL memorabilia will help raise money, and donations can be made at jerrykramer.com, a non-profit Web site.
Wood's condition underscores a serious problem among players who competed during that era. Not only were salaries then a fraction of what they are today, but also pensions for anyone who played before 1977 are embarrassingly small.
Former Packers cornerback Herb Adderley, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, earns a pension of $126.85 per month. Adderley is so disgusted he refuses to attend NFL functions and has stopped wearing his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings.
"I thank God that I didn't depend on my NFL pension," said Adderley in an e-mail on Kramer's Web site. "If I had, I would be homeless."
Both the NFL and the players' association have been blamed. Ditka, a former player and head coach, is spitting mad.
"It's a disgrace," Ditka was quoted as saying on the Yahoo! Sports Web site. "The owners ought to be ashamed of themselves. The owners are financiers, and they are all about making money. They don't care about the history of the game."
Kramer hopes the league and the players' union do something. After all, the same players who are struggling are the ones who helped lay the foundation for the NFL's success as a big-money industry.
In the meantime, Kramer isn't going to stand idly by and watch his former comrades suffer. "I've got guys in homeless shelters today," he said. "They've got pneumonia. They need help, and they need it right now."
That includes Wood, whose care over the next 90 days has been paid for thanks to the efforts of Ditka, Kramer and others.
"The whole process is pretty tough for him," Kramer said of Wood. "He needs to get his butt moving pretty good and somebody who gives a damn about getting him moving."
Wood and other players from that era gave themselves up for the game. It's time they receive something in return.
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