by Leighton Ginn
The Desert Sun, Palm Desert, Calif.
April 18, 2007
PALM DESERT - On a night where several ex-NFL players were donating their time for charity, those same players were questioning the NFL and its failure to provide health care for its needy veterans.
The NFL Alumni Chapter of Southern California are in Palm Desert for the Gridiron Golf Classic today. At Tuesday night's pairings party, many players voiced their displeasure with the NFL failing to provide adequate health care for its neediest retirees who are suffering from ailments traced to their playing days.
During the Super Bowl, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka began spreading word about the problem, generating national attention.
Ditka has refused to attend the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and was the subject of a "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" story on HBO, as well as other print articles.
Former Los Angeles Rams guard Dennis Harrah said the best man at his wedding, former teammate Gary Dunn, has suffered from several ailments and will need to have a leg amputated. And he has been unable to qualify for disability through the league, having been turned down 12 times.
And Dunn is one of many former players who have suffered from conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia and depression from having various head injuries during their playing days.
"It's such a tragedy that we have to deal with no health insurance," Harrah said. "All we want is a fair share. I come from West Virginia. The coal miners today took care of the coal miners that have black lung. You know what, that's all we're asking for.
"All I can say, if the coal miners can take care of their fallen soldiers with black lung, we can take care of a fallen soldiers with the head, back, knee and other injuries they sustained. It was a great job and I was lucky and fortunate to have it, but we have to take care of our fallen soldiers."
Mike Pyle, who played on the Chicago Bears in 1963, talked about his teammate, Larry Morris, who is suffering from dementia and was the subject of a Chicago Tribune feature over the weekend.
"He was the same as I always was, if we didn't play (former coach George) Halas would get rid of us," Pyle said. "It's a current story and it's a very sad story. There's no system to help."
Tied in with the health care problem is the pension. Although the NFL is a $6 billion dollar business, the pension for former players trails other sports such as baseball.
Chuck Detwiler, a former defensive back with the San Diego Charger, has been a financial planner since he retired from the league and understands the difficulty of getting funding for the NFL's pension and health care.
"The truth of the matter is, in order to take care of the retired guys, the players and the owners would really have to come up with the money," Detwiler said. "Not that they can't, but you can't expect the modern day player to pay for the retirement of a player from years ago. It is what it is, our salaries were low back then. The benefit pension is based on what you made. As much as I would love to see changes, I see the complexities of it."
As difficult as it might be to come up with the financing to help suffering players, Harrah said he finds it unacceptable not to be proactive to help others.
"We got the tents here tonight. I can fill up the tents with the air I got about the disgruntled feeling I have over the union," Harrah said.
The Desert Sun, Palm Desert, Calif.
April 18, 2007
PALM DESERT - On a night where several ex-NFL players were donating their time for charity, those same players were questioning the NFL and its failure to provide health care for its needy veterans.
The NFL Alumni Chapter of Southern California are in Palm Desert for the Gridiron Golf Classic today. At Tuesday night's pairings party, many players voiced their displeasure with the NFL failing to provide adequate health care for its neediest retirees who are suffering from ailments traced to their playing days.
During the Super Bowl, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka began spreading word about the problem, generating national attention.
Ditka has refused to attend the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and was the subject of a "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" story on HBO, as well as other print articles.
Former Los Angeles Rams guard Dennis Harrah said the best man at his wedding, former teammate Gary Dunn, has suffered from several ailments and will need to have a leg amputated. And he has been unable to qualify for disability through the league, having been turned down 12 times.
And Dunn is one of many former players who have suffered from conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia and depression from having various head injuries during their playing days.
"It's such a tragedy that we have to deal with no health insurance," Harrah said. "All we want is a fair share. I come from West Virginia. The coal miners today took care of the coal miners that have black lung. You know what, that's all we're asking for.
"All I can say, if the coal miners can take care of their fallen soldiers with black lung, we can take care of a fallen soldiers with the head, back, knee and other injuries they sustained. It was a great job and I was lucky and fortunate to have it, but we have to take care of our fallen soldiers."
Mike Pyle, who played on the Chicago Bears in 1963, talked about his teammate, Larry Morris, who is suffering from dementia and was the subject of a Chicago Tribune feature over the weekend.
"He was the same as I always was, if we didn't play (former coach George) Halas would get rid of us," Pyle said. "It's a current story and it's a very sad story. There's no system to help."
Tied in with the health care problem is the pension. Although the NFL is a $6 billion dollar business, the pension for former players trails other sports such as baseball.
Chuck Detwiler, a former defensive back with the San Diego Charger, has been a financial planner since he retired from the league and understands the difficulty of getting funding for the NFL's pension and health care.
"The truth of the matter is, in order to take care of the retired guys, the players and the owners would really have to come up with the money," Detwiler said. "Not that they can't, but you can't expect the modern day player to pay for the retirement of a player from years ago. It is what it is, our salaries were low back then. The benefit pension is based on what you made. As much as I would love to see changes, I see the complexities of it."
As difficult as it might be to come up with the financing to help suffering players, Harrah said he finds it unacceptable not to be proactive to help others.
"We got the tents here tonight. I can fill up the tents with the air I got about the disgruntled feeling I have over the union," Harrah said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment