Lawmakers Pressing Pro Football Issues

Associated Press
By JESSE J. HOLLAND

October 12, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House committee that criticized the NFL's retiree benefit system ordered the league and the players' union Friday to turn over information on football injuries, the disability and retirement system and what's being done to help battered and broken retirees.

The House Judiciary Committee has arranged for the Congressional Research Service, an investigative and research unit, to conduct an independent study of those questions as well, committee leaders said in letters to the National Football League and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).

"Several members of the committee have suggested that Congress should intervene to fix what has been described as a broken system of delivering disability benefits to former NFL players," a letter from Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said. "The CRS study will provide the essential facts to help us consider what steps, if any, Congress could take on this issue in the future." Conyers is the committee chairman and Smith is the ranking GOP member.

The NFL and the union have until Oct. 26 to turn over the information and answer the committee's questions. The panel has not decided whether to hold additional hearings, a spokeswoman said.

Retired football players have been openly critical of the NFL and the players' union over the amount of money that older retirees get from a $1.1 billion fund set aside for disability and pensions.

In congressional testimony, retired NFL players have told sympathetic lawmakers about the multiple surgeries, mental illnesses and other problems many suffer after years of playing the violent sport, all the while trying to fight through the red tape of the NFL and NFLPA's disability system.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended their system in a September Senate hearing, saying the NFL is boosting benefits when many companies around the country are reducing them. But he acknowledged that there have to be ways to improve.

Gene Upshaw, director of the players association, told the Senate that Congress should give the players' union greater authority to approve disability claims.

The players' union wants Congress to change federal law so it has more power on the retirement board that reviews disability claims. Under current law, the union can only name three retired former players to the board. NFL owners appoint the other three representatives.

The union is also asking Congress to tweak worker compensation laws and eliminate some of the layers of bureaucracy that make it harder for claims to be honored.

On the Net:

* House Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.house.gov
* NFL: http://www.nfl.com
* NFLPA: http://www.nflpa.org

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Maroons Madness

Thursday, October 11, 2007
Updated: October 12, 12:32 PM ET
By David Fleming

POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- After a long, crazy, awesome day of events in Pottsville, Pa., to celebrate the release of "Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship," I stood in a corner of the crowded Greystone Restaurant here in town talking to Pottsville native and former Denver Bronco Jack Dolbin. A starting wide receiver for the Broncos during their Orange Crush heyday -- still wearing his 1977 AFC Championship ring -- Doblin spoke passionately about how the current NFL lacks what he called "the proper reverence and respect," not only for the league's retired, disabled players but for pioneering teams like his beloved Pottsville Maroons.

But even if the owners and the players fall short in their appreciation and respect for those who paved the way before them, let me tell you something I've learned after just 24 hours in Pottsville:

True NFL fans -- in places like the coal region of Pennsylvania, and the wonderful, warm, proud towns like Pottsville that dot this region -- most certainly do not.

After arriving in town, my family and I were invited for dinner at the Pottsville Club, where everyone was trying to gauge the interest and reception the book was going to get in town. Just before dinner, though, we were interrupted by a lovely little grandmother-like woman who said she was looking forward to reading the book because she was a fan of the region's proud football heritage, and she'd actually known some of the players on the 1925 Maroons.

Without thinking, I asked her which players she knew. Halfway through my response, however, I realized she was probably just being nice; now I had put her on the spot, and basically blown my first interaction in town.

"Oh, I knew Tony Latone rather well, he was the running back, you know, and his fullback Barney Wentz, I knew him too," she replied without hesitation. "I was a fan of the way those two ran the ball, the way they played the game, you know. Yes I was."

"Welcome to coal country, Flem," was the first thought that shot through my mind.

Then I thought about NFL great Fritz Pollard, who once said there were three kinds of football: pro, college, and coal region. And in 1925 the Pottsville Maroons -- one of the most dominant, influential and controversial teams in the NFL history -- ruled them all.

Almost 82 years after the Maroons' meteoric rise to the top of the football world, this unique, vibrant town is still rallying behind their team in a way that could teach the NFL a thing or two. I hate to say it, but there is more passion and support for the NFL today in Pottsville (90 miles northwest of Philadelphia in the valley of Sharp Mountain) than there is in Los Angeles. (Maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars should move here? After getting to know folks like Ian and Eric Lipton, and other business leaders in Pottsville, that's actually not as preposterous as it sounds.)

Pictures of the Maroons are in all the storefronts that line Centre Street. There are Maroons ribbons everywhere. In the display case at city hall is the huge trophy for the team, carved out of a single piece of anthracite coal.

We had a press conference at the Maroons Bar and Grill in town, where my daughters helped me cut a ceremonial cake with a picture of the team on it. Fans here love the Maroons so much, they refused to eat the part of the cake with the team's picture on it.

(And by the way, having my family here has been a blast -- because, honestly, until now I think my kids thought their dad earned a living by listening to music, playing air guitar and typing on the computer in his pajamas.)

Nearly 200 people packed the Majestic Theatre Wednesday night to watch some old clips of the team, listen to Maroons collector and historian Scott Warren speak, and listen to a few readings from my book. During one of the clips that aired on ESPN (John Madden referenced the Maroons on a "Monday Night Football" telecast a few years back) a player's son said, "Those people up in Pottsville, they won't quit, they won't ever quit."

Tell me about it.

They had 60 books available at my first book-signing here in town. And according to the Pottsville Republican & Herald, those 60 books were gone in 15 minutes. By the end of the day all 500 books in town were gone, trucks were being organized for a run to Scranton to pick up a fresh supply, and I was seriously considering signing books with my left hand. (I'm ambidextrous like that and, worse, shamelessly self-promoting according to this entire paragraph.) With the line out the door and down the sidewalk, the mayor of Pottsville himself, John Reiley, came over pushing a handcart with three boxes of "emergency" books from his stash at city hall.

What we'd failed to appreciate was most people were buying multiple books -- for their uncle living in Florida, for their dad, for their kids, for their husband or wife, for their former football coach. Even after four years of being somewhat obsessed with this team and this remarkable town, I never understood their true passion and enthusiasm until I got to meet face-to-face with the fans of the Maroons and to hear their stories.

I signed a book that someone was going to give to Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid. Dolbin is going to send a book to Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. I signed for several sons of actual team members. I signed for John Faro, 91 years old, who says he was at both the Chicago and Notre Dame games in 1925 -- two contests that changed the course of the pro football. I signed for people in Florida, California, Colorado, Idaho, and a guy who drove up from Baltimore. I signed for crying kids and laughing great-grandparents. I signed for a professor at Temple who wrote to the NFL commissioner on the team's behalf when he was 10 years old.

Yes, my hand is sore from all the signing. But to a writer, that's the best feeling in the world.

The responses from residents at the book signings have had a common thread: for 82 years, this town has been playing a game of David and Goliath with the NFL and a handful of 'historians' who have been, at times, nasty, condescending and dismissive of the Maroons and the people in Pottsville -- simply because they could do so with impunity, since the team and the town had no voice.

But judging by the response so far, I think it's safe to say things have changed.

I have another signing at the library in town, where I hope to meet up with Billie Payne again. There's also a Big Band Night Thursday night (swing dancing: not my specialty). And, to cap off the week, I'll be at the Pottsville-Shamokin high school football game Friday night. On their way to the field, the Pottsville Crimson Tide pass by a photo of the 1925 Maroons on a wall just outside their locker room. In the book I talk about how it seems like the spirit of this rugged, pioneering team is still very much alive in this region, and that the players are still watching over the town. Watching, and waiting, and hoping they get what they earned on the field so many decades ago.

And judging by the remarkable response so far, who knows? Maybe the Maroons won't have to wait much longer.

David Fleming is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and the author of the memoir "Noah's Rainbow." His next book, "Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship," will be published Oct. 9 by ESPN Books and has been optioned as a movie. The Flem File will run each Thursday during the NFL season.

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Brain injuries; something soldiers and athletes have in common

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&ba...

COMMENTARY | October 11, 2007

Soldiers may not be able to avoid traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Athletes can but too often won't because their response to a concussion is to get back on the field as soon as they are able. The press, especially the regional press, can help alert youngsters to the dangers and consequences of TBI.

By Patricia Block

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, as it is known to the millions of survivors of this horrible physical, cognitive and emotional malady, is widespread and getting worse. Often TBI can be avoided and for that reason the press - including the regional and small-town press - needs to do a better job explaining the dangers and consequences.

The New York Times reported on the subject in a Sept. 15 article, "Silence on Concussions Raises Risks of Injury," But the Times piece used the word "concussion" 30 times and the phrase "brain injury" only once.

A concussion is a brain injury that may be very damaging but often, depending on the severity of the bruising, is not. If it is followed by additional concussions, the result can be life-changing.

Do you know why high school football players stay silent on concussions? Most don't understand the risks. Many said they "did not quite know what a concussion was and would never tell their coaches if they believed they had sustained one."

In my view, it is almost criminal to use the euphemism "concussion" to describe what a football player, or anyone suffering a head injury, has experienced. This word often downplays the severity of the injury, even if clashing helmets result in what is often referred to as a mild concussion (brain injury) and the player experiences temporary dizziness, headache, nausea, impaired vision or lethargy - i.e., what one of the players referred to as "you feel real sleepy."

Even if a player understands that continuing to play shortly after suffering a concussion may cause further and potentially irreversible and lethal damage to his brain, he will continue to play the game. As one of them said in the Times article, "You've got to sacrifice for the sake of the team. The only way I come out is on a stretcher."

Huge ego, reckless bravado and, let's face it, flat-out ignorance. These young men either do not realize or want to acknowledge that whether they suffer a mild, moderate or severe TBI which, in worst cases, may lead to death, a brain injury often does result in cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial deficits that can significantly change their lives.

After suffering a head injury, the victim may feel overwhelmed doing things that used to be simple. Planning, identifying priorities, figuring out the steps to complete a task and monitoring one's own behavior are referred to as the "executive functions" of the brain.

TBI survivors may become overwhelmed by the complexity of work requiring multiple steps. They will continue to use a strategy that has repeatedly shown to be ineffective, become easily frustrated and have difficulty controlling their emotions. They will overlook errors and often fail to complete a task before the next one is started. They will also have difficulties making decisions when faced with several choices.

When it comes to TBI, survivors face challenges that are far more dramatic and life-changing than most can even begin to understand. The resulting cognitive deficits of TBI impact the survivor's intellectual skills, behavior and quality of life and, to some degree - extraordinarily in some cases - their earnings potential.

Since the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, about 2,100 troops there and in Iraq have been formally diagnosed with TBI. But officials estimate that up to 150,000 troops may have suffered concussions - mild TBIs - from roadside bomb attacks.

According to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, a research and treatment agency run by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department, 64 percent of injured troops have suffered brain injuries.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sgt. 1st Class Alec Geiss, of the Oregon National Guard, whose truck rolled over him as it crashed while avoiding a suspected land mine. Geiss's wife noticed that after his return the easygoing, relaxed dad who went to Iraq had become a quick-tempered man who couldn't remember the family's daily schedule, jumped up screaming when the family cat landed on his bed and couldn't tolerate crowds.

Dr. Henry Lew of the Palo Alto VA Hospital says it is a very common scenario. "You don't see shrapnel or bullets or open injuries," Lew says. "But the inside of the brain has been damaged to a point that it affects the daily function." Veterans Affairs psychologist Harriet Zeiner says that often people will think a brain-injured vet is depressed or suffering from post-traumatic stress. "It's really important," Zeiner says, "that individuals out in the public know that it's entirely possible for someone who's been in the combat theater to have a head injury and not know it."

Studies of more than 2,500 former National Football League players by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, the University of North Carolina, found that cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's-like symptoms and depression rose proportionately with the number of concussions they had sustained. That information, combined with the revelations that former Pittsburgh Steeler football players Mike Webster and Terry Long, who had repeated concussions throughout their careers and suffered from postconcussive brain dysfunction and mental impairment before their deaths, compelled Chris Nowinski - a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler whose repeated concussions ended his career and left him with severe migraines and depression - to expose the effects of contact-sport brain trauma examine and promote awareness of brain trauma's latent effects. Nowinski's book, "Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis," detailed the public misunderstanding of concussions along with "the N.F.L.'s tobacco-industry-like refusal to acknowledge the depths of the problem." The book revealed that Mr. Webster became homeless and cognitively impaired before dying of heart failure in 2002. Mr. Long committed suicide in 2005.

Department of Defense statistics show that, in Iraq, approximately 514 U.S. soldiers are wounded every month and that approximately two-thirds of those wounded suffer a TBI. Does this mean that by 2008, another 1,028 soldiers will have suffered a traumatic brain injury?

TBI is known as the "invisible injury." Do boys playing football and men at war understand the Russian roulette they're playing with their future? Football, obviously, is not going away. When it comes to the war, however, we do have a choice. A way must be found to end this hellish legacy of cognitive carnage.

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