NFL Executive?
Some skeletons are hidden behind Super Bowl glitz — Add this to the NFL pre-game posts. Good article.
They came bearing stories of Willie Wood, the former Packer, now destitute, living in a nursing home and being supported by one of Ditka’s trust funds for retired players. Of Herb Adderley, another Packer and Hall of Famer, whose pension for 12 years’ service was a preposterous $126.85 a month until the latest raise, which got him to $150. Of John Mackey, the former Baltimore tight end and co-founder of the modern players’ union, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Of the recent death of Andre Waters, the Philadelphia defensive back who died at 45 but whose brain at autopsy was shown to be the medical equivalent of one of a man in his 80s. Of the anonymous former New England Patriot who allegedly is living on the street.
The back story, though, is how the league, which eats money at a galactic rate, and the union, which sits at the kids’ table financially but still gets its fill, have decided to define the game’s builders as, well, on their own in the most legally binding and ethically challenged sense. To hear the veterans say it, they accept the deeds, then ignore the needs…
“I had dinner last night with a guy who owns a franchise in another league, and he pledged $100,000,” Ditka said. “We sent out letters to all of the 32 owners back in 2002 asking for $100,000 from each of them to start a trust fund for these players, and I don’t know if the letters ever got there, but we only got a check for $5,000 from one and $10,000 from another. We sent them back.”
related link:
NFL Tells Churches to Get Screwed
