NFLPA and NFLAA not getting along

[gbgary]

If that's true, it must have been tempting to borrow money from ol' Crazy Legs.

hehe

[woodbuck27]

I've mused this before, but how exactly do professional football players work up the mindset of being oppressed and exploited?

Certainly the constant exposure to pain and injury and the physical issues that compromise long-term health may stoke feelings of being treated as an expendable commodity, but no amount of money can make the health issues go away. I have a feeling that the players are looking for something other than simple monetary gain. It seems as if they have made this personal when it should be about business. I don't know that they are going to ever find what they are looking for.

Even their retired brethren don't get them anymore.

Yes and that's a sad situation.

[Patler]

The pre-existing conditions problem was dealt with in the last CBA.
From the owners:

"We offered so that any current player when he retired would get five years of post-career medical that is paid by the clubs. We offered after that to allow players to continue to participate in the medical plan by paying the premiums. If they bought the insurance, they could participate. One of the benefits that was created in the last agreement, which we would be continuing, was a health savings account where players, over the course of their career, can build up hundreds of thousands of dollars, in a benefit fund, sort of like a 401k, but for medical expenses which they could then use to pay the premium to stay in the medical plan so there would be no issue of preexisting conditions. There would be no issue of trying to buy insurance as an individual or having to pay the higher rates when you are outside the group. You'd have the same quality of care and the same network all over the country."

[Pugger]

I thought the NFLPA decertified...

[Tarlam!]

OK, I still don't get it. I've played really physical sports and had my head smashed in Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays until I migrated to Germany. So, from age 5 to 25 I played the most violent sports known to humankind. Without body armour!

I suffer from mental disabilities, but, they have only to do with my wife's passing.

As I've said all along, I am the GREATEST TE and LB never to have played.

[KYPack]

OK, I still don't get it. I've played really physical sports and had my head smashed in Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays until I migrated to Germany. So, from age 5 to 25 I played the most violent sports known to humankind. Without body armour!

I suffer from mental disabilities, but, they have only to do with my wife's passing.

As I've said all along, I am the GREATEST TE and LB never to have played.

You are "lucky" for one thing. I attended an ad hoc "reunion" of my old rugby teammates. Out of 12 guys, only a couple of 'em escaped relatively injury free from their years of play. All those years of hitting add up, ya know?

PB1234, I was too harsh in my comment to you last nite. I know your opinion that ex-NFL players have all these fabulous benefits, like lifetime health care, etc, is shared by many people.

It just ain't true. Most of these players just worked for paychecks. The average retired grade school janitor has a much better health package than the average retired NFL player.

[ThunderDan]

The pre-existing conditions problem was dealt with in the last CBA.
From the owners:

The HSAs are self-funding so the players have to defer compensation to build up the HSA account.

[Patler]

The HSAs are self-funding so the players have to defer compensation to build up the HSA account.

Sure they are, but at least the league has started a system for the players to deal with their health care after their playing days are over. Part of this is up to the players, to recognize that for many of them their greatest earning potential will be the years before they are 30 years old. They have to use those years for the benefit of their remaining lives, and part of that is planning for their health care.

I really enjoyed some of the comments from Tony Fisher when he was a Packer. Players teased him about being "cheap". He graduated from ND with a degree in economics, and he said it taught him to use his NFL opportunity as one that could set him up for life. He mentioned that even as a minimum wage player, if he could extend his career for 4 or 5 years he would have had the chance to set himself up to do what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, because he would have financial security that would give him the chance.

More players need to understand that, and more agents and player advisers need to hammer it home to their clients.

[ThunderDan]

Sure they are, but at least the league has started a system for the players to deal with their health care after their playing days are over. Part of this is up to the players, to recognize that for many of them their greatest earning potential will be the years before they are 30 years old. They have to use those years for the benefit of their remaining lives, and part of that is planning for their health care.

I really enjoyed some of the comments from Tony Fisher when he was a Packer. Players teased him about being "cheap". He graduated from ND with a degree in economics, and he said it taught him to use his NFL opportunity as one that could set him up for life. He mentioned that even as a minimum wage player, if he could extend his career for 4 or 5 years he would have had the chance to set himself up to do what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, because he would have financial security that would give him the chance.

More players need to understand that, and more agents and player advisers need to hammer it home to their clients.

Good for Tony Fisher. That is a great example. Unfortunately 78% of all NFL player are bankrupty or in financial trouble within 2 years of retiring from the league. I am not defending anyones behavior but obviously from the numbers funding an HSA is not in the vast majority of NFL players mind.

[Patler]

Good for Tony Fisher. That is a great example. Unfortunately 78% of all NFL player are bankrupty or in financial trouble within 2 years of retiring from the league. I am not defending anyones behavior but obviously from the numbers funding an HSA is not in the vast majority of NFL players mind.

But is that the owners fault? Is it the owners' responsibility to care for the players like children for their entire lives? I thnking making opportunities available should be enough. If the players chose to ignore them, so be it.

Alternatively, the players should accept lower pay in return for lifetime maintenance.

[Tarlam!]

You are "lucky" for one thing. I attended an ad hoc "reunion" of my old rugby teammates. Out of 12 guys, only a couple of 'em escaped relatively injury free from their years of play. All those years of hitting add up, ya know?

Which explains why the American Eagles are so highly rated! Sorry, couldn't resist!

[ThunderDan]

But is that the owners fault? Is it the owners' responsibility to care for the players like children for their entire lives? I thnking making opportunities available should be enough. If the players chose to ignore them, so be it.

Alternatively, the players should accept lower pay in return for lifetime maintenance.

Did I say anywhere in my post that it's the owners fault? I was stating a fact about the culture that NFL football players live in. Should the NFL players take better care financially? Yes!

That aside, the HSA is self-funded.

[Patler]

That aside, the HSA is self-funded.

OK...so what??? My health insurance was self-funded for years and years, as it is for many people.
I'm confused if you are trying to make a point.

Some players and some fans make a big deal about the players after-retirement health issues, and some have argued the player uninsurability, etc. The owners have recognized that and already put in place a program to deal with it. Maybe it isn't perfect, but it is a long way from ignoring the problem, which some have seemed to suggest.

I wonder how this compares to other industries, such as coal mining for example, in which the unemployed workers have significant health problems later in life? Do coal mining companies have any continuing programs for the care of former employees? I really have no idea.

[Kiwon]

But is that the owners fault? Is it the owners' responsibility to care for the players like children for their entire lives? I thnking making opportunities available should be enough. If the players chose to ignore them, so be it.

Alternatively, the players should accept lower pay in return for lifetime maintenance.

In 2011, the answers are 'Yes' and 'Yes.'

And as part of the lifetime maintenance program, every current or former player MUST by contract be FORCED to drive whatever the current "Official car of the NFL' is in order to increase car sales and give the owners more leverage to negotiate the next contract with automotive sponsors.

[Patler]

I wonder what the most popular vehicle is among NFL players who make it into a second contract?