Commissioner Goodell letter to players: “We believe the offer presented a strong and fair basis for continuing negotiations”

Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday sent a letter to all NFL players, detailing the proposal that NFL clubs made to the NFLPA last Friday.

“We want you to understand the offer that we made to the NFLPA,” Commissioner Goodell wrote. “The proposal was made to avoid a work stoppage.  Each passing day puts our game and our shared economics further at risk. We believe the offer presented a strong and fair basis for continuing negotiations, allowing the new league year and free agency to begin, and growing our game in the years to come.”

Among the details of the proposal detailed by the Commissioner:

• A salary cap for 2011 that would avoid a negative financial impact for veterans.
• Extensive changes in off-season work requirements that would promote player health and safety while also encouraging players to continue their education and promote post-football career opportunities.
• Reduction in preseason and regular-season practices with pads and with contact and increased days off.
• Expanded injury guarantees – including a guarantee of up to $1 million of a second year of a contract for players injured who can’t return to play.
• Lifetime access to medical coverage for players and their families after a player’s retirement.
• Enhanced retirement benefits for pre-1993 players. More than 2,000 former players would have received an immediate increase in pensions averaging nearly 60 percent, funded entirely by owners.

“In that spirit, we are prepared to negotiate a full agreement that would incorporate these features and other progressive changes that would benefit players, clubs, and fans,” Commissioner Goodell concluded. “Only through collective bargaining will we reach that kind of agreement.  Our goal is to make our league even better than it is today, with the benefits shared by all of us. 

“I hope you will encourage your Union to return to the bargaining table and conclude a new collective bargaining agreement.”

Click here for the Commissioner’s letter to players.

Eagles president Joe Banner: Players offered additional $2 billion over next four years

Philadelphia Eagles president Joe Banner (left) today discussed the proposal NFL clubs made last week to the NFL Players Association in an interview on Pro Football Talk Live.

Banner noted that the deal the union walked away from featured an additional $2 billion in cash and benefits to players over the next four years.

“If you looked going forward over the next four years, this would produce somewhere between $19-20 billion in cash and benefits to the players.  If you look back at the last four years, that number was a little bit over $17 billion,” Banner said.

“I know we are talking numbers that are hard for the average fan to relate to,” Banner continued. ”But you are talking about a significant increase over the next four years versus the past four years in a combination of cap and benefits to the players and in a formula that accomplished what the owners needed to do to be able to get the game and keep it as strong as it is by doing things like investing in stadiums and investing in the NFL Network and assuming the costs of operating expenses on these new stadiums.”

New NFL Long Term Care Insurance benefit rolled out to retired players

The NFL Alumni today informed its members that they will soon receive information on the new Long Term Care Insurance benefit, which is fully funded by the NFL clubs in partnership with Transamerica Life Insurance Company.

“ALL eligible retired players are advised to apply immediately, regardless of current or past medical history,” NFL Alumni President George Martin wrote to his members today. “This program has an acceptance criterion that is different than many other programs. You should apply even if you’ve previously been denied long term care insurance – you may still qualify for the benefit under this program. And, you may qualify even if you are receiving disability payments (such as from the NFL player retirement plan.)”

Among the details of this new benefit:

• Vested former players between the ages of 50-75 are eligible
• Insurance comes at no cost to vested retired NFL players – the premiums are 100% covered by the NFL
• Players may purchase coverage for spouses at a discounted rate
• If players already have a long term care insurance policy, they may still apply for this benefit and have the premium paid by the NFL
• If a player’s spouse already has a long term care insurance policy, the spouse may still apply for the discounted policy

For more information, click here.

Chicago Tribune: “Players didn’t need DeMaurice Smith’s inappropriate analogies to war or 11th-hour ultimatums. They needed perspective”

Chicago Tribune NFL columnist David Haugh wrote today on NFL labor negotiations under the header “Union chief’s ego gets in way as he overplays players’ hand.”

“Based on reports, Smith insisted on trying to force the big play,” Haugh wrote. “The only people dancing in the end zone now are Washington law partners.”

“The players didn’t need Smith’s inappropriate analogies to war or 11th-hour ultimatums,” Haugh continued. “They needed perspective. They needed compromise; they got confrontation over money.”

“Lost in Friday’s inflamed rhetoric assessing the failure were two key points,” Haugh noted.

•”If current players really wanted to do something profound for those before and after them, they would have focused on the league’s offer of lifetime health coverage and increased retirement benefits instead of the disparity in profit. That’s sacrifice in the name of something.”

•”Smith consistently sought to present the players as partners in the league with the owners. As much as the ability and charisma of players have put America’s most popular sport at its apex, they are employees. The owners are employers.”

“That doesn’t mean players need to take a deal on terms the owners dictate,” Haugh added. “But it should mean players recognize they benefit from the opportunities the NFL provides more than these negotiations have shown.”

For the complete story, click here.

Colts’ Jeff Saturday: NFL Broadcast Boot Camp “helped hone skills” for post-NFL TV careers

Colts center Jeff Saturday discussed how the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp helped prepare him for a potential television career after football, Mike Chappell reported in today’s Indianapolis Star.

Saturday was one of 25 current and retired NFL players participating in an immersion course in the broadcasting business in the four-day boot camp last June at NFL Films in Mt. Laurel, NJ.

“They gave you all the different disciplines,” Saturday said. “You prepared for everything and they talked about all the things they felt were important and why they were important. They just helped you hone in on the skills.”

Wrote Chappell: “Participating players were exposed to virtually every aspect of broadcasting a sporting event: interviewing players, writing segments to be read on the air, working as a color analyst and contributing to a game-day studio show.”

Added Saturday, “We got evaluated every day in front of everybody. It was more difficult than I anticipated, but it was a lot of fun.”

For the complete story, click here.

The NFL health care debate

The NFL Players Association and the NFL have exchanged letters on the issue of health insurance coverage of NFL players in the event that the current CBA expires next March 3 without a new agreement.

NFLPA General Counsel Richard Berthelsen inquired as to “whether it is in fact true that the owners intend to cease paying the players’ health insurance premiums if there is no new CBA after March 30, 2011, and if so, whether the owners’ actions in that regard will be a ‘COBRA qualifying event’ which will enable the players to thereafter keep their coverage in place by paying the premiums themselves.”

In response, NFL Senior Vice President of Labor Litigation & Policy Dennis Curran pointed out that it is well known that an employer is not obligated to provide wages or salary, or to pay for continuation of wage-related benefits, for employees during a work stoppage. He noted that employers uniformly refrain from doing so in those circumstances.

Curran also said that for at least a decade it has been well established that participation in a strike or lockout is a COBRA-qualifying event. Under the federal law known as COBRA, affected employees are entitled to continue their employer-provided health insurance coverage but at their own or their union’s expense. For example, during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, the NHL’s players union secured substitute coverage for its members as its expense.

“Given how well settled these issues are, why has the union elected not to inform its members of their COBRA rights?,” Curran asked. “Through its public rhetoric about this issue, the union has created and exploited concern among its members and their families; it has done so knowing full well that no player or family member need suffer any loss of coverage.”

Curran called on the union “to clarify this issue with the players and correct the misimpression that its public rhetoric has created.”

NFL, NFLPA agree to expand “88 Plan” coverage to former players with ALS

The National Football League and NFL Players Association announced today an agreement to expand benefits provided under the “88 Plan” to include coverage of qualifying players for reimbursement of expenses associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), effective immediately. Since its inception in 2006, the Plan, named after Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, has provided coverage to former players diagnosed with dementia without the need to demonstrate that the condition was caused by their participation in the NFL.

The ALS benefit will be awarded on the same terms, including qualification without regard to causation, and eligible players will receive the same financial benefits  – up to $88,000 per year for institutional care, up to $50,000 for home custodial care plus costs for certain physician services, durable medical equipment, and prescription medication.

“We are pleased to jointly expand this financial resource that will improve the quality of life for suffering former players and alleviate the financial drain imposed on their families by this terrible disease,” the NFLPA and NFL said in a statement.

To date, the “88 Plan” has awarded $9.7 million toward the care of 132 former NFL players.

USA Today: What happens to player health care coverage if CBA expires?

USA Today NFL writer Jarrett Bell today reported on how medical insurance for players would be handled in the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires next March 3.

“If the NFL’s labor deal expires in March,” Bell writes, “players had better not expect their current employers to foot the bill for continuing health care coverage.”

Commissioner Roger Goodell responded to a question about it during his press conference following the league meeting on Tuesday. “That’s a pretty good reason to come to the negotiating table and get a labor agreement,” Commissioner Goodell said. “That’s pretty good motivation.”

“It’s been dealt with in other circumstances and other negotiating positions, where unions have arranged to pay for their COBRA care,” Commissioner Goodell continued. “That’s the issue. They’ll continue to get medical care. It’s just that the burden of paying for that will no longer be on the clubs, it would be on the individuals or on the union.”

For the complete story, click here.

Commissioner Goodell transcript from fall meeting

Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with the media following yesterday’s fall league meeting in Chicago. He answered questions on a number of topics including the NFL’s new partnership with the NFL Alumni and the Gay Culverhouse Players’ Outreach Program which will provide expanded services to retired players.

Following is a complete transcript.

NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL

Fall League Meeting News Conference

Chicago, IL – October 12, 2010

Roger Goodell: Good afternoon. You all know and you’ve gotten the release about our announcement of working in partnership with Dr. Culverhouse and George Martin. It’s part of what we spent a fair amount of time today talking about – retired players and our continuing efforts to address their issues responsibly.  We also had Mike Ditka come in and address our ownership right before lunch, which was also productive.  What we are going to do is hear from both Gay and George, ask them questions, and then I will come back and take questions.

Gay Culverhouse: Good afternoon. It’s nice to be here. It’s actually a real pleasure to be here. When I first addressed Congress in October of last year, I was very critical of the NFL and was worried about our players, our retired players.  I have to say that in this year that’s passed, I’ve gotten to know the people involved in the Player Care Foundation and have come to understand their true emphasis on and their sincerity in looking after the retired players. They and I have come to an agreement which I think will benefit the players tremendously going forward and we’ll work hand in hand to provide the services that these players need. I am thrilled and very confident that this partnership will work, be fruitful and have long-range effects for those players that have retired from the NFL.

George Martin: Good afternoon. I would like to add my sincere elation about this collaboration between the NFL, Dr. Culverhouse and the NFL Alumni Association. It is something that is extremely gratifying because I have been a great admirer of Dr. Culverhouse and her dedication and her commitment to NFL Alumni.  With this collaboration, it will obviously allow us to broaden our scope of benefits and services to our constituents.  As the Commissioner alluded to, this gives us an opportunity where we can certainly demonstrate a collaboration where the sum of our total is greater than the sum of our parts. Along with Mike Ditka and the Gridiron Greats, I think we have the essence of a new attitude toward helping alumni and those individuals who have played and paid so dearly to be a part of this great industry. I am delighted. This is something that we’re all gratified is taking place. And we look forward to a lot of productive results from this collaboration.

What are you going to be doing for the retired players?

Culverhouse: I have the Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program which is a 501c3 incorporated entity for almost the last year.  When I was before Congress, they said, “What are you going to do next?”  And I said, “I am going to find Jerry Eckwood.” And as you may or may not know, we found Jerry Eckwood. And he did qualify for the Plan 88 and is now in a very lovely assisted facility. We talk to Jerry at least twice a day. We are his “friends” and we adore him.  Since Jerry, there have been many players, many players. We have gone to many NFL cities and cities where players are gathered like Orlando, which is not an NFL city but there are a lot of retired players in Orlando, and we have spoken of what NFL Player Care has to offer, and we have processed those requests. We get calls 24 hours a day and that’s one of the things the NFL will help us with. I have answered calls at 1:37 in the morning and they are going to take that from me, which will be delightful. What the NFL is going to do is help us improve and reach more players. We are going to take our system which is in effect and basically, and this is going to be a bad pun, shoot it full of steroids and make it bigger and better.

On what has changed since you were critical of the NFL?

Culverhouse: I think there has been a meeting in the middle. The real turning point came for me when the poster was released. And you know what poster I’m talking about. The poster on the concussions. When that poster was released, it marked for me a real turn for the NFL in viewing some of the issues associated with head trauma and I felt that there was a change of foot, if you will.  When I noticed that the NFL had brought in some other doctors as their advisors, I felt they were making a real concerted effort to change as the information we were receiving changed. Five or six years ago this was a non-issue. Now we’re all jumping on the bandwagon and wanting the best for our players regardless how they got to the state that they are in.  Unfortunately we did not know Mike Webster was homeless. If I could have found Mike Webster, I would have done something. One of the things we try to do is we try to prevent the Mike Websters. Jerry Eckwood was two weeks away from being homeless. Now I have one of my staff people going through the entire list of the 1990 rosters, through every single team.  She’s now at the Patriots. And we are locating each player. Any player that is off the grid we’ve notated and we are then asking the guys that played to the left of them, the right of them and their roommate, “Do you keep in contact with this person? Do you exchange Facebook? Do you exchange Christmas cards?” We are actively searching for the missing players because we know they are out there. But they are not reading the paper, they are not e-mailing.  So we actually go and find players like we did Jerry Eckwood.  Long answer to a short question.

Do you have enough money to get done what you need to get done?

Martin: I think that’s a question delving into the unknown. We don’t know how broad and wide the need is right now. I think we definitely have enough resources to implement the program and continue the great work that Dr. Culverhouse has started. There’s no question about that. And with the determination, expertise and the methodology they already established, I think we’re going to have a great impact on this situation.

Culverhouse: Let me say one more thing to tag onto that. And this is a plug, but why not?  We’re having a golf tournament that’s put on by Doug Williams. Lee Roy Selmon, Jack Youngblood are all helping me with a golf tournament in Tampa the weekend of November 6. They have promised me along with several other retired players to put on 20 golf tournaments around the country for our program. And to have people of that stature to come forward, and without me knowing it, I didn’t ask, they got a group together because they are so thrilled with my passion and my enthusiasm and what I’ve been able to do for their teammates. We’re getting some good response from the former players for these fundraising events. I think that with what the NFL can offer us and what fundraising opportunities we can provide, I think we’re going to be tremendously successful.  And there are also opportunities for all sorts of people to come forward and offer help. It’s just a project you can’t say no to.

Goodell: The most significant thing is everyone is trying to do the right thing here. What our recent partnership here will allow us to do is to coordinate our efforts better. Dr. Culverhouse is doing great work. George is doing great work. Our Player Care Foundation and our Alliance are doing great work. We just want to coordinate our efforts better so we can identify the individuals who need help and try to get them help. We have programs available and unfortunately quite a few people that aren’t aware of it and don’t make use of the programs.  That’s one of the things Dr. Culverhouse mentioned to me when we met a couple of months ago in my office, “I’ve come to realize we have a lot of great programs. My foundation is working to try to make sure we have the right outreach to make sure your programs are available to the individual players and their families.” That’s one of the things we are excited about. So, we thank you both.

Culverhouse: We know we can’t do it without you.

What’s the website?

Culverhouse: It’s www.playersoutreach.org. If you google me, it will come up.

Goodell: We had a very productive session, but we covered a lot of different subjects. I’m sure you’ve been updated on some of them.  We spent a lot of time talking about our CBA negotiations and our preparations in that area. We spent a great deal of time talking about the game and the player health and safety issues, including getting reports from two of our medical advisors today. Retired players we discussed. We updated the ownership on our in-stadium efforts, continuing to improve the quality of what we’re doing in our stadiums and trying to create greater value for our fans who we know are challenged in this economic climate.  We also worked and made sure our ownership clearly understood how we are restructuring our apparel business, which our committee has been working on for close to 10 months now. I think those are the key issues we covered today although we ran over a lot of issues and I would be happy to take your questions.

On update on Brett Favre situation:

I’ve been in meetings all day today. I’ve gotten briefings over the last couple of days. I don’t think there’s anything significantly new though. I met with Milt [Ahlerich] earlier today. But there’s nothing significant to report.

On timeline for a resolution:

I’ve been travelling since late last week and expect to be travelling  a couple more days. When I get back I will make sure we get into this. Our staff has been working aggressively on this, gathering all the data. I’ll get reports on that and then make some determinations. I would be hesitant to say anything about timing until I had a chance to understand that and make sure we can get all of the information. As you know we’re seeking to get cooperation to make sure we understand all those facts.

On what you’re looking for in terms of violation? Did he break a law?

We’re just looking for facts right now before making an implications on what he did. We would like to understand what the facts are.

Will you meet with Brett any time soon?

I don’t have any plans to. At some point if it’s something that would help us get to a conclusion and something that I feel is warranted, I will do so.
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Partnership between NFL, NFL Alumni & Gay Culverhouse Players’ Outreach Program to provide expanded services to retired NFL players

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Alumni Executive Director George Martin, and Dr. Gay Culverhouse, president of the Gay Culverhouse Players’ Outreach Program, announced today a new partnership to benefit retired NFL players.

“NFL clubs are committed to doing the right thing for former players,” Commissioner Goodell said. “There are very comprehensive benefits and services available, but too often former players and their families don’t know what they are or how to gain access to the programs. By working jointly with Gay Culverhouse and the NFL Alumni Association, we can take a proven program, expand it on a national basis, and do a much better job of identifying our retired players who are in need.”

Under the partnership, additional outreach efforts will include the hiring of case workers, the development of a toll-free hotline, and personal outreach to retired players and their families through events sponsored by NFL Alumni and GCPOP.  Players identified through these efforts will receive comprehensive medical evaluations and assistance in applying for the expanded benefits and services created in recent years.

“I am delighted that we have formed this new partnership to allow even more former players to receive vital information and benefits,” said Dr. Culverhouse.  “Our Player Outreach Program has accomplished a lot, and our model works.  By joining with the NFL and the Alumni Associates, I know we can reach many more former players and their families.”

NFL Alumni Director George Martin said, “As the largest association of retired NFL players in the country, and as advocates for those former players, this is a natural partnership for NFL Alumni.  I have been so impressed by what Gay Culverhouse has accomplished, and am delighted to be able to bring this outreach program to our former players throughout the country.”