NFL owners’ support of players is wide ranging

Aside from the nearly $2 million average salary of NFL players, the NFL clubs also fund a wide range of benefits and programs to support players and help them not only during their NFL careers but in making the transition to their post-NFL lives.

NFL Player Engagement offers programs to support players in five areas: Career Development, Career Transition, Continuing Education, Financial Education and Player Assistance Services.

Below are the player benefits under the expired Collective Bargaining Agreement (all of these benefits were in place and funded in the 2006-09 seasons when a salary cap was in place).

In recent years, annual benefit payments to current and retired players have been approximately $200 million. That amount would increase under proposals made by NFL owners in the current round of collective bargaining.

Player benefits

» Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Retirement Plan

» Second Career Plan

» Supplemental Disability

» Player Annuity Program

» Group Insurance

» Health Reimbursement Account

» 88 Plan (Dementia)

» Joint Replacement Plan

» Drug Prescription Discount Card Program

» Medicare Supplement Program

» Vested Inactive Life Insurance

» Severance Pay

» Post Season Pay

» Performance Based Pay

» Injury Protection

» Workers Comp

» Pre-season Per Diems

» Meal Allowances

» Practice Squad Post-season Pay

» Moving and Travel

» Off-season & Rookie Orientation

» Tuition Assistance Plan

Jeff Pash agrees with Mike Vrabel: “Let’s have decision makers at the table together. We could be back negotiating Wednesday”

NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash spoke with media today at the NFL Annual Meeting in New Orleans and adressed Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and NFLPA Executive Committee member Mike Vrabel’s call to meet with “people that are willing and can agree to a deal.”

“The point that Mike Vrabel made, even though it was not too flattering towards me — was a fair one, that the people who are writing the checks and the people who are cashing the checks should be at the table together,” Pash said. “And let’s have decision makers at the table together.  So when he said that their executive committee should be meeting with the CEC, I understand that point of view.  That is why we were quick to say that our team, including owners and including the owners that they asked for, would be prepared to meet with the Union’s Executive Committee — Mike Vrabel, Drew Brees, Kevin Mawae, Tony Richardson, and whatever other members of the Executive Committee they want to have there — and we can do that any time.”

“We could be back negotiating with them tomorrow or Wednesday if they wanted to after this meeting concludes,” Pash added. “The fact that there are proceedings at the Labor Board would not, in my judgment, hold up a negotiation or hold up trying to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association.”

Following is a transcript of Pash’s press conference:
Read more

NFL Alumni’s Jeff Nixon: Current players offered lifetime health benefit

Former NFL player Jeff Nixon (left) writes under the header “Current players offered lifetime medical.” Nixon, a member of the national advocacy committee for the “Fourth and Goal” organization of NFL Alumni, notes that under the proposal from NFL owners on March 11, “current players were offered the right to continue participating in the NFL’s medical plan after they retire.”

NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash outlined that portion of the proposal last week in an interview on Sirius NFL Radio.

“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.,” Pash said. “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.  We thought that the reaction of the players and the reaction of union officials to that proposal was really very positive.  That is obviously the first time that the opportunity has been available from the NFL.”

Nixon also discussed the heath reimbursement account that active players can draw upon to pay for health insurance.

“The Gene Upshaw HRA (Health Reimbursement Account) was a benefit that former NFLPA President Troy Vincent and Gene Upshaw were successful in negotiating into the 2006 CBA,” Nixon wrote.

“A player is eligible for the HRA Plan if (a) he earned a credited season under the Bert Bell / Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan for 2006 or for any year after that (if a Salary Cap was in place) and has a total of three or more credited seasons, or (b) his last credited season was either 2004 or 2005 and he had a total of eight or more credited seasons,” Nixon continued. “Players receive $25,000 for each of their credited seasons and an additional $50,000 when they achieve their third credited season.

“Eligible players did not receive $25,000 in 2010 because it was an uncapped season and under the CBA rules that were agreed to by the NFL and the NFLPA, the owners were not required to contribute to the fund.”

For the complete story, click here.

FACT CHECK: Players eligible for health care under COBRA & were offered lifetime health benefit

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew wrote on Twitter earlier today about what he called the lack of available health care for NFL players.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about players and health insurance so I want to clear it up,” Jones-Drew wrote. “It’s not that we can’t afford it. The insurance companies won’t take us [because] of all the injuries we have. I’ve been denied twice trying to find an insurance company for my family and I.”

In fact, all NFL players are eligible to continue their current NFL health insurance under the federal law known as COBRA, under which affected employees are entitled to continue their employer-provided health insurance coverage at their own or their union’s expense.

Furthermore, in a letter to players yesterday, Commissioner Roger Goodell detailed a new post-career health benefit the NFL proposed to the NFLPA last Friday.

“For the first time,” Commissioner Goodell wrote, “players and families would be able to purchase continuing coverage in the player medical plan after retirement for life, and could use their health savings account benefit to do so.”

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.”