hall of fame lineman speaks out against JR

[Nicbsbll2]

I believe the man has a legit argument, but I believe he is pointing the finger at the wrong man. Jerry has been a major proponent for retired players, probably one of the biggest among the owners, and without him they might not have received any kind of increase in their pensions at all.

[Catweisers]

Great player to bad his Senior years are not to his liking. His friends are suffering from the effects of head injuries and other things.

My old friends are dying from the effects of Agent Orange and things like that. I hope to avoid that. To bad JR can't fix that too.

Go Panthers

[Fiz]

I believe the man has a legit argument, but I believe he is pointing the finger at the wrong man. Jerry has been a major proponent for retired players, probably one of the biggest among the owners, and without him they might not have received any kind of increase in their pensions at all.

No.

Jerry Richardson and some dude from the Packers sent a letter to old retirees about how much their proposal the Union walked away from would have helped players.

They had nothing to do with drafting it and it was a complete PR move from the early days when the NFL had no intention of actually coming to an agreement. They basically offered the players a poo sandwich with the caveat of slightly increased retiree benefits to win a PR battle.

Which apparently worked because you brought it up.

The NFL flat out does not care about retired players and won't as long as the owners hire a guy like Goodell to run things. He's too busy trying to expand the league to 34 teams or put a third team in LA.

[Fiz]

Dwayne Jarrett does get a check because of his time in the NFL.

I'm not sure why that's something to be mocked.

[tiger7_88]

Former football players whining about being damaged by the physical nature of the game are much akin (to me) to smokers who whine about getting lung cancer.

[Fiz]

Former football players whining about being damaged by the physical nature of the game are much akin (to me) to smokers who whine about getting lung cancer.

It's actually nothing like that.

Also quite an unfortunate comparison since the courts have repeatedly sided with plaintiffs in that case, seeing as how cigarette companies have denied they sell an addictive substance since like forever.

[Wither]

Wish I got paid a lot to be a baby.

[Grammer]

Wish I got paid a lot to be a baby.

After being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft, DeLamielleure never made more than $30,000 a year during his first five years in the league. There were no million dollar contracts and now many are receiving small pensions.

30k isn't a lot

also the pensions he's getting are poo

[BBQ&Beer]

30k isn't a lot

also the pensions he's getting are poo

Well to be fair, in 73 $30k was like $150k now.

Granted that shows how even with strict saving he'd still be Fugged barring fantastic investment strategies & you're right in that his pension is poo.

[Wither]

30k isn't a lot

also the pensions he's getting are poo

No one forced him to play.

[Fiz]

No one forced him to play.

lol this is such a terrible argument.

[antame]

Former football players whining about being damaged by the physical nature of the game are much akin (to me) to smokers who whine about getting lung cancer.

That's possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read.

For one (don't think I need a two), hundreds of millions of people don't spend their hard earned money to watch other people smoke.

[Raskle]

Most likely he's referring to the effects of pre-ban head/helmet slapping DLs used as a way to throw the Offensive Line in shock to get around them. For years, it was a legitimate tool employed by the likes of Mean Joe Green, Two-Tall Jones, and other greats.

Unfortunately, no one knew that eventually, the hearing would go south, and those smacks would add up to slight concussions, which would progress to moderate, to heavy concussion, and in some cases, eventually death. There's a reason the rules were changed to ban that move. The effects were discovered, and they disallowed it to protect later players from going through the same symptoms and ill-effects.

The guys who went through it, though? They're pretty much screwed, and no one had a clue it would be that dangerous when it was done. Injuries do happen, football players realize they are risking bodily harm when they play, but from freak accidents (a la Theissmann), body punishment, etc... it's expected. Something like this though, there's no way the severity of the effects could have been predicted. I feel they deserve to be cared for, and helped out moreso than those post-1993 players.

And for those stating that these guys knew the risk? No, they didn't... and to say so is assinine. Do you also look at factory workers who were exposed to Asbestos fibers and now can't breathe and say, tough poo... you knew it was a job.? If so, you're more heartless than anyone I know.

[twylyght]

If this guy were a service veteran, I would be more sympathetic to his case. However, we all make choices throughout our lives. Much of the time life isn't fair. Thing is, those of us that opted to be adults and grow up decided to face that fact long ago.

The rest of us are still holding our hands out and decrying how unfair our lives are, while children in Bosnia still have to watch their steps when they hope to scrape out some food for the day. We should all have as hard a life as HoF football players....

Cry me a fuggin river Fiz