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Article IndexPlayers who may have suffered long-term injuries from playing in the NFL (or three different versions of the American Football League or the All America Football Conference) from the 1920s to the 1960s never surfaced. To this day, according to one former player, no one in the NFL or NFLPA knows exactly how many players performed in the NFL. The NFL finally admitted in 2010 that concussions might cause long-term health issues for players and their families, although the NFL and the NFLPA won't confirm that concussions from football injuries cause brain trauma.
“It's all about money. (Giants quarterback) Eli Manning got $100 million,” said Huff.
“We have to take care of them (former players). We made the game what it is. It is war without guns. But I played high school, college football, was the rookie of the year and at the end it didn't make a difference.”
Huff's world, violent as it was on the football field, was much simpler. He dealt with Wellington Mara on his contract. There were no agents. Agents have not helped according to Huff. They fall into the money now category.
The owners and players will face off in a Minneapolis courtroom in April. It seems NFL owners and players have spent the better part of a half of a century in court. This squabble will ultimately be settled at the negotiating table after the court case and a possible National Labor Relations Board hearing. But don't look for Huff and his peers to be sitting at the peace table and signing onto an accord after a ceasefire has been declared.
Huff doesn't have a seat at the table, which is probably why he would like to suit up one more time in the “Violent World of Sam Huff.”
“If anyone is overpaid, it's Brees,” said Huff. “Why did he open his mouth?”
Huff said that if Brees went against his Giants teams of the 1950s and 1960s, the only thing Brees would say is “did someone get the license plate of that truck?”
Evan Weiner, the winner of the United States Sports Academy's 2010 Ronald Reagan Media Award, is an author, radio-TV commentator and speaker on "The Politics of Sports Business." His book, "The Business and Politics of Sports, Second Edition is available at bickley.com, Barnes and Noble or amazonkindle.
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The NFL is a large sports league; yet, they are not the only football league in the world. Brees and other athletes can go play in the arena football league or some of the new leagues. The problem - they will not make as much money in those leagues. Since there are other sports leagues that the athletes can play in to include Europe; is it truly a monopoly? Just because ATT is the largest does not mean that there is not competition for the services provided. Same principle.
The NFLPA used the fans to sign a petition to Godell through the NFLLockout.com website that the fans delivered recently to Godell. The website is owned by the NFLPA (Check whois and findout who the registrar is) and was opened in March 2010. I think that it is poor PR to have the fans do the unions work. Did the union pay those fans to travel to where godell was and the costs incurred. Very curious. De (Maurice) are you out there?
Ana S. Washington, DC
I would suggest a little more reading about the history of the game and its players.
Rote took a second job in the off season to support his family.
The real reson for him starting the Players Association had little or nothing to do with money.
Remember the years. This was back when "colored people" had seperate bathrooms and seperate hotels to use; "Whites Only," the signs read.
When on-the-road, Rote thought this was an injustice for his "Black" team mates, he was the Captain of the Giants. He chose to stay in the hotels with them over the White Only ones.
Todays players should be thanking men like Huff and Rote for what they did. Many, and certainly not all, are making mad money. They play with a lot more padding protection today too.
I have no bad feelings towards Drew. I just don't think he knows all of the facts. The "Old-Timers," kept this stuff private. They were, I feel, just a little more humble.
I would suggest to some players, that rather than buying another automobile, they consider sending that money to The Kyle and Nina Rote Foundation. One thing this foundation supports is "Focus Adolescent Services," who for decades has saved American children and maybe even some who we see on the field on Sundays.
These older guys are asking for health benefits. Some of them are not older guys. Only a handful of players, the two Mannings, Favre, Tomlinson, Brady are truly set for life. Contracts are not guaranteed, the lesser guys get two or three years of better than average salaries, you need to get vested for pension and benefits which is four years, the average career is less than four years. The health benefits run out after fives years of being out of football. The association has screwed the membership. The players all have pre-existing conditions and a lot of them cannot get insurance and end up on SSI and Medicare. The stuff you see on pre-game shows with all the yuks and listen to on talk radio is not the real world. You should try and talk to Dave Pear, Brent Boyd, Gene Atkins, George Visger, Pat Matson and the others about the hell they paid after their career and being on their own with no help from the NFL, NFLPA or their agents. That is the real story and while some of it has come out, most has been buried. Families destroyed, financial difficulties, physical ailments in players in their 40s and 50s. That's the reality.
These older players took a beating just like current players, and those injuries need to be treated. The NFL has the money (and the pie is growing) so they should do something for these guys. If the older players were asking for big pensions, then I would agree that they are only looking for a handout. But, if they are asking for medical coverage to treat the injuries they received "building the game", then that sounds reasonable.
The fact that the NFL is pushing them toward Medicare and Social Security means that ALL OF US are paying for the NFL's shortcomings in that area. They need to take care of their own problems....especially since they have plenty of money to do so.