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Retired
Players and the NFLPA Human nature is .... well, human nature. There are those of us who are reluctant to part with too much and there are those of us who need more. What is the happy medium? On January 15,
2006 the Charlotte Observer published a story titled: Recently, I extended that reservoir of sources to include former Redskins players Jim Steffen, George, Izo, Billy Kilmer, Brig Owens, Len Hauss, and Joe Jacoby. Players Talk Steffen noted that he gets no health insurance from the NFLPA. "I have to get health insurance on my own," he said. "And that can be expensive. I pay out $400 a month for medications alone and I have had heart surgery, hip surgery, and neck surgery." He explained that when he played it was the team's responsibility to help with medical expenses when a player got hurt. He noted that he had to sue the Cowboys to repair ligaments in a knee. The Cowboys re-imbursed him for the surgery but he got nothing from the NFLPA. "The oldtimers are all dying out. There won't be many of us around in 10 years. The rich get richer and the oldtimers die," concluded Steffen. Billy Kilmer had a 17 year career in the National Football League (1961-1978). He played for the San Francisco 49ers, the New Orleans Saints, and the Washington Redskins. Like Steffen, he reached into the NFLPA pension plan when he was 45. Today he gets $520 a month. "Luckily I don't need it. A lot of guys need it," said Kilmer. Kilmer believes that the pension does not come to the standards of other sports. He is interested in what Major League Baseball players get because he came close to signing a contract to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates when he graduated from high school. "Look at baseball today. If I got into baseball and stayed in it for 10 years I'd be getting $90,000 a year," he said. He believes that the NFLPA and Gene Upshaw should be going after the revenues of NFL Properties to fund the pension plan. "I've been saying this since 1974," said Kilmer. "To this date, as far as I know, no one has seen the books of NFL Properties. NFLPA doesn't say one thing about NFL Properties and they use are likeness and names and we don't get anything at all." In about 1974 Kilmer
along with other quarterbacks of the day including Y.A. "It's the players fault for not demanding it. We didn't pay attention to the retirement issue," Kilmer concluded. Joe Jacoby had a career in the National Football League that lasted for 13 years (1981-1993). He played for only one team -- The Redskins. He has not gone into the pension plan yet. "It wouldn't be beneficial," he said. "I would get about $1,400 to $1,500 a month. What can I do with that?" He complained that nothing has been done about retirement issues since the last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 1993. "Nothing has been done since the last CBA and the pension has been left off the table and forgotten about," said Jacoby. "Nothing is done to bring it up to the cost of living like all the other pension packages." Jacoby noted that when he retired there were no 401k plans. He now owns his own business, a car dealership in Virginia. So he has since created a 401k plan for himself. He also has his own health insurance. "There are guys because of prior conditions who have no health insurance coverage," he continued. "My health insurance doesn't cover some of the injuries I've received but at least I have coverage for other things. It's expensive but I'm in a group plan through my business." Jacoby noted that a new CBA is being negotiated now. He believes that retirement issues should be dealt with. "There should be some kind of cost of living inducement for the pension plan and the health insurance issue should be tackled. That is a major issue. How do you tackle that issue? I don't know. I'm feeling it in my own business. I've seen 15 percent to 25 percent increases over last year. So that's not an easy one to rectify. But I think some of the revenue can be used to increase the pension so that some of the retirees can use the pension to offset the cost of health care. "Don't get me wrong," he continued. "There has been some improvements since the 1980s and into the '90s. But since the early '90s on there has been a drop in keeping up with these problems and issues that concern the retirees. The NFLPA is not addressing this part of the CBA package. "Five to 10 years from now I will probably have health issues. When I reach the age of 55 I could get a pension payment of $3,000 a month. That's eight and a half years away. How much will the cost of living effect that?" He concluded that the next CBA should include some kind of formula to take the cost of living into account. "We need a formula to adjust for the cost of living and we need to look at it every year. I don't know if it should be based on the CPI or the inflation rate. But there needs to be something. Even social security gets bumped every year." Len Hauss played 14 seasons (1964-1977) for the Washington Redskins. He also served as president of the NFLPA from 1978 through 1979. Like Kilmer and Steffen, Hauss dipped into the pension plan early. "That was a mistake. I would have been better off if I'd waited," he said. "Overall, I think the union has been good to us." "When players
get out of the game none of us think we are going to live to be Brig Owens played in the National Football League for 14 seasons. He was a member of the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. He was also a player rep for the NFLPA when he played, was assistant executive director of the NFLPA and now serves as president of the NFLPA Retired Players. He believes that the union has done a good job for the retirees. "Since Gene Upshaw has been president of the NFLPA with every collective bargaining agreement he has always reached back to get something for retired players," he said. He noted that the only time the union can do anything is during collective bargaining negotiations and that is happening now. "The NFLPA is not required by law to represent retired players but there has always been a custom to reach back," continued Owens. He pointed out that there is constant communications between retired players and the executive committee and board of directors of the NFLPA. George Izo played
quarterback for the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Redskins, Detroit
Lions, and Pittsburgh Steelers during a seven year career The Record In the e-mail, Upshaw went on to list what has been done to improve pension and disability benefits since 1982. Guaranteed pensions
for retirees including pre-59ers. In 2002 the active players voted to
give up $110 million in current compensation to increase the pension
benefits for others, essentially doubling the pension benefits for many
players. The plan is now paying out close to $5 million a month to retirees
and their beneficiaries. Pension checks for the oldest retirees (about
800 players who played before 1959) got a raise of from $100 to $200
per month for each season played. For players active from 1959 through
1976 (about 1,410 retirees) pensions went up to $200 from $100 - $185
per month for each season played. Retirees who played prior to 1959 started to receive payments from the pension in March, 1987. In May, 1993, retired players received a 40 percent pension increase. The pre-59ers got a 33-1/3 percent increase. In March-April, 1998, the retired players received a 10 percent increase in the pension. Pre-59ers received a 25 percent increase. Disability benefits
are being paid to about 3,000 retirees from the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle
Plan. The minimum compensation from the plan for a partial disability,
which means that the former player can still work, is $18,000 per year.
Two former players
who are well known to football fans and who receive these benefits are
Darryl Stingley and Jim Otto. Stingley was a wide receiver for the New
England Patriots when in 1978 he suffered a vicious hit from Oakland
Raider cornerback Jack Tatum that broke Stingley's neck. The play left
the 26-year old Stingley a quadriplegic. Otto played center for the
Raiders for 16 seasons that resulted in dozens of major surgeries and
left him with degenerative arthritis in his knees, hips, and back. Otto
receives $110,000 per year for the rest of his life. Stingley gets $235,000
a year for life. The program was revised in 1993. Prior to that year
Otto was receiving only $1,000 per month. The Collective Bargaining Agreement that is in effect today and was first negotiated in 1993, amended in June, 1996, February, 1998, December, 2000, and January, 2002 include retirement benefits. There is a Second Career Savings Plan. In the plan each team contributes $250,000 and also provides a matching contribution an amount for each player who earns a credited season during a plan year. The amount is two dollars for each dollar contributed by the player up to maximum of $20,000. And there is a Player Annuity Program. The NFL clubs are mandated by the agreement to contribute $73 million but not less than an amount sufficient to fund an allocation of $65,000 to each player eligible for an allocation. The program allows the player to receive distribution in the form of annuity or installment payments when that player reaches the age of 35 or five years after the end of the annuity year containing the player's last credited season. Payments must begin no later than age 65. The player has the choice to receive payments up to the age of 45, a later age he specifies, or for life. If the player dies prior to receiving payments, the player's named beneficiary is entitled to the payments. The Other Players'
Unions The National Basketball
Players Association has a pension plan that provides The pension plan
offered by the National Hockey League Players Association depends on
length of the player's career. For a player who played in fewer than
400 games, he gets an annual payment of $8,000 for life starting at
age 45. The present pension
plan for the Major League Baseball Players Association is based on time
of service. The player is vested on the first day of service. Some Ideas for
the Next CBA To assure that the payments retirees get from the pension is enough to cover the cost of living the NFLPA should consider Joe Jacoby's concerns of creating a formula based on the CPI or the inflation rate to bump monthly payments from the pension plan each year. Since the players who retire after 1993 have the annuity Plan, they should be asked to take out less from the pension plan. This will provide funds for players who retired before 1993 when there was no annuity plan to take out more from the pension. Since a group health
insurance program is available to active players, shouldn't it be possible
to extend eligibility to all retired players? My understanding is that
the larger the group, the less expensive the insurance premium. The unprecedented
success of the National Football League has been an evolutionary process.
The stars of this decade owe the players who took the hits in the 1980s.
And the players of the 1980s owe the players who took the hits in the
1970s. And the players of the 1970s owe the players who took the hits
in the 1960s. And the players of the 1960s owe the players who took
the hits in the 1950s. Each generation of players has helped make the
league what it is today.
Collective Bargaining Agreement of the NFL Collective
Bargaining Agreement of Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining
Agreement for the National Basketball Association
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