The NFLPA website has the above information under its "Retired Players FAQ (frequently asked questions).

It's interesting to note that in Gene Upshaw's White Paper he told
Congress that "an employee of a corporation like IBM or General Motors
does not expect to get - and does not get - disability benefits if he
or she becomes unable to work decades after leaving the job."

The last time I looked, neither of those companies was getting Anti-
Trust exemptions from the Congress of the United States! Are those
jobs really as dangerous as playing in the NFL? Let's ask Kevin
Everett, Dennis Byrd and Mike Utley.

Although it's like comparing apples to oranges (because of the Anti-
Trust exemption) let's nonetheless, compare Big Corporation employees
to NFL employees.

It is not unusual for most big companies in the United States to have
employees that work for the company for decades. For those companies
that have unions that negotiate pensions and benefits, the officers of
those labor unions are making pension decisions that typically benefit
all employees equally. That's because there are so many members that
are still working. It would be hard for a candidate to get elected by
their union members with the campaign slogan "I'll work to substantially increase pension benefits, but only for the members that just started working here the past 4 years!" Would that union member be elected, or invited to dinner by any of the other union members? No, they would do exactly what Gene Upshaw said he would to the Buffalo Bill's Hall of Fame Guard Joe Delamielleure, "break his damn neck."

Since the average union membership of all NFL players is only 3.5
years, most players are out of the game before they even begin to
understand how the NFLPA operates. Once a retired player leaves the
game, they have no vote! Gene Upshaw has made that point all too clear
to us. We can't even have one "perfunctory" position on the NFLPA
Executive Committee. He has convinced the active players that this
should never happen. God forbid we might influence some of their
thinking about retired players! I remember NFLPA President, Troy
Vincent asking the following question at our 2006 Retired Players
Convention "Why didn't you guys vote to put a retired player on the
Executive Committee when you were playing." I remember Jim McFarland answering him in such a beautiful way by saying "We were too damn busy going on strike trying to get the benefits that you now enjoy!"
Ouch!!

Another reason Congress might want to repeal the NFL's Anti-Trust
exemption:

· Congress may not like the way the Pension, Disability and Benefit
Plans are funded and distributed. What if they think that the playing
field is no longer level and that too much of the money is going to
active players

Although it is true that the funding for the pension plan comes from
owner revenues, it is the current players who determine how much the
owners put into the Plan. The owners, through the CBA, are giving the
NFLPA 60% of total revenues. That money can be used for salaries and
benefits (including pensions and disability), but only the current
players determine if there will be any increases to the pension,
disability and benefit plans. After the decisions are made and the CBA
is signed, the money for the Retirement Plan is turned over to the
Retirement Board to pay for necessary contributions to the Pension
Plan. Those contributions then, in a roundabout way, come from each
NFL team. It should be noted that in the new CBA, under Article XLVIII-
E there is an agreement by owners and the NFLPA to establish, as soon
as administratively feasible, an "NFL Player Benefits Committee". The
committee will be comprised of an equal number of NFLPA and Owner
Rep's who will be responsible for paying the expenses of the Bert Bell/
Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, the NFL Second Career Savings Plan, the NFL Supplemental Disability Plan, the NFL Player Annuity Plan, the 88 Plan, the Health Reimbursement Plan, including
investment, legal, actuarial, consulting, audit, and other expenses
deemed appropriate by this committee. Budgets and expenses will have
to be approved by this committee.

Since the 1993 CBA, the Team Owners have essentially been taken out of the mix when it comes to decisions about the Pension, Disability and
Benefit Plans for retired players. They really have no voice in what
the active players do with money for new and improved pension,
disability and benefit plans. Through the CBA the owners are basically
saying "Here's 60% of revenues......now you (Active Players) figure
out what you want to do with it! If you want higher salaries and
better benefits for yourselves, so be it. If you want to throw a few
crumbs to the retired players, that's ok too! It's your decision."
With the establishment of the NFL Player Benefits Committee, will the
owners now have more say over the pension, disability and benefits, or
is this just another window dressing to show Congress that they are
involved in the process.

The NFLPA has continually warned us that the Pension Plan is under-
funded and that there is no way that the NFLPA can improve benefits to
the level of active players. My suggestion: If they have a problem
funding the Pension Plan, then use some of the funding that it is
being set aside for the Tuition Assistance Plan, Health Reimbursement
Account, 5 Free Years of Medical Benefits, the Annuity Plan, Severance
Benefits, minimum salary benefits, and most of all, the Second Career
Savings Plan. On top of all those benefits, the active players will
also receive the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Pension Plan benefits. Do
active players really need all the other retirement type benefits? The
average annual salary in the NFL is 1.4 Million dollars and the
average starter salary is 2.6 Million! This doesn't even take into
account the additional money that players are receiving through
Players Inc. At the beginning of each season each player signs a
licensing agreement that pays them $8,000 to allow the NFLPA to market their image. Additionally some active and recently retired players
have made millions of dollars through Players Inc. through player
appearances and other events and activities during and after the
season.

How much is enough?

If the past 14 years (1993 to 2006) was compared to a football game,
the NFLPA would have been flagged for piling on (benefits) for active
players. Granted, there have been modest increases for retired
players, but are you really satisfied with only about 1% of the gross
revenues going to Retired Players, Disabled Players, Widows and
Surviving Children? Apparently some of you are.....particularly those
players that retired during the past 14 years. And why wouldn't you
be?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that players since 1993 have
been able to use the NFLPA to get the numerous benefits they now
enjoy.....but let's not forget about the guys that came before you.
Regardless of what Gene Upshaw tells us, there will be enough revenues
to continue to increase the pension and disability plans for older
players and it should be a priority before any new, or increased
benefits for active players are considered.

In his White Paper to Congress, Gene Upshaw actually used the example of what a 10 year player retiring in 2008 will make in pension
benefits! Why? Because it would have been too embarrassing for him to
show what 10 year players retiring in 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980 were
getting. Shouldn't Congress also know the benefits of those players
as compared to the benefits of recently retired players and currently
active players? They should, but it's too embarrassing for Gene to put
on a chart!

Here is an example of the income and benefits that an "average" 10
year player that retired at the end of 2006 has already earned and is
entitled to receive in the future:

· NFL Salary: = 10 Million (Average salary for each year from
1996-2005)

· Severance Pay Plan: = $127,500

· Second Career Savings Plan: = $20,000 (if the player also
contributed $10,000)

· Annuity Plan: = $65,000 for player and beneficiaries. This is a
deferred compensation plan that includes both a "Taxable Portion" and
a "Tax-Qualified Portion" $5,000 is also received by this player for
the tax-qualified portion.

· Tuition Assistance Plan: = $45,000 for reimbursement of his expenses
incurred for qualifying tuition, fees and books. This money can be
used while a player is still active and up to 3 years after they
retire.

· 5 Free Years of Health Insurance (Medical Benefits): = $60,000
($1,000 x 12 months. x 5 years.) Hard to put an actual price tag on
this, but private coverage can cost anywhere from $500 to $2,000 a
month, so I've used $1,000 as an approx. amount. What does the NFL
actually pay the insurance company per covered person? I don't know.

· Health Reimbursement Plan: = $25,000 (Available after the 5 free
years of NFLPA Health Insurance, and only for players not involved in
an employers health care plan. Provides reimbursement payments from
the Plan to eligible players, their spouses, and dependents.) What is
the actual amount per player that is reimbursed through this Plan? I
don't know.

The Total = $10 Million in salary and $347,500 in eligible benefits.
This does Not even include the NFL Pension Plan, or the interest that
will be earned on the Second Career Savings Plan, or the Annuity
Plan!

Under the Pension Plan this player would also receive $55,140 in
annual payments if they retired at age 55.

Remember, this is just the average!

Now.......here is the projected total for a currently active "average
starting player" that plays over the 10 year period (2002 - 2011)
which is the last Capped year of the CBA.

· NFL Salary: = 26 Million (Average starter salary for each year from
2002-2011) This is a very conservative estimate based on the current
average salary for a starting player over the 10 year period.

· Severance Pay Plan: = $132,000

· Second Career Savings Plan: = $132,000 (if the player also
contributed $10,000 or more each year)

· Annuity Plan: = $520,000 for player and beneficiaries. This is a
deferred compensation plan that includes both a "Taxable Portion" and
a "Tax-Qualified Portion" $50,000 of the total received by this player
would fall under the tax-qualified portion.

· Tuition Assistance Plan: = $45,000 for reimbursement of his expenses
incurred for qualifying tuition, fees and books. This money can be
used while a player is still active and up to 3 years after they
retire.

· 5 Free Years of Health Insurance (Medical Benefits): = $60,000
($1,000 x 12 months. x 5 years.) Again, it's hard to put an actual
price tag on this, but private coverage can cost anywhere from $500 to
$2,000 a month, so I've used $1,000 as an approx. amount. What does
the NFL actually pay the insurance company per covered person? I don't
know.

· Health Reimbursement Plan: = $300,000 (Available after the 5 free
years of NFLPA Health Insurance, and only for players not involved in
an employers health care plan. Provides reimbursement payments from
the Plan to eligible players, their spouses, and dependents.) What is
the actual amount per player that is reimbursed through this Plan? I
don't know.

The Total = $26 Million in salary and $1,189,000 in eligible benefits!
Again, this does Not even include the NFL Pension Plan, or the
interest that will be earned on the Second Career Savings Plan, or the
Annuity Plan!

Under the Pension Plan, this player would also receive $56,400 in
annual payments if they retired at age 55.

Does anyone really think that the above player is going to need a
Second Career Savings Plan?

Here's an interesting fact: The assets in the Second Career Savings
Plan alone will be more than 1 Billion in the next two years and will
eventually eclipse the NFL Pension Plan! Although active players
contribute to the plan annually, how much of a burden is it for these
guys to put up $10,000 dollars of their salary each year in order to
get $20,000 from the owners. If you can believe this, some of the
players weren't even bothering to invest their money in this Plan, so
the union amended the plan to automatically enroll each player.
Players can opt out if they want, but I would like to know what stock
or other investment option has a return of $20,000 annually on a
$10,000 investment?

It is interesting to note that the NFLPA's White Paper consistently
talks about improvements since 1993. The White Paper states "from
1993 to June 2007, 42.6% of individuals who have applied for NFLPA /
NFL disability benefits were awarded disability benefits of some
kind."

What percentage of claims for disability benefits were awarded before
1993? Why doesn't Congress ask that question?

The bottom line is this: Gene Upshaw gets elected because he continues to deliver the above types of benefits to active players.

Jeff Nixon
Vice President
Buffalo Bills Retired Players Chapter