By cane or crutch, a movement of former NFL players is about to climb higher on Capitol Hill.
Having already explained its plight to a House Judiciary subcommittee this summer, a band of frustrated former football players has a hearing with a Senate subcommittee Sept. 18 in the Russell Building in Washington.
Former players argue that beginning in 1993, the NFL’s benefits umbrella featuring the major components of pension, disability and medical insurance has generously compensated active players but at the expense of older players.
The league and players union counter with figures that state $82,000 is taken from each of the 1,800 active player’s salaries for the sole benefit of the former players’ retirement fund.
“Our job is to bring out the facts, regardless of what they look like, and their job is to spin it,” said former Miami Dolphins running back Eugene “Mercury” Morris. “I’m glad these hearings are going on. The question is, are (the senators) going to be willing to do something? What bothers me is they don’t know enough about the misconduct that’s there, that all anybody’s talking about is how badly the players are being treated. If they look at the system and how corrupt it is, then maybe we can get something done.”
The players hope that unlike in their previous meeting on the Hill, the prominence of the Senate subcommittee that includes John Kerry, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., can lure commissioner Roger Goodell and union chief Gene Upshaw to the hearing.
The former players could be represented in mass. Former Minnesota Vikings guard Brent Boyd has initiated a letter-writing campaign urging his colleagues to correspond with their local senator to draw attention to the hearings.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
