NEW YORK — Two former NFL players who are on the owners’ labor committee have written retirees to outline elements of the offer the league made during negotiations.
Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said in their letter that “the players’ union wasn’t listening” to the NFL’s “significant offers that would have a measurable impact on the people who made football great.”
According to the letter, among the owners’ proposal were: a new pension supplement for retired players 55 and older; improvements to disability plans; a new rookie pay system that would shift more than $300 million annually to benefits for current and retired players.
“Even though current players are locked out, the clubs will fully honor their commitments to you. You didn’t cause this dispute, and you won’t have to pay for it,” Murphy and Richardson wrote.
They added: “There will be no reduction in any retiree benefit programs.”
Owners locked out the players in March, creating the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987. A hearing on players’ request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in St. Paul, Minn. Some former NFL players also sued, and the cases were consolidated.
• Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL will insist that its next labor deal with players includes testing for human growth hormone. HGH use is prohibited by the NFL, but the league does not test for it.
Footnote.
Kansas City linebacker Mike Vrabel was charged with theft from a riverboat casino. The Switzerland County (Ind.) sheriff’s department said Vrabel was released on $600 cash bond. He was charged with a class D felony. Vrabel said the incident is a misunderstanding.
The Associated Press
