NFL Retirees Website- Great reads

[jackrussell]

http://nflretirees.blogspot.com/

 

[sago1]

Have heard a lot about some of the older HOF games having such a hard time. Herb Adderly was a great player and the few times I got a chance to watch him on TV was great. I'm glad to hear that his paltry $126 monthly from the NFLPA isn't necessary for his survival but very concerned about those who need the money cause there physical/mental capacities were much more affected. Players like Adderly & Gale Sayers made the NFL what it is today. While I can understand to some extent the desire of so many current players to get as much as they can, a little more efforts to show apppreciation towards these older/great players should be extended--particularly by Upshaw who has repeatedly said "he's employed by the current players" and "not these older guys". Hope those current players who employ him realize that once they retired they shouldn't expect any help from him at all.

 

[Cbz40]

http://nflretirees.blogspot.com/

You're right Jack......"Great Read". Thanks

 

[THUMPER]

Considering the billions of dollars brought in by the NFL via TV contracts, marketing deals, merchandise sales, etc. it is appalling that the very people who made it possible reap so little from it.

I am a Baby Boomer (born in '58) and have watched football from the early 60s on. I've seen every great player of the past 45 years and feel privileged to have done so. I feel as if I have an affinity with these older players as I lived and died with them every Sunday, rooting for and against them depending on which team they played for. It hurts me to see them in the condition some of them are in now.

Johnny Unitas was one of my heroes and it made me sad to see him later in life, barely able to use his right arm that I had seen throw so many perfect passes when I was a kid. To see Bob Hayes, who was another of my childhood heroes, near the end of his life was hurtful as well.

I am glad that other heroes of mine like Bob Lilly and Roger Staubach are doing well in life, both physically and financially, but there are many others who are broken and broke. Their medical costs are staggering and the NFL should have done more a long time ago to redress the situation.

The younger players love Gene Upshaw because they are making incredible money, even for 3rd string scrubs, but I haven't heard a single older player (except some of his former Raiders teammates) who like how he has run the NFLPA. Ask former Raiders Center Jim Otto what he thinks of Upshaw and the players union and you probably won't get a favorable opinion from him.

The league and union have sold out the players who made the NFL into the greatest sport in the world and it is criminal.

 

[jackrussell]

You're right Jack......"Great Read". Thanks

I've been going into all the archives.....it's become almost addictive!

 

[THUMPER]

So far the youngest person to post in this thread is 47. Two of us in our late 40s and two in their early 60s.

The younger fans have missed out on football, and sports in general, when it was really all about the game and not the money because no one made truly big money back in the day. They have no clue as to how much these guys sacrificed to play the game they loved. Only the very top players made large salaries and most guys had jobs in the off-season selling cars or insurance.

I played semi-pro ball back in the late 70s and the money I made per game didn't cover the expenses of uniforms, travel, meals, etc. and there was no consideration for medical expenses if we got hurt. If you didn't have your own insurance through your regular job you were screwed. About the only thing they supplied was a volunteer physician, athletic tape, and Excedrin.

I would have loved to have played pro ball but by that time, if you didn't play in college you didn't get a look. I also didn't put the time and effort into training the way I should have and wasted the physical gifts that God had given me. I was big, fast, strong, and mean but not overly dedicated and completely undisciplined. Now guys like that are getting drafted!

I wrecked my body playing in pickup games and as I'm nearing 50 have trouble getting up and down the stairs or standing up in the morning but I still play whenever I can get enough guys together, I'm just the slowest guy on the field now.

Fans now can't believe there was a time when guys would have played for nothing but it was true and a lot of them played for nearly that for many years. When you talk to a player from the 60s who played 12 years and his highest salary was $14K you get the idea. My dad made that working in a grocery store (that's @ $6.73 an hour) and he supported 5 kids on that salary in the early 60s.

The younger fans just don't know what they missed.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

So far the youngest person to post in this thread is 47. Two of us in our late 40s and two in their early 60s.

The younger fans have missed out on football, and sports in general, when it was really all about the game and not the money because no one made truly big money back in the day. They have no clue as to how much these guys sacrificed to play the game they loved. Only the very top players made large salaries and most guys had jobs in the off-season selling cars or insurance.

I played semi-pro ball back in the late 70s and the money I made per game didn't cover the expenses of uniforms, travel, meals, etc. and there was no consideration for medical expenses if we got hurt. If you didn't have your own insurance through your regular job you were screwed. About the only thing they supplied was a volunteer physician, athletic tape, and Excedrin.

I would have loved to have played pro ball but by that time, if you didn't play in college you didn't get a look. I also didn't put the time and effort into training the way I should have and wasted the physical gifts that God had given me. I was big, fast, strong, and mean but not overly dedicated and completely undisciplined. Now guys like that are getting drafted!

I wrecked my body playing in pickup games and as I'm nearing 50 have trouble getting up and down the stairs or standing up in the morning but I still play whenever I can get enough guys together, I'm just the slowest guy on the field now.

Fans now can't believe there was a time when guys would have played for nothing but it was true and a lot of them played for nearly that for many years. When you talk to a player from the 60s who played 12 years and his highest salary was $14K you get the idea. My dad made that working in a grocery store (that's @ $6.73 an hour) and he supported 5 kids on that salary in the early 60s.

The younger fans just don't know what they missed.

The reason I havent posted is because the thread title and OP are pretty vague. I actually like the classic stuff but football pre60s hardly resembles the game today.

 

[jackrussell]

The reason I havent posted is because the thread title and OP are pretty vague. I actually like the classic stuff but football pre60s hardly resembles the game today.

What part of 'NFL Retirees Website- Great Reads" didn't you understand?