Gridiron Greats Help Raise Money, Awareness
I get so upset when I read about retired football players who don’t have healthcare coverage. Remember the stories about Ickey Woods selling meat door to door? And most of these guys are so banged up that no insurance company will take them on, post-retirement.
Nowadays, your street-smart, fast-talking Jerry McGuire-style sports agent will hook a playah up, with proper, long-term healthcare as part of their team contract. But back in the day, in addition to (comparatively) low salaries, those football legends that we admire so much didn’t get anything. And for many, what money they had went to pay for costly, out of pocket medical expenses.
The Gridiron Greats is a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funds for retired football players without pensions or healthcare. The group, which includes greats like Steve Largent, Jerry Kramer and the much beloved Anthony Munoz, has been campaigning tirelessly with the Super Bowl as their backdrop. The group is calling for flat pensions, and asking players to donate one game check this season to the funds for retired football players on disability.
I don't know if it's responsible to say that former football players should receive monies based on salaries today. That's an argument that comes up again and again, especially with healthcare for retired football players in the news. But I do think it's important that the NFL and team owners take care of their own. In fairness, the NFL set aside several million last year to help retired players with joint replacement surgery. They also promised to try to speed up disability claims. But, there are still a lot of retired football players who don't have healthcare at all. That can't be right.
The Gridiron Greats are holding an auction of memorabilia, trips, even a dinner with Mike Ditka (!) to help retired football players pay for medical expenses on their website.
Nowadays, your street-smart, fast-talking Jerry McGuire-style sports agent will hook a playah up, with proper, long-term healthcare as part of their team contract. But back in the day, in addition to (comparatively) low salaries, those football legends that we admire so much didn’t get anything. And for many, what money they had went to pay for costly, out of pocket medical expenses.
The Gridiron Greats is a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funds for retired football players without pensions or healthcare. The group, which includes greats like Steve Largent, Jerry Kramer and the much beloved Anthony Munoz, has been campaigning tirelessly with the Super Bowl as their backdrop. The group is calling for flat pensions, and asking players to donate one game check this season to the funds for retired football players on disability.
I don't know if it's responsible to say that former football players should receive monies based on salaries today. That's an argument that comes up again and again, especially with healthcare for retired football players in the news. But I do think it's important that the NFL and team owners take care of their own. In fairness, the NFL set aside several million last year to help retired players with joint replacement surgery. They also promised to try to speed up disability claims. But, there are still a lot of retired football players who don't have healthcare at all. That can't be right.
The Gridiron Greats are holding an auction of memorabilia, trips, even a dinner with Mike Ditka (!) to help retired football players pay for medical expenses on their website.
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