Retired players to discuss issues in Vegas confab

As retired NFL players aggressively pushed their cases for better benefits from the union, their efforts came from disparate voices rather than a unified front.

Eight or nine groups representing retired players will be at the South Point from Friday through Sunday, but this will be no effort to consolidate their efforts. Bob Grant, who organized the summit, said consolidation is what created a small power structure in the NFL Players Association -- to the former players' detriment.

So he wants as many voices as possible to discuss the issues and move forward. About 200 former pros are expected.

"It's not going to be a legal entity," said Grant, a linebacker for the Baltimore Colts and Washington Redskins in the late 1960s and early '70s. "It's not going to be a situation where we've got somebody running around who's president and trying to be a very important man. We want to keep it absolutely as democratic as we possibly can."

There might be some momentum on the retired players' side.

Mike Ditka has become the face of the issue by pushing it forward, which led to congressional testimony two years ago about the plight of players who suffer physical, psychological and financial hardships.

In November, a San Francisco jury ruled the NFLPA must pay $28 million in royalties from licensing fees to 2,062 retired players.

Also, new NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has said he wants to improve benefits for retired players, telling the Washington Post that current players "have a moral obligation" to those who played before them.

But Grant, like many retired players, is leery of the NFLPA. He is choosing a wait-and-see approach and said he thinks Smith's best intentions might not even matter.

"The union has been hijacked by a small group of men going back to 1984 or so," Grant said. "Those men placed (the late Gene) Upshaw up there. I don't think (Smith's) going to be able to do just what he wants to do because those men are still in power."

Grant noted that Smith reached out to him but said he was disappointed the NFLPA head chose to stay in Palm Springs, Calif., this week for the union-run NFLPA Retired Players Convention. Grant said Smith could have made the short flight to Las Vegas, then quickly returned.

Grant said the NFLPA under Upshaw routinely scheduled expensive getaways, preventing many retired players from being able to attend, and that the Palm Springs gathering is a continuation of that policy.

"It's just a country club down there," Grant said. "What they are doing is just a social event. It's not what retired players need."

Former quarterback David Humm, a Bishop Gorman High School product who lives in Las Vegas, said retirees will have to wait in line before striking a true dialogue with the NFLPA, which first must confront potentially messy collective-bargaining negotiations with NFL owners.

But that doesn't mean Humm -- wheelchair bound because he suffers from multiple sclerosis -- and the others will just wait quietly.

"When you look at our retirement benefits, we are the worst of any pro (league)," Humm said. "I mean, it is embarrassing when you look at what we do."

Humm, a friend of South Point owner Michael Gaughan, was instrumental in bringing the summit here.

"We're trying to huddle up," Humm said, "and bring the guys together and say, 'Hey, here's where we are. Where do you want us? What do you see our needs are? Who do you want to lead us.' "

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.