Joe DeLamielleure Calls Out Drew Brees

Dear Drew:

At the NFL Players Association convention in Hawaii this past Sunday, you presented a resolution that would give former players two seats on the NFLPA Board of Player Representatives.

The two seats are for “non-voting members.” In my book, that’s just a bark without a bite. In fact this is nothing but window-dressing by the NFLPA to give retired players the illusion that they have some power. Retired players may be sitting at the table, but when it comes time to vote….. we have to sit quietly in the corner and watch.

In touting your amendment you said “As one team, we will fight to improve a health care system that currently only gives players five years of health care if you play three years and a plan that doesn’t cover all preventative health care for our wives”.

Did you actually say that in front of retired players? How in the world does that statement have anything to do with helping most retired players? Not one single player, before 1993, had 5 free years of health insurance after they retired, not to mention coverage for their wives!

You want retired players to be on your team. You gotta be kidding me! On every team that I ever played on, we all had the same game plan. Well, your game plan is a lot different than the one most retired players want to see executed.

Could one of the reasons you want us to join the “Team” be because the NFL Owner’s have discontinued their contributions to your Annuity Plan, Second Career Savings Plan, Tuition Assistance Plan, Health Reimbursement Account? Well, if you want us to fight for your benefits, you better start fighting for ours!

You forgot to mention in your press conference that after your 5 free years of medical benefits end, you will have a Health Reimbursement Account that will kick in. The NFL owners have been depositing $25,000 annually into your pre-tax account. Your account can increase up to $300,000, therefore you can rest comfortably knowing that this will help you pay for direct medical expenses, medical insurance premiums, and medical insurance co-pays and deductibles for all your family members including your wife!

If you really wanted the retired players to rally around you Drew, you should have mentioned something about increasing the Pension Plan, or reforming the Disability Plan, which are the top two issues that concern retired players.

So where were you when the owners recently proposed to increase retired player pension benefits by $100 Million? The money for that expense would have come from a wage cap on rookies.

Why would you want to continue a system that gave $462 Million in guaranteed bonuses to the first 32 players selected in last years draft? Those guys had never played a single down in the NFL. This year it will happen again and that is a slap in the face of all retired players who built the foundations of the NFL that you are now standing on………and benefitting from. Would your silence on this issue have anything to do with the fact that Tom Condon is your agent and that he would stand to lose millions of dollars if the rookie wage cap was put in place. I certainly hope not.

It is simply astonishing to me that you expressed your concern about better health insurance for NFL wives, especially in light of the fact that there are thousands of retired players that never received a plug nickel for post-career health insurance and a Health Reimbursement Account like the one you will have when you retire.

Some players have been denied an NFL disability and as a result, their bank accounts have been drained dry due to hospital and doctor bills. Many retired players can’t find affordable health insurance because they’re self-employed. Many others have the added problem of insurance companies dropping them, capping their annual payments, or outright denying them coverage because of (football related) pre-existing conditions.

Fortunately, you have a disability plan that can help you, should you get injured. Before 1993 there wasn’t much of a plan to speak of. If, God forbid, you should have an injury that ends your career, I guess it doesn’t hurt to know that your agent, Tom Condon, is one of the NFLPA appointments to the Board that reviews claims for disability.

This past Sunday wasn’t the first time you’ve made comments that make retired players question your commitment to improving the Pensions of retired players. Back on January 29, 2009 you made some rather insulting comments about retired players when you said “There’s some guys out there that have made bad business decisions. They took their pensions early because they never went out and got a job. They’ve had a couple divorces and they’re making payments to this place and that place. And that’s why they don’t have money. And they’re coming to us to basically say, Please make up for my bad judgment.”

Yes, there are some guys that made bad decisions, but unlike your generalized characterization, the majority of us made good decisions.

As for me, my work ethic speaks for itself. I never missed a day of practice in 13 seasons in the NFL. Since my retirement, I’ve worked every day of my life. I also worked during the football offseason too, just like many other players of my generation.

I’ve been married to my wife Gerri for 38 years. She works so we can make ends meet and also have health insurance coverage through her employer. I have 4 biological children, 2 adopted children and 3 other children that I raised and put through college and trade schools. I currently have 8 grandchildren.

Just like you, I want to make sure I can provide for my family, but it hasn’t been easy on our incomes and my current pension which is $1,247.96 a month.

Unfortunately, I received some bad advice from the union and was encouraged to take my Pension at age 45. We were given bogus information that told us NFL players were dying at a much younger age than the general population, so I did what I thought was best for my family.

Many retired players had to take their pension money out of necessity. We didn’t make the millions that you and other players now make. I should note that the NFLPA finally realized their mistake and stopped allowing retired players to take early pensions and the Social Security Adjustment Option too.

I would also like to point out that back in my playing days, we didn’t have the security of knowing that an Annuity Plan and a Second Career Savings Plan would be waiting for us after retirement. I recently read that those two funds have almost 1.5 Billion dollars in total assets, but those monies are only for the more recent generation of players – guys that played after 1993. If that money had been put into the Pension plan it could have helped ALL retired players, not just the guys that were fortunate enough to come along after all the player strikes, court battles and fighting for free agency was said and done.

In addition to your 5 free years of medical coverage and your health reimbursement account, you will also have $455,000 in your Annuity account, $132,000 in your Second Career Savings account and if you were to retire today, you would also receive a Severance Check of $145,000 and an NFL Pension which would pay you $56,400 annually at age 55.

This is all on top of the 6 year, $60 Million contract you signed in 2006, of which 20.1 million was guaranteed.

These figures do not include the moneys you also make from the NFLPA Group Licensing Program, NFL Players (the marketing arm of the NFLPA) and all of your endorsements.

Like a lot of retired players, I’m sick and tired of hearing multi-millionaire players talk about increasing their own benefits, while at the same time giving lip service to retired players.

In closing, I want you to know that I am aware of all the good things you are doing in your community and that you are very involved in raising money for charities. I too, am very involved in raising money for organizations and charities.

We both know what needs to be done to help the less fortunate and that is why I am calling on you to help the pioneers of the NFL by advocating for a significant increase in retired player pensions and instituting additional reforms to the NFL Disability Plan.



Sincerely,

Joe DeLamielleure
NFL Hall of Fame – Class of 2003





http://fourthandgoalunites.com/2010/03/18/joe-delamielleure%E2%80%99s-open-letter-to-drew-brees/

Ten Quarterbacks Prospects NOT Named Clausen or Bradford In The 2010 NFL Draft

Though Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen are the quarterbacks most expect to be first round draft picks in the 2010 NFL Draft, there are other quarterback prospects available in later rounds that could have excellent professional careers. Here are a few to look out for.







Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan


High character player with a decent arm. Though he displayed nice mobility in college, his speed of 4.66 in the 40-yard dash isnot going to blow anyone away. He worked out the shotgun through college, so his ability to work under the center is questioned. His accuracy is erratic. He has a look of an NFL player who will never quit on your team. He may be backup material ultimately, but he brings nothing but positives to the locker room.











Tony Pike, Cincinnati


The tallest quarterback in the draft at 6'6". Pike showed good character battling back from injury his senior season, though some scouts question if his skinny body can withstand much of a beating. Others are not in love with him arm strength, as he mostly threw underneath in college. He can tend to lock on his primary receiver at times. He could thrive in the right system, because he has a good feel for the game.











Daryll Clark, Penn State





He is mobile, a leader, and has a strong arm. He also has a low release point and is erratic in his decision making. He might get picked up by a team to run the "Wildcat formation" on occasion. He will take a lot of work to develop, but his character shows he is a willing student.











Levi Brown, Troy


He has good size and above average arm strength. He is another college quarterback who ran his offense out of a shotgun, so the transition to under the center is questioned. His deep ball accuracy needs work. Not very mobile, so will get sacked a lot unless he speeds up his decision making ability. A project.









Colt McCoy, Texas


Very smart and experienced. A natural leader. He does not have a big arm, so his above average mobility will be needed to buy him time. He needs to improve his low release point, because he is just 6'1" tall. His deep ball accuracy needs a lot of improvement. His high character and smarts may help him find a starting job somewhere in his career.









Tim Hiller, Western Michigan


He has one of the strongest arms in this draft class.He is very smart and experienced. He has also showed a high level of mental toughness, having played in pain often. He is also very immobile, having balky knees that have suffered multiple ACL tears. He will need excellent blocking in front of him to succeed. A sleeper pick who could help a team out down the road.












Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State


Though Robinson started two years in college, he is considered a very raw prospect. He is athletic enough to avoid the pass rush, and has a very good arm. He is also considered a high character player with good mental toughness. He needs to improve his decision making time, and also needs to hit the weight room hard and bulk up. He can improve on all areas of mechanics a lot. Not many teams carry three quarterbacks anymore, but Robinson would be a good candidate to be such a player as he works on his game on the sidelines while the games go on in 2010. He might be three years away from being ready to compete for a starting job.











Max Hall, BYU


Older prospect at 24 years old. Mature player who is married to the sister of BYU all-time receptions leader Dennis Pitna, a tight end prospect in the draft. He has fast and sound decision making qualities, but needs to improve on his release point. While he moves well in a collapsing pocket, he needs to work on his footwork. While he has a decent arm, he needs to be in the right system because he lacks the arm strength to make all the throws at the next level. Tends to float passes by throwing off of his back foot.His intellect might have him make for a good backup down the road.











Jevan Snead, Mississippi


Made a mistake committing to the draft with one more year of eligibility left. Very raw in need of a lot more seasoning. Wild in accuracy, and has a propensity to show bad ball security skills. Needs to improve drastically on his footwork, in his decision making process, and his ability to read defenses. He does show good arm strength when he gets his feet set correctly, and he is considered intelligent. He is the type you keep as a third quarterback and develop in hopes he fulfills his potential down the road.











Tim Tebow, Florida


ESPiN LOVES him, as do his fans. Some just for his personal views alone. His hype machine is running so strong, expect to see him in television commercials soon. He has good size, and his drive to be the best he can be is immeasurable and unquestioned. He has good arm strength, and showed a knack for winning at college so excellent that he may be the best college player of this decade. His release point needs major work, and his ability to get rid of the ball takes too much time. He is wild in his accuracy, and there is a huge question if he can make his progressions at the pro level since he was never asked to this in college.

It brings into question if he can read defenses properly. He is a questionable project that will need major amounts of time to develop. Some compare him to Bobby Douglass, an NFL quarterback in the 1970's, while others see him more as a bigger version of 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch. Crouch was asked to switch positions, when he was drafted, and has never played a down in the NFL. While it may not be a smart gamble to count Tebow out as an NFL quarterback, it is obvious he has a huge uphill battle to be one.

The Overrated Tim Tebow Workout Needs To Get Florida University Put On Probation

Jon Gruden does not work for free. Ask ESPN , who seems to have anointed their next Brett Farve to shove down our throats on a continuous loop.

Tim Tebow is still legally a college football player?

How did Tebow afford to have Gruden prepare him for Florida Universirty's Pro Day?

You know Gruden did not take an I.O.U. from Tebow for "services rendered".

Who paid for Gruden? How about the Gator boosters? It seems pretty obvious someone other than Tebow footed the Gruden bill?

Will it be investigated? Most likely not. You won't hear a whimper of this discussed by ESPN's "journalists", but you better believe they might if Gruden worked for FOX Sports.

The NCAA Committee is as dirty as the workout that was perpetrated yesterday. Payola, or "hush money", was fed to all the proper pockets so everyone will blindly accept things "as is".

What did we learn from the workout? That Tebow still has no arm, and should think about throwing the ball with his right hand over his left.Even in the current rules that caters to quarterbacks and makes the NFL's chosen divas jobs much easier year to year.

As he got tired, the ball lollipopped more and more. The accuracy waned. ESPN valiantly tried to keep their cameras on him instead of the ball, except for a few of his earlier passes on the most simple of routes. The verdict stayed the same ultimately, despite Gruden's "unbiased" ESPN report that Tebow was a future starter. The guy is no more than a project.

What we really learned is dirty money is flowing in the Sunshine State. Now we truly see why Florida gets all the top recruits and will continue to do so. Kids will see that the school will pay for top experts to teach them to be better players without any expense to them. The Gator's will foot the bill, along with the usual housing, clothing, vehicle, female companionship bills they typically take care of for all of their players.

Florida University has blatantly officially taken football recruiting to another level, and the NCAA will gladly follow blindly with stuff wallets continuously fed by the boosters of the school.

ESPN's faux pas journalism will continue to shove your next hero down your throats as long as you tune in. Favre's name is mentioned every 20 minutes on all channels because of legal obligation. It reeks of reminiscence of the "Devil And Daniel Webster".

Now that Brett finally appears to have one last year to wear slovenly on America's conscious, they have the next Golden Boy in waiting. So confident they are in their investment, they sent "Chucky" to teach the kid to look the part of NFL QB.

Part of this madness might be because of draft day. Tebow has to be the first third round prospect ever to be invited to sit in the green room during the draft. If you were utterly sickened by having to watch a constant close up of the crying Brady Quinn for 22 rounds in 2007, get ready to puke at 70+ rounds of watching Tebow wait for the call on April 22nd.

ESPN is ready. Are you? They have plenty of tape from his days in college on the projector to get ready to shove down your consciousnesses as the already written scripts are ready for their "experts" to lament for several hours as to why he hasn't been drafted yet.

Any team that drafts him before the third round needs their heads examined because Tebow is quite simply a poor man's Bobby Douglass.

Unlike Tebow, Douglass had a good, strong arm. Like Tebow, Douglass was a left-hander with accuracy issues his entire career.

Bobby Douglass spent nine years in the NFL between 1969 - 1978, and was a full time starter in two seasons. His best season was in 1972 with the Chicago Bears, and it is not remembered because of his arm. He ran for an then-NFL record 968 yards that year on 141 carries, leading the NFL with a 6.9 yards per carry average. He ran the ball in for eight scores, while tossing a career best nine more scores against 12 interceptions.

Ultimately, he threw 36 touchdowns against 64 interceptions for his career. His yards rushing record for a quarterback was surpassed by 71 yards in 2006 by Michael Vick, though it took two extra games on the schedule to break it. Douglass was drafted in the second round, but you can bet the farm his Alma Mater Kansas University never paid for a coach to come in for six weeks to try to improve his draft stock.

If they had, the NCAA would have put them on probation because they have a set list on who can buy off their silence. Florida is on it, and Kansas never has been. In football. Basketball is a completely different story. Whomever makes them the most cash in each sport has the best chance to line the NCAA pockets and zip their lips with a nodding off acceptance.

If the NCAA or ESPN were legitimate entities, then Florida would thoroughly be investigated to see who bought Jon Gruden. ESPN would have their employee cooperate with the investigation, then break the story when the proper culprits are exposed.

But this will not happen, so just go to sleep and blindly accept the constantly shifting rules. It is exactly what is expected of you.



Did I Do Good ESPN?