Dave’s Football Blog

American football is a rough game, especially at the NFL level. Guys who played just a few decades ago have crippling injuries, joint replacements, dementia, depression and all sorts of ailments. They could use a hand. So why has the NFL Players Association pretty much abandoned them?

Yesterday, Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure talked with Chris Clark at 850 the Buzz about his fight to get better pensions for retired players. (Click here to get the MP3.) This is a must-hear interview.

The basic facts are this: DeLamielleure and his fellow former players have been fighting to get better pensions from the NFLPA for the last few years. Some players make less than $200/month from their pensions, and because of their horrific mental and physical conditions, they can no longer work. DeLamielleure believes the owners have given the NFLPA the money, but the union has stymied them, and NFLPA leader Gene Upshaw has been a poor representative of the players.

Upshaw’s response? “I’ll break his damn neck.”

Seriously. The worst thing DeLamielleure said about Upshaw is that he “stinks” as a union boss, and Upshaw pretty much threatened his life. DeLamielleure and his family took the threat seriously, too. After all, Upshaw draws a seven-figure salary from the NFLPA. He’s a big union boss. He can make things happen.

Something is seriously rotten here. The fact that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had nothing but praise for Upshaw makes this all the more rotten.

DeLamielleure has vowed to take his battle to the next level. He even threatened to take this to Oprah. This should frighten Upshaw, because Oprah’s a Chicago girl, and DeLamielleure’s got Bears legends like Gale Sayers and Mike Ditka on his side. Oprah gets shit done, and if you get on her bad side, you can consider yourself fucked. Seriously. Just ask Dave Chappelle.

I hope DeLamielleure comes out on the winning end of this. Former NFL players paved the way for the success of the current league, and they deserve better than this.