With a questionable record for approving disability claims by former players, the NFL and its beleaguered players association will be asked to explain the process in a June 26 congressional hearing, a former NFL star and congressional sources told the Baltimore Sun.
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The House Judiciary Committee confirmed Wednesday that it was inviting witnesses for an “oversight” hearing, which means it is not necessarily tied to legislative action and is intended to educate members.
The hearing is to be held by the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, chaired by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.).
Hall of Fame tight end and former Bears coach Mike Ditka and Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson, who played for the New York Giants, have been asked to participate.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello acknowledged Wednesday that the league had been contacted by the subcommittee, but he deferred comment on details to the committee.
The NFLPA did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.
It is believed that Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw will be invited to speak, along with players who have gone through the process or are familiar with it.
The NFL recently announced that 284 former players are receiving disability payments totaling $19 million this year. Some of those recipients, the league said, get as much as $224,000 annually. That’s from a pool of about 9,000 retired players. Many former players say they distrust a system that sometimes takes two years for a resolution and often sends them to doctor after doctor.
“A lot of these players are losing when they are before the (retirement) board,” said a committee staff member.
Among the things the panel wants to look at is whether cases should come to arbitration sooner than they do and whether players were disproportionately losing cases related to benefits.
Some retired players get lost in the system. Jennifer Smith, executive director of Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, which provides temporary help for former players in need, pointed to one such case.
She said her organization was supplying money for rent, food and prescriptions for the family of a 35-year-old former player with two children who “is as crippled as anybody I have ever seen.” Smith declined to identify the player but said he had been trying for four years to get a response from the union and “hasn’t been assigned a doctor to go see.”
“This is a fairly significant NFL player who spent the money he had left after his career on his personal medical care,” she said. “He was unable to work. So we have come into the picture and stabilized the situation. We paid their rent for them, not just one month, but for four.”
According to committee staff, interest did not originate with any single lawmaker but rather from a general concern over whether the system is working fairly and effectively to resolve issues related to retired players and disability.
The NFLPA’s retirement board consists of six trustees who render disability judgments. Three are management representatives: Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass, Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill and Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. The other three are considered player representatives and comprise former players Tom Condon, Jeff Van Note and ex-Bear Dave Duerson.