Former NFL players have a "vested interest"
I've written a lot of articles over the past 10 years and as you know, I haven't always had the highest opinion of the NFL owners or the NFLPA. Much of what I've said does not always convey how I feel about the game itself. For the record, I'm a huge fan of the NFL. I love the game and I appreciate the opportunity I had to be a member of the relatively small fraternity of men that made it to the highest level of football. We are all alumni brothers.
I'm am honored to be a part of the .03% that made it to the NFL. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything in the world. The NFL has opened doors for me and thousands of other active and retired players. Nonetheless, I totally understand that some players regret that they ever set foot on a field. If I had numerous knee replacements, dementia, excruciating back pain and other injuries that continued to plague me long after my days in the NFL, I too might think differently about the game.
As a blogger and an advocate for retired players, I write my opinions about a lot of things that I feel strongly about. In some cases you may not agree with me - and that's ok. Part of my own personal mission is to get as much information out to former players as I possibly can. I know that some of you get a little overwhelmed with the barrage of emails you get from me, but it only takes a second to hit the delete button if there is a topic you're not really interested in reading.
I have always tried to back up everything I've said with facts, statistics and anecdotal information, but in the final analysis, some of what I write is just my opinion. You decide what is valuable to you and your family and the rest can go in the round filing cabinet - the trash can.
That brings me to today's "informational" offering.
As we all know, the NFL is a master at promoting itself...... and many active and retired p[layers have been right there beside them in marketing the game to the public as "ambassadors." Most of the time we don't get paid a nickle for doing this kind of work, and like I said before that's ok - just as long as they continue to reward us through pension increases.
Here's a link to the top 10 active player ambassadors: The NFL's 10 Best Brand Ambassadors, and here are some links to former players that are getting paid to be ambassadors: Heads Up Football Ambassadors and Player Engagement NFL Ambassadors, There's even a Hall of Fame Ambassador program and I should note that many NFL teams have hired specific players to be Team Ambassadors.
The NFL owners have valued our promotional abilities so much, they even used our images to market the game - without our permission. We settled that dispute and it only cost them $50 million.
I should point out that while most active players are fine young men of character, some of them have not been the best role models for our youth. I think there are some former players that would make excellent mentors for these "troubled" players as some have suggested. They can learn from the mistakes we made - and yes, we made many during our tenure.
The fact is, we have a huge stake in seeing that the game continues to grow and that the NFL Owners and the NFL Commissioner reach their goal of increasing revenues from 9 billion to 27 billion by the year 2027. The truth is, this may be the only way we will continue to see our pensions grow. Let's just say we have a "vested interest". In my opinion, the NFL should extend that vested interest to all former players. There are a ton of players that are involved in local NFL Alumni and NFLPA Chapters that receive no pension - but continue to help in building the image of the NFL. That has to change. If the Major League baseball owners can do it........ then why can't the NFL owners?
We can't talk about the bad, without also acknowledging the good the NFL is doing (mostly because of former player advocacy). In September 2012, the NFL announced a $30 million unrestricted grant to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) to advance medical research on brain injuries, especially among athletes and veterans. This marked the single-largest donation to any organization in the league’s history.
The NFL will also be spending 60 million on the Head Health Initiative. This is a four-year, $60 million collaboration with GE and Under Armour to accelerate diagnosis and improve treatment for traumatic brain injury. The initiative includes the following: A four-year, $40 million research and development program to develop next generation brain imaging technologies for potential diagnosis, outcome prediction, and treatment therapy for patients with traumatic brain injury. A two-year, open innovation challenge fund to invest up to $20 million in research and technology to better understand, diagnose, and protect against traumatic brain injury. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is also supporting this effort.
If you haven't already seen this, here is a link to a the 2015 NFL Kickoff Information Guide. It's a nice promotional piece that covers just about everything you would want to know about the NFL - including the aforementioned initiaives.
There's some pretty interesting stuff in the Guide that I wasn't even remotely aware of so, I guess we can all learn a little more about the greatest show on earth!
Here are some of the topics in the Guide that I pulled from the index.
