NFL Players Association Financial Reports

Eric Winston - President of the NFL Players Association

From March 19 - 23, 2016 the NFL Players Association will hold its annual Convention at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, Hawaii and this year I wouldn’t be surprised if the NFLPA spends a half a million dollars on the festivities. They will definitely be “Puttin on the Ritz,” but make sure you don’t get so caught up in the excitement and distracted by the swag that you forget to ask some hard questions about the Union's plans for the pioneers of the NFL - the guys they like to call the Legacy and the Legends.

Unfortunately, most former players don’t have the time, or the money to fly to Hawaii and hear the State of the Union address by the DeMaurice Smith, but I hope that the guys that do attend make their opinions known - much like Butch Byrd and Jim McFarland have done.

I’m sure the Executive Director, DeMaurice Smith will be talking about all the programs and services that are available to active and retired players, but for those of you who might also be interested in seeing how the NFL Players Association is handling their finances, just check out this website: UNIONFACTS.com  The website is administered by the Center for Union Facts, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public. They are dedicated to showing Americans the truth about today’s union leadership. 

The information on the website was self-reported by the NFLPA for the year 2013 as part of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) that requires labor unions to file annual reports detailing their operations. 

The Center for Union Facts has put together some good charts that show the historical breakdowns of the NFLPA’s spending, income and other financial information from 2002 to 2013. There are also links all throughout the report (highlighted in red) that will take you to additional information and financial details.

If you want to, you can also look at the NFLPA’s most recent LM-2 report here, it covers the period March 1, 2014 to Feb. 28, 2015.  It’s a very detailed report and little harder to decipher than the info posted at UnionFacts.com.  

According to the most recent LM-2, DeMaurice Smith earned $2,484,495, but I wonder if he has any deferred compensation under his contract with the NFLPA. That’s something we may not know until he leaves the Union. Some of you may remember that Gene Upshaw received 15 million in deferred compensation that very few people (including most active players) knew about until after he died. If Mr. Smith has deferred compensation in his contract with the Union, it should be made public now – not after he leaves the NFLPA in a golden parachute.  He has always demanded transparency from the NFL owners, so now he should follow suit and provide it to the NFLPA membership.   

As you know DeMaurice Smith is a lawyer, so it’s no surprise that under the category “Representational Activities” the annual reports show that the NFLPA spends about $17 million annually on law firms. When DeMaurice Smith does leave the Union, is there any doubt that his parachutte could help him safely land at one of those law firms?

The 2013 report shows that through the NFLPA's marketing agency, NFL Player's Inc., Aaron Rogers earned the most out of all of the active players coming in at $1,042,196.  Cam Newton was right behind him at $962,074. The top former player money maker was Archie Manning at $507,000. He also pulled in $300,000 in 2014. I guess it helps when you have two sons that have won Super Bowls! I can only imagine what his 2015 marketing income will be now that Peyton has won his 2nd Super Bowl.  I'll bet you it's almost as much as the $600,000 he made as the highest paid player in the NFL in 1981. Archie Manning is a great ambassador for the NFL and he deserves every cent he gets. 

I’m not really sure where - or if it appears in the NFLPA’s annual report, but it would be nice to know how much money is left in the JC (Joint Contribution) fund. Under this fund, which was negotiated into the 2011 CBA, the NFLPA has $22 million annually that will be dedicated to healthcare or other benefits, funds, or programs for retired players. We know that the NFLPA has already spent $35.4 million of the JC funding to increase pensions for 1,722 former players that have credited seasons from 1993 to 1996. It looks as though some of the money may have also been spent on the “TRUST” program that was established in 2012. 

Is there any money left in the Joint Contribution fund? And if there is, how should it be spent on former players? 

One last thing. The NFLPA reports that their membership consists of 1,983 active players and 3,200 former players.  We aren't voting members, but we still have the ability to get our message across to the active players via our NFLPA Former Player Steering Committee, our Former Player Chapters and the approximately 18,000 former NFL players that are scattered across the U.S. 

If retired player's united on any issue, we would be like a Sunami - unstoppable and impossible to ignore.  Each of us can do something to push for better pensions, medical benefits, educational opportunities, training programs and other services that help former players.  We need to carry our message to the active players. Never forget that they have the power to make the Union leaders and administrators respond to our needs. 

For the former players that are able to attend the Convention, please make every effort to talk to the active players – especially the player reps and executive committee members.  Try to strike up a conversation outside the formal meetings. They need to know that if they will fight for us......we will fight for them.