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Mackey’s (r) Case Helps Jump Start Plan To
Help Families Of Disabled Former NFLers |
The NFL and NFLPA’s joint effort to send money to families of former players who
have dementia is examined in a front-page piece by Alan Schwarz of the N.Y. TIMES.
Under the 88 Plan -– named after former player John Mackey’s jersey number —
families can receive up to $88,000 a year “if the player must live in an outside
facility, and up to $50,000 a year if the player is cared for at home.” The effort
began last may when Mackey’s wife, Sylvia, wrote a letter to then-NFL Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue and “appealed Mr. Tagliabue to help.” The first applications were
mailed late last month to families of 22 former NFLers who are known to have dementia;
no family has received money yet. NFL VP/PR Greg Aiello said that the league “would
be aggressive in informing other families about the plan.” Schwarz notes that
although the league and the NFLPA are “quick to deny any connection between someone’s
having played football and later cognitive failure,” the 88 Plan has been “created
at a time of heightened scrutiny of the effects of brain injuries among football
players.” NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw agrees with some former players and their
families that there is “too much red tape” with the league’s disability insurance
system, but he “pledged that the 88 Plan would be handled differently” even though
awards Swould be determined by the same six-member panel as the league’s existing
disability plan.” Upshaw: “There will not be any hurdles to overcome” (
N.Y.
TIMES, 3/14).
