Blast From The Past: Upshaw Denies NFL Retirees’ Allegations
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NFLPA’s Upshaw Denies
Retirees’ Claims In Lawsuit |
NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw denied allegations in a federal class-action lawsuit
that claimed Players Inc. “has improperly represented retired players and
could owe them tens of millions of dollars,” according to Alan Schwarz of
the N.Y. TIMES. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by former NFLers Bernie Parrish and
Herb Adderley, “questions why only 358 players received any licensing revenue
in 2005 from licensees like apparel and video-game companies.” Upshaw said
that only players whose names and likenesses were “actually employed by
licensees were entitled to royalties under Players Inc.’s voluntary group
licensing arrangement with retired players.” He added that “barring
human error, all deserving former players had been paid, and that the other 90[%]
generated no income due them” for ’05. Upshaw: “If you generate
revenue, you get it — it’s that simple.”
SEEKING REPAYMENT: Adderley said that he had “never been
sent royalties” for a deal allowing his name to be included on a line of
Reebok apparel. But Upshaw noted that Reebok had “decided not to use Adderley
and, therefore, no money was due him.” NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler
said that Parrish “never signed the group licensing agreement and so was
not due royalties from Players Inc. licensing deals.” Parrish noted that
some video games feature past NFL players’ likeness without using their
names, and Ronald Katz, attorney for the retired players, argued that even if
names of past players are not displayed, Players Inc. “behaves in the marketplace
as if it represents all former players” (N.Y.
TIMES, 2/16).
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