Ditka's Retired Players Charity Payouts Smaller Than League's
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Tax Records Show Ditka's Fund Only
Given Out $57,000 To Former NFL Players |
The Mike Ditka HOF Assistance Trust Fund has collected $1.3M and netted about $315,000 after expenses, but has given “only $57,000 to former players in need,” according to federal and Illinois tax records cited by Richard Willing in a front-page piece for USA TODAY. The trust “paid more in fees to induce former stars to appear at a 2005 fundraiser than it gave needy ex-players in its first three years.” The charity has spent $715,000 "to put on three annual golf tournaments.” Ditka said, “The problem is finding (needy) guys and getting them to fill out the (application) form. Some of these guys are scared of forms. There could be pride involved, too.” But NFLPA Dir of Communications Carl Francis said that the charity’s payout “undercuts Ditka’s criticisms” of the union's handling of benefits to disabled players. Francis: “At some point it’s got to be about more than holding yet another press conference and blasting people. You ought to be announcing, ‘We just gave away a half a million.’ Unless, of course, you didn’t” (USA TODAY, 12/7).
OTHER CHARITIES: In a separate piece, Willing reports that since ’00, a charity funded by the NFL and NFLPA has given “about $5.7[M] to needy ex-pros.” And NFL Alumni President & CEO Frank Krauser said that his league-affiliated organization has given “about $1[M] to 85 former players over the past six years.” The league and union funds also “made grants to about 350 former players” from ’00-05, and Francis said that the union fund “helped about 15 former players dislocated by Hurricane Katrina in ’05. Meanwhile, Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund Exec Dir Jennifer Smith said that the organization has "raised $298,000 and given away $105,000 to about 15 former players since beginning work.” Ditka, who is a Gridiron Greats BOD member, said of the NFL charities, “I don’t give a damn what the numbers say. We’re doing more to help these guys” (USA TODAY, 12/7).
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