Two Specialists Teaming With Gridiron Greats To Help Retirees
Officials from OAA Orthopedic Specialists of Pennsylvania and Surgical Specialty Hospital of Arizona tomorrow in Chicago will announce they are teaming up with Gridiron Greats to offer free health care to "ailing and financially strapped" former NFLers, according to Michael O'Keeffe of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The health care includes "spine surgery, joint replacement, pain management, obesity counseling and physical therapy." Gridiron Greats will "screen players for financial need, and then refer qualifying retirees" to the Arizona and Pennsylvania facilities. The doctors at the new facilities "won't be paid." Gridiron Greats Exec Dir Jennifer Smith "hopes hospitals and medical groups near other NFL cities will offer their services, too." O'Keeffe noted former NFLers "have complained for years that the disability system run by the NFL and the [NFLPA] is set up to stonewall players debilitated by injuries suffered during their careers." Former NFLer Mercury Morris, who will "take advantage of the program to determine" if he needs surgery, said, "If I were the NFL, I'd be embarrassed. Why does it fall on these hospitals to provide the care the NFL and the union should be providing?" Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-MI) "plans to examine" a Congressional Research Service report, issued last month, which concluded that the NFL's disability plan "requires a significant overhaul." The hearing has "not yet been scheduled," but a source said that it "most likely will be held in June or July." The NFL's 32 owners in October agreed to pay $10M for medical assistance to former NFLers, and NFL Exec VP/Labor Relations Harold Henderson said that "thanks to the efforts of the Alliance," a group of the NFL, the NFLPA, the Pro Football HOF and the Alumni Association, 32 former NFLers "have been awarded grants of up to $5,000 to help with joint replacement surgery bills and other related costs" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/11).
UPSHAW DENIAL: NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw disputed Gridiron Great's claim last week that only one surgery had been performed under the union's and NFL's hip and joint replacement program since it was instituted last July. Upshaw said 37 applications have been received, of which 33 were approved. Some of those players have already had surgery. He also disputed Gridiron Greats' contention that the NFL/NFLPA plan does not cover travel expenses for indigent ex-players (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).
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