NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith "labeled the Bears 'cheap' based on his perception" of team Chair George McCaskey's role in "supporting a bill that would change workers' compensation law," according to Haugh & Biggs of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Smith went so far as to "promise he will encourage players to stay away from the Bears if lawmakers pass Senate Bill 12 SA #2, which he claims the McCaskeys have pushed." SB12 would "adjust the Workers' Compensation Act as it applies to professional athletes, who currently may be entitled to a wage differential award." It proposes to "eliminate professional athletes from being eligible for wage differential awards after age 35." The law currently "allows players to get paid for the term of their natural life, legally established at 67 years old." Those advocating changes "contend that pro athletes, even the healthiest ones, seldom play beyond age 35 so paying out until 67 because of injury borders on being too unfair and expensive." Smith, appearing Friday on WSCR-AM, said of SB12, "It's just another way to bankroll the coffers of the rich owners ... at the expense of the players who do all the work. ... I wish I could say it is something more noble. I wish I could say it is something philosophically that makes sense. It's just cheapness. It's just being cheap." Haugh & Biggs noted the Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox and Cubs joined the Bears in "support of the measure" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 2/4). Bears attorney John McAndrews described the proposed change as a "market correction." McAndrews: "The bill doesn't have anything to do with a restriction on future medical benefits." He added, "It merely seeks to provide some conformity with reality: The fact that most professional athletes’ careers, specifically professional football players’ average, are two to four years long" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/4).
CARE PACKAGE: Smith during an appearance yesterday on CBS' "Face The Nation" addressed the union's concerns about the potential removal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. He said, "We have a 100% injury rate in the National Football League, so every player leaves the National Football League with a preexisting condition. One of the things we would be concerned about is literally hundreds of players would be going into retirement with a tougher, and perhaps in some cases, impossibility to get insurance because every one of them has a preexisting condition." He added, "You hear on the front end that there is a plan. ... Hopefully, that is a plan that won't bar people who have preexisting conditions" (“Face the Nation,” CBS, 2/5).
