Next time we bitch about a player holding out for a little more money, a player who asks for his contract to be re-negotiated....

Perhaps we need to read this...

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"Don't let your kids play football," he says. "Never."

It is an odd thing, hearing these sort of words from a man like David Louis Pear, University of Washington standout, Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Super Bowl champion with the Oakland Raiders. His five-year NFL career was one thousands of high school and college athletes would envy -- charging out of a darkened stadium tunnel, 70,000 fans screaming for you, loving you, praising you, idolizing you.

"You wanna know the truth?" says Pear.

The question lingers -- the 56-year-old ex-athlete preparing to unload one more skull-splitting hit.

"I wish I never played football. I wish that more than anything. Every single day, I want to take back those years of my life ..."


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jeff_pearlman/12/18/pear/index.html?xid=CBSsports 

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Are there some players that have bad health because of playing professional sports? Yes.
But there are also many that are healthy, and rich.
My back is bad because the company i worked at was too cheap to salt the parking lot and i fell. I got 3 grand. That happened in 1993. I now have arthritus of the spine and am in constant pain. Often not even being able to get out of a chair without damn near falling, and shooting pain.

My wife also fell in the parking lot where she works, because they didn't salt it. She has a ruptured disc. But she's not one to cause trouble, and kept working anyway. And because she tried to keep working, they said "Then it can't be that bad, can it?" Plus they filed it as workman's comp.......which she was coming into work. She had not punched in yet.
So for her trying hard, trying not to screw the company she works for, for being HONEST, she's screwed over.

What i'm getting at is this: EVERY physical job cause you to end up in pain when you get older. And most jobs don't give you anything to live on once you can't work anymore. I sure don't get anywhere CLOSE to 40 grand a year. Not even a forth of that. If it wasn't for my wife working 12 hours a day, i'd be a street person.
But i can see why the players hold out for all they can get. Who can blame them?

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I feel bad for his situation and I think the NFL could do more to help out. I also think a lot of this falls onto the players. They chose this profession because of the love for it. There's a price to pay for everything. Unfortunately, it's their bodies in the NFL.

I read about this and was going to post it, then seen it here. I think my envy of not being in the NFL makes me a bit bias on my perception of them being 'screwed over'. I also don't know the salaries of players back then, I only know of them in the last twenty years, which is in the millions and I know I'd be able to support myself and kids handsomely with that kind of money.

So, with how much the NFL makes yearly, I don't think it'd be too much for them to help out players in need from decades ago who helped forge the game to what it is today.

I wouldn't help anyone from the 90's to the present as much as I would those from pre 90's. I do think help should be provided.

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I agree Zero. Players from "the old days" paved the way for these kids to make more money then people that work 50 years make.
They SHOULD help the old guys out.

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Gene Upshaw's big failing as head of the union was his refusal to stick up for the old guys. That was shameful.

The only part about the article that I didn't like was the part about how Dave Pear now receives "a whopping $40,000 annually." Of course he should've received much more financial help a long time ago, but $40,000 is not something to be scoffed at.

Overall, though, it is a really good article.

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The average military servicemember spends the rest of his life with chronic back, knee, and joint problems -- not to mention many endure traumatic brain injury, amputations, paralysis, and other horrific injuries -- and they don't have the privilege of earning a tenth of the money these NFL players earn. These players should be investing into good disability insurance plans while they're raking in their millions. Forgive me if I don't feel too terribly sorry for these guys who voluntarily choose to sacrifice their bodies for the purposes of entertainment and gigantic paychecks. Many of these players make more in a single game than I made in my entire military career, and I don't grovel at the government trough for compensation for my ankles that sometimes cause me such severe pain that I can't walk, my knees that prevent me from running, my back that keeps me from squatting more than 300 lbs, or my neck that sometimes causes me headaches. I wore the wings of a paratrooper. I made a choice, I live with it, I don't bitch. These men should do the same.

EDIT: Yes, I know we're talking about the old guys who didn't make as much money, but they didn't have the foresight to plan ahead either.

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For any player in the past 15 years, I don't feel very sorry for (unless they have circumstances.. Like I know a guy that was an undrafted free agent rookie, got signed, and blew out his knee prior to his rookie season.. Tried to make a comeback after the healing process and blew out his other knee.. He didn't get much on his rookie contract, and his benefit package isn't the greatest either). Yes, these old guys didn't have the foresight (not many players currently do), but they didn't make much. And with today's costs of healthcare and such, it would only be fair for the NFL to take better care of those guys.

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Agreed to some extent. It annoys me, though, when people try to retroactively change the deals they've negotiated (happens in the military too). You signed an agreement. Live up to it.

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So the guy blows out his knees. All that means is he has to get a REAL job, like most everyone else.
Yes, it's sad he lost his shot at the "big time". But at least he HAD a shot at it.

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Yep.

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