The Hustle by Danny Russell
Boy, we sure can heap tons of patriotic attention and hoopla onto our
military veterans during holidays and championship football games.
Sometimes, I'm amazed at how we celebrate their greatness. We honor our
veterans with uniformed marching guards, giant flickering flags,
nationalistic songs, and speeding jet fighters roaring overtop
sparkling new capacity filled stadiums. Every Sunday for over half a
year we worship our gridiron greats as they sacrifice their bodies and
souls for the game we love in the country we love – all for our
entertainment. But what happens after the last whistle? What’s life
really like when the lights go out? What ensues after the very last
satellite truck rolls out of town? Where do we go after the
championship and welcome home parades are over?
We go shopping at the promenades and malls of America trying not to see
the homeless military vets living in the alleyways. We step over men
and women sleeping in the streets on our way back to the car with our
new toys that we really can’t afford. We kick the homeless to the curb
while holding our breath to avoid inhaling the stench of urine then
speed away into the night driving gas guzzling SUV’s with “Support Our
Troops” bumper stickers.
Since this is a sports column, I won’t get political but it must be
pointed out that it is us, the American public, who pays for and
subsidizes all of these new mega sports venues with our tax dollars
while already rich owners fleece us and get richer. Our tax dollars are
also supposed to provide excellent medical care for military vets but
something has gone very wrong. The next time you get the chance, go
check out and visit your local VA hospital. Most likely, the buildings
are old and crumbling, the medical equipment is outdated, and the
entire program is mismanaged and woefully under funded.
I’ll just mention one more fact about military veterans then back to
sports – according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs almost
one-third of the homeless population have served their country in the
Armed Service. Enough said.
Meanwhile, many NFL vets will never stroll along the promenades or
malls of America because they can no longer walk. Many NFL vets can’t
even step up high enough to get their foot onto the curb.
So, what happens to 300 pound men who live in constant pain and can’t
go to the bathroom without help or reach down to tie their own shoes?
They sit in darkened rooms losing their minds while popping pain pills
that they’ve paid for by pawning off all their belongings because their
insurance and pension has evaporated.
And what happens when they can’t pay the rent and lose everything
including their families? They fall through the cracks and join the
ranks of the homeless right next to their fellow homeless military
veterans living in tattered sleeping bags.
This must stop! These insane, cruel, shameless heart breaking stories
must change immediately.
Most of us have heard horror stories about the mental and physical
problems of former NFL players and how they suffer yet somehow we still
believe that our former football gods must be fine and are doing pretty
well after playing in the richest league in the world. After all, they
are paid millions for doing something they love. They are treated like
stars for the rest of their lives and their families are set for
generations, right?
Wrong.
The battle between players and both the NFL and the Players Union over
pensions and disability health care has been raging for decades. Only
way too recently has the taboo subject bubbled up in the news because
of the advocacy of a few brave outspoken former players like Hall of
Famer Mike Ditka, former Pro Bowler-turned-often-injured journeyman
Kyle Turley, and celebrated tough guy former St. Louis Cardinal lineman
Conrad Dobler.
Dobler recently spoke in front of 30 former players including Ditka,
Turley and among others Hall of Famers Mean Joe Greene, Carl Eller,
Harry Carson, Willie Davis, and Gale Sayers. Also present was past
Super Bowl playmakers Don Maynard and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson.
Dobler says he's paid for his playing days with 17 surgeries and five
knee replacements. He is 90% disabled and struggles to make ends meet
on an NFL pension that pays players of his era – a lousy $100 a month
for each year of NFL service. Dobler, 57, started applying for
disability when he was 42. During a recent press conference Dobler, who
made the list for dirtiest-player-ever half-joked, half-groaned, "I've
been turned down more than all the sheets at the Marriott."
Recently, a dear friend of my wife, actress Tara Joyce, who by the way,
appears in the new Joan Rivers play in Westwood at the Geffen Theatre,
called and asked me if I’d watched the latest episode of HBO’s Real
Sports with Bryant Gumbel about the nightmarish lives of two wives and
one ex-wife of former NFL players who struggle daily with their
husbands’ physical and mental problems. I had seen the heart wrenching
segment entitled Family Burden by correspondent Jon Frankel and it was
extremely moving.
We discussed the terrible events and how the wives lives after the NFL
are far from glamorous or wildly successful. All three players careers
in the report ended because of physical and mental ailments caused by
injuries and pain.
One player, former Kansas City Chief Joe Phillips, began drinking
heavily after realizing he could no longer live without playing. Now,
the former United Way spokesman is a wanted fugitive in multiple states
for drinking and driving. When he was ordered to appear in court, he
simply disappeared into thin air. That’s a pretty good trick for a 6’5”
300 pound man. His wife Cindy Phillips said that while he played his
compulsion was working out and staying in shape but after retiring his
compulsion quickly turned into bad and destructive habits. It was like
he snapped and replaced the thrill and violence of playing with drugs
and by hanging out with people he’d never associate with before. She
said he became verbally, physically, and sexually abusive too. She and
their three kids haven’t seen him for the last two years.
Another story tells of Brandi Winans, the ex-wife of former Super Bowl
champ Jeff Winans and how she has lived in fear for years after Jeff’s
mind turned cloudy and dark after being knocked out 11 times from
suffering concussions. He too became abusive and violent and
experienced black-outs after downing painkillers by the bottle to deal
with his constant pain.
And then there’s the sad tale of Autumn DeMarco, the wife of
35-year-old former Michigan State standout lineman and five-year NFL
veteran Brian DeMarco. She tearfully recalls the time she and her
family were forced to live in a storage unit. And how Brian can’t even
use the bathroom without Autumn's help. She saved his life when she
found him trying to hang himself with a belt after he became hell bent
on collecting a life insurance policy because he thought he was worth
more dead than alive.
It’s not only former players and their wives that suffer – its entire
families. Take the unfortunate story of Garrett Webster, the son of the
late great former Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers’ center “Iron” Mike
Webster, who testified in front of Congress that his father had
suffered from mental illness that was widely attributed to head
injuries.
"I would give my life to never see another family end up like mine,"
Webster said.
Hopefully, by exposing the tragic truth of these former NFL veterans'
lives, we will no longer sweep their stories under the field turf. Like
our homeless military veteran brothers and sisters - they have been
ignored.
Tara, a native Chicago Bears fan, ended our conversation with a great
idea. She wondered what if every NFL fan could give a dollar to a fund
that helps the former players. I told her it was a terrific idea and
I’d look into the subject. It turns out she is on to something because
there is such a fund. It’s called the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund,
an organization founded by former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer to give
help and financial assistance to retired players who are in dire need.
I doubt the NFL, the Players Union, or the owners are able to feel
shame but maybe if each one of us gives a little donation to the men
and families who sacrifice so much for our entertainment we can put an
end this ridiculous situation.
The link to Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund is:
http://www.gridirongreats.org/I have already sent in a donation. Now I can watch the Super Bowl with
a slightly less guilty conscience.
The link for Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel is:
http://www.hbo.com/realsports/index.html.
If you have HBO try watching Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel because it’s
a great show.
Enjoy Super Bowl Sunday. Read The Hustle. And remember... give peace a
chance.
