NFL Alumni Association Wants More Action, Less Talk From NFL, NFLPA

The NFL Alumni Association has offered up several responses to claims made by both the NFL and NFLPA regarding the pensions for retired players. They claim both sides are using retired players as a pawn in their effort to get on the court of public opinion on their side.

Increased pensions is a topic both the league and union have used as a PR tool in gaining support for their respective agendas and have also used the topic to drive a wedge between retired players and their counterparts. Both sides have used the topic to drop propaganda laced messages throughout the retired player community that has done nothing but confused and enraged the masses. While the propaganda suggests otherwise, little or no action has been taken by the NFL and NFLPA to increase pensions for retired players.

The NFL Alumni Association is using some of DeMaurice Smith’s words from a recent interview with SB Nation against him. In our interview, Smith told me the creation of a legacy fund could increase pensions by as much as $1,000 per month. The NFL Alumni Association claims that Smith has previously cited different numbers ranging from $500 to $2,000 per month.

You can read more about the Legacy Fund in this letter from the NFLPA to the NFL Alumni Association.

NFL Commissioner Goodell made a proposal back in March that called for the creation of a rookie salary cap and the first $100 million savings of that would go to retired players. The NFL Alumni Association claims the NFLPA’s response was to tie that into an extension for the new CBA, which the NFL wasn’t interested in doing.