04/19/24
September 19, 2007
Thirty-eight pills a day: Dave Pear, a six-year veteran of the NFL, gets a $484 per month pension from his former employer. "The NFL destroys families," Pear said. "I wish I had never played."
Shows a lot of compassion there holden. It couldn't be that the predicaments of his own making were a result of impaired judgement caused by those numerous concussions he sustained on the football field. Maybe its already being done, but I think an exhaustive medical examination should be mandatory for all retiring players regardless of how long they played. I know that a line has to be drawn at some point, but I also think that exceptions can and should be made under certain circumstances.
posted by irunfromclones at 01:44 PM on September 19, 2007
Shows a lot of compassion there holden. I guess I don't see how stating that this is a "[f]airly complex situation" and acknowledging the other intervening events that have complicated his situation shows a lack of compassion. Seems like a pretty neutral observation to me; it's not as if I was saying he's getting what he deserves. While it's a valid point that some of his decisions could be influenced by his impairment, I still think my original statement was fairly measured. I was just trying to get at the point that his particular predicament is exacerbated by a number of factors in addition to the crappy benefits provided by the NFLPA.
posted by holden at 01:53 PM on September 19, 2007
Based on the revenues generated by the league, NFLPA benefits should be far and away the best retirement package short of a CEO for a Fortune 500 company.
posted by garfield at 03:15 PM on September 19, 2007
There's a factual hole in this article. If he took early retirement at 45 and he's 54 now, that means he took it in around 1998. But Upshaw told him that option was removed by the NFLPA in 1993. I feel sympathy for Pear, but it sounds like his decision to take early retirement was his own, just like his decision to invest in high-risk stocks in the late '90s. If he has a legal case, he'd be better off pursuing it as a class with other former NFL players who feel they've been screwed and need more support for health woes.
posted by rcade at 03:29 PM on September 19, 2007
terrible story. However, I somehow ended up remembering my best friend's stepfather, who takes 15 pills a day.
posted by Joe188 at 05:25 PM on September 19, 2007
I hurt my back at work in April of 2004, since then I have had 9 surgeries to try to fix the problems caused by the injury and scar tissue. Some of the medications that they use for the nerves are worse than the injury itself. One of the medications that was listed in this article jumped right out at me, neurontin. This is one of the worst meds I have ever taken in my entire life. Some of the dosing of this medicine can get up into the three to four thousand milligrams a day range. Once you start it they titrate it up to the level they want you at, and it makes you extremely dizzy the entire time. Plus once you are at the proper dose, then you have to take it 3 or 4 times a day to keep the levels of it in your body up. It also makes you forget things, not big things just little things. For example, you'll be talking and go to say your next word and it won't be in your head anymore, but in about 30 seconds - 2 minutes it is back. the rest of what you were talking about was fine, just that one word. It does this with names a lot. So do the substitutes for it. There are others too, not as bad as this though. It just seems like when they can't or don't know what to do for you when it comes to back pain, with a compressive or obstructive pathology, caused by nerves they just load you up on meds, and try to keep you as quiet as they can. Plus I can't even imagine the medical expenses Pear has to pay, I know that since my injury the BWC has spent almost 200,000 on my account just in medical bills alone, and they don't pay the full amount!
posted by jojomfd1 at 02:42 AM on September 20, 2007
Based on the revenues generated by the league, NFLPA benefits should be far and away the best retirement package short of a CEO for a Fortune 500 company. Agreed. Pear made some bad decisions with respect to his timing... But that's an awful hefty price to pay. I would think that a fair and equitable pension scheme would be able to avoid such extremes. They should, you know, look into it. And by god, would it KILL some current players to perhaps in the interim share a bit of the wealth? Or the clubs? Or the league? Sometimes sports as a business is complicated and poorly understood by the masses, and then sometimes it can be as simple as "do the right thing".
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:18 AM on September 20, 2007
If Pear had worked for a company that knowingly had exposed him to a chemical substance that caused his medical problems would that co. be liable? I would say yes. The NFL knowingly exposes it players to long term medical issues every game and every practice shouldn't they step up and take care of the problem they have created?.
posted by jjs1145 at 11:54 AM on September 20, 2007
holden, your second response more clearly defined your intent. lack of compassion remark withdrawn.
posted by irunfromclones at 11:59 AM on September 20, 2007
If Pear had worked for a company that knowingly had exposed him to a chemical substance that caused his medical problems would that co. be liable? I would say yes. Do you mean morally, or legally?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:22 PM on September 20, 2007
If Pear had worked for a company that knowingly had exposed him to a chemical substance that caused his medical problems would that co. be liable? I would say yes. The NFL knowingly exposes it players to long term medical issues every game and every practice shouldn't they step up and take care of the problem they have created?. that's a load of bull. noone tricks anyone into playing football; there is so much documented evidence on why you shouldn't play that any 10 year old could figure that out (whereas chemical exposure is generally unknown to those exposed). these players are enticed by the stardom, the money and the exposure they get. it's not the nfl's fault that they make a conscious decision to play. people need to take responsibility for the choices they make that go wrong, not just the ones that go right. pro sports is a physical gamble for financial gain. simply put.
posted by dfleming at 12:39 PM on September 20, 2007
There are other occupations that it is known that the risks of that occupation is greater than others and the wage is more because of that. Police and firemen perform jobs that (just as football players) they expose themselves to potential harm. The police and fireman are cared for finicaly when they become disabled as a result of injury on the job.
posted by jjs1145 at 01:23 PM on September 20, 2007
Significant difference being that police and fireman are public servants who are putting themselves in harms way for the benefit of society and athletes are being paid millions (by and large in this day and age) to play games. Our society would fall apart without police and firemen. We might get by without football players. But I digress. My thought would be that perhaps some of the current players could help some of the former athletes out that paved the way for their lucrative professions. But then again it has been pointed out that my opinion is comparable to certain universal body parts not worth mentioning.
posted by THX-1138 at 02:11 PM on September 20, 2007
So you agree that compensation should be granted, but for one group but not the other. I was a public servant and a professionsl football player( in Canada) and it would not make a differesnce to me if I was hurt on either job. If your hurt your hurt the pain is the same. The group that is seeking compensation is not the group who was making millions.
posted by jjs1145 at 04:42 PM on September 20, 2007
No, jj, read again what I wrote. I referred to the difference between high paid athletes and public servants as professions. I did not address what policies are in place for either job in terms of injuries incurred during the performance of, or as a result of said professions. I certainly wasn't referring to someone who had played in a league other than the NFL as that wasn't exactly germain to the discussion at hand. I was getting at the point which I thought you were making that public servants and professional athletes were similarly compensated for injuries. For the rest of my opinion, see my previous post.
posted by THX-1138 at 05:27 PM on September 20, 2007
jojo, i mean no disrespect to your individual experience, but medication is usually a very inexact science. This is b/c how each med affects each person is different according to a variety of factors related to the person taking them. That said, i think that it is a bit inaccurate to desribe neurontin as "one of the worst." I guess it could has a poor rate of effectiveness, but for many it might be the best thing for their situation. Again no disrepect for your situation. Sounds like for you it was a poor choice.
posted by brainofdtrain at 10:01 PM on September 20, 2007
Well I don't know about the pension options or the amount of injuries for older players. I do know about compassion and caring about a fellow human being regardless of decisions made prior to problems arising. Opinion expressed that its Pear own fault for choosing wrong are to be frank, very shortsighted. Taking responsibilities for your decisions is all about being a adult however always remember, making bad decisions is part of life but it shouldn't condem one's family to a life of misery and desperation.
posted by brickman at 11:21 PM on September 20, 2007
Brickman, I appreciate your sentiments. I think it is really easy to simply condemn anyone as irresponsible while not feeling and showing compassion any for them unless we can empathize with their situation (i speak in general terms here; the above isn't meant for anyone in particular at this point). This is probably why there is a bit of a disconnect between corporate policy and the reality of days after the NFL for former players. However, if there is one thing that is next to impossible to do, it is to strike a healthy balance. Hopefully the NFL can find the warm center of taking care of its employees while players also seek to look ahead for the rest of their lives after their playing days are over.
posted by brainofdtrain at 02:16 AM on September 21, 2007
Most days, he barely moves from the living room of his home. He repeats himself at times and gets frazzled with a brain that simply won't cooperate after too many concussions from his days on the football field. "I fell asleep at the wheel and just barely snapped out of it in time," Brain, no offense taken at all. I was speaking of my own experiences, and how they almost mirrored these from the article. I should have quoted them before I guess. Even the part where they blame his repeating himself and getting frazzled on the concussions, this can be magnified by the drug. I have spoken with many people who have been on this med or still are, because their doc's will not change it. It is a rough med to be on, especially while it is being titrated to the desired levels. Have you ever been on it before?
posted by jojomfd1 at 02:19 AM on September 21, 2007
The fact that policemen and firemen are "public servants" doesn't have any bearing on whether someone should be paid disablity money. An employer has an obligation to take care of an employee who has been injured on the job. Athletes don't get paid higher salaries due to the inherent dangers in their sport. They possess talent which not many other people can claim and it is this for which they are compensated. Like many other jobs, some of this money is probably intended as hazard pay. Not to mention the athletes we are reading about, like Dave Pear, probably never made millions of dollars. Not to say he didn't make a good salary because I'm sure he did. However, six years of a great salary is like 20 years of a decent salary, so he probably didn't earn more over his lifetime than many of us Joe Schmoes.
posted by Ricardo at 09:53 AM on September 21, 2007
jojomfd1, While you may not be able to believe it, i have been. And actually, i did experience some of the same issues that Pear (and yourself) have, although probably not to the level that Pear does. At times i would be forgetful, not only during speech, but also in the sense of where i put things. It wasn't too severe, but i did notice a difference. Now even though it didn't work real well for me, i still know that it can be beneficial for some. I guess my point was that we shouldn't make a blanket statement on medications. Hope what i'm saying makes sense.
posted by brainofdtrain at 04:33 PM on September 21, 2007
You are just another one in the long list of people that I have spoken with that have experienced the same bad side effects from this medicine, along with Pear(whom I have not spoken with). I never made any blanket statement on medicine. I just gave my experience with the same meds that the subject of the FPP is on. The only thing that may count as a blanket statement is this, and it was aimed at the medical profession and BWC not medicine: It just seems like when they can't or don't know what to do for you when it comes to back pain, with a compressive or obstructive pathology, caused by nerves they just load you up on meds, and try to keep you as quiet as they can. On a better note, I am not sure why they had you taking neurontin, I wish the best for you. I hope that they have cured whatever was ailing you so you don't have to worry about meds anymore!
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:46 AM on September 22, 2007
While I can't say I find the writing in that piece all that great (over the top rhetorical flourishes such as "From Pear to Conrad Dobler to Mike Mosley to Brian DeMarco, there's a litany of men who believed themselves to be gladiators for the NFL but ended up being chewed up more like Christians facing the lions," "Instead, the only water he touches these days is the trail of tears he dabs off his face," etc. are a bit melodramatic and detract from the point the author is trying to make), it does point to the real problems with the NFL's retirement benefits. Fairly complex situation, though, as some of his predicament seems to be of his own making (getting burned on the stock market and taking the pension early, although he insists the latter was on the advice of the NFLPA). I'm guessing with all the press this issue is getting, there will be some massive overhaul of the pension and retirement system administered by the NFLPA in the next 3-5 years.