View this email in your browser • WHERE ARE LEGENDS NOW • PLAYER ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS • NFL LEGENDS IN THE NEWS • HOMECOMING WEEKENDS • NFL LIFE LINE • UPCOMING PCF SCREENINGS • USA FOOTBALL NOW PART • STAY CONNECTED OF USOC FAMILY Dear NFL Legends: A few reminders for you and your family as we celebrate Thanksgiving with three nationally televised games...and some turkey...a week from Thursday: ­­ Several of you asked whether our league office is again providing free assistance to those who need to buy 2016 health insurance for your family. The good news is… Yes! During the past two years, our benefits office has helped more than 2,000 of you who wanted to purchase such health coverage. If you fall into that group this year, we encourage you to call our information line for free confidential assistance. AONHewitt Customer Service Advocates are available exclusively for you and other retired NFL players Monday­Friday from 9AM­6PM (ET). Don’t leave it long on your To­Do list. ­­ Many of you already have medical insurance through your job, your wife’s employer or Medicare. If you fall into these categories, we still encourage you to call the above number and learn about possible NFL benefits that you earned as a player but which have escaped your attention up to now. For example, a 37­year old vested former wide receiver called last year and was told he had not yet signed up for an NFL Prescription Drug Card, which in many cases provides a greater discount than his own private insurance does. Also, a 57­year old ex­ running back called our information hotline a year ago regarding health insurance. He learned that since he is over 50 he also is eligible to apply for free NFL Long Term Care coverage. This benefit provides up to $219,000 to reimburse expenses if he should need long term medical insurance in the years ahead. He’s registered now. ­­ On a different subject, we remind those nearly 3,000 Legends who were active on previous Super Bowl game day rosters that you should participate in our Super Bowl High School Honor Roll so that a Golden Football will be delivered to your high school in appreciation for helping you become an NFL player. You receive a second Golden Football as well for yourself. You should have received a letter from our league office that gives you the option to select how your Golden Football is delivered to your school. Please contact Chris McAvey if you have any questions. The reaction we have received on the program from the high school administrators and students has been terrific. ­­ Take advantage of the new Legends Community Resource Guide which lists all the programs that our Player Engagement Department, Player Care Foundation, Legends Community, etc. are offering. You may be pleased to see all that is available to assist you and your family. Finally, we often receive suggestions when we see you at different Legends Community events on what we can add to our programs or what we can do differently to benefit you. As a result, we are emailing a brief questionnaire to all of you in the next few days on this same subject. We ask that you let us know how we can better service you. We thank you in advance for answering and returning the survey to us. We wish you an early Happy Thanksgiving. Please contact us if we can answer any questions. Regards, Tracy Perlman Charles Way Joe Browne Entertainment Marketing Player Engagement Senior Advisor to Commissioner WHERE ARE LEGENDS NOW? JUSTIN CROSS TRANSITIONS FROM BILLS BLUE TO JET BLUE Justin Cross (pictured, with daughter, Kendall) was a Buffalo Bills teammate of Joe Ferguson and Jim Ritcher in the early 1980s. Fergy took his friends flying on his private plane (he was the QB, of course) in the offseason back then, which was the beginning of a post­NFL career for both offensive linemen. Ritcher now is a veteran pilot for American Airlines while Cross is a Jet Blue captain based in Boston. “That’s how it all started,” says Cross. “Those are the roots of my flying. I never thought of it as something I would do after football but I guess at the time I wasn’t thinking past football.” Not too many young players do in their NFL prime. Injuries cut short his six­year career so Cross began working for a commuter airline in the Caribbean and then moved to several larger airlines in the states. He has been flying for Jet Blue since 2003. However, his football roots keep pulling him back to the field. He coached at his high school alma mater Portsmouth (NH) for several seasons before serving as a part­time coach at nearby Tufts University until just a couple of years ago. “I think I’ll always be a fan of the game,” he says. “It did an awful lot for me… all of it positive. It was a huge part of my life and, frankly, molded my life. I’m just happy to have been a participant in it.” Pilots, coaches, teachers, businessmen! So many NFL Legends have interesting and productive careers after their NFL days. See if any of your former teammates are on the below list. PLAYER TEAM(S) YEARS IN CURRENT CAREER POSITION (LOCATION) NFL G Jacob Bell Titans, Rams 2004­11 Owner, SOL CAL Café (CA) DB Terry Brown Cardinals, Vikings, 1969­76 Agent, State Farm Insurance (OK) Browns K Joe Cooper Oilers, Giants 1984­86 Founding Partner, Cooper & Cooper (CA) T Justin Cross Bills 1981­86 Commercial Pilot, Jet Blue Airways (NH) DB Jeffrey Dale Chargers 1985­88 Director of Housekeeping, University of Washington (WA) DB Tim Fox Patriots, Chargers, 1976­86 Sales Director, RR Donnelley (MA) Rams CB Stacey Browns 1993­94 Head Coach, Wilmington College (OH) Hairston K Jeff Jaeger Browns, Raiders, 1987­99 Agent, Marketplace Sotheby's International Bears Realty (WA) CB Reggie Saints, Redskins, 2010­12 Founder/President, Showtime For Stars (WA) Jones Vikings, Cowboys G Derek Cardinals, Saints, 1986­96 Online Enrollment Counselor, Grand Canyon Kennard Cowboys University (AZ) CB Todd Lyght Rams, Lions 1991­2002 Assistant Coach, University of Notre Dame (IN) LB Quincy Monk Giants, Texans 2002­04 Senior Delivery Manager, The Select Group (NC) G Chris Naeole Saints, Jaguars 1997­2007 Interim Head Coach, University of Hawaii (HI) QB Mike Norseth Bengals Owner/President, Brock Insurance Group (UT) 1988­93 G Jeff Novak Dolphins, Jaguars 1993­98 Owner, Novak Brothers Development (TX) LB Ervin Parker Bills 1980­83 Founder/Chairman, Blue Print Leadership Academy (SC) QB Cory Sauter Lions, Colts, Bears 1999­2004 Head Coach, Southwest Minnesota State (MN) DT John Bears 1988­89 Business Development Manager, Graycor Shannon Construction Company (IL) RB Emmitt Smith Cowboys, 1990­2004 Partner, E. Smith Realty & E.J. Smith Cardinals Construction (TX) CB Shawn Seahawks, 1997­2009 Founder/CEO, Windpact (VA) Springs Redskins, Patriots BACK TO TOP NFL LEGENDS IN THE NEWS Honors keep rolling in for 2015 Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown (pictured)… and his family may have had enough. Brown, a nine­time Pro Bowler with the Raiders, also was recognized earlier this month when Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings proclaimed November 6 as “Tim Brown Day” for the Dallas native whose teams at Woodrow Wilson High won only four games in his three varsity seasons. “For years my family said, ‘We can’t believe you’re not in the Hall of Fame in Canton,’” he laughs. “Now, that same family is getting sick of me and all these awards.” (Family – can’t live with them and can’t…) “I don’t know if we were Butch and Sundance, but we were a pretty tough duo,” says Jets Legend Emerson Boozer after he and RB­mate Matt Snell were announced as the newest members of the team’s Ring of Honor. Both players are Georgia natives and were drafted by the Jets in the 1960s… Snell, a fourth rounder in ‘64, and Boozer, a seventh­round pick two years later. One other thing in common… they lined up behind Joe Namath and helped defeat the Colts in Super Bowl III. The Jets will formally induct them in the Ring of Honor on Nov. 29 at halftime of their home game against the Dolphins. Two books published last month by NFL Legends Chad Hennings and Joe Washington make good holiday gifts. Hennings, the Air Force Academy DE who played with the Cowboys (1992­2000) after his military career, has a book entitled Forces of Character: Conversations About Building a Life of Impact. He sat down with 10 outstanding Americans, including fellow Cowboys Troy Aikman, Jason Garrett and a guy named Roger Staubach, and discussed in detail the critical issue of “character.”… Washington, whose nicknames in college at Oklahoma included “Little Joe” and “Silver Shoes,” is on the market with his book, appropriately titled, Seven Secrets of the Silver Shoes, which provides insight into the former running back’s simple take on life. Washington earned a Super Bowl XVII ring with the Redskins in 1982. He was drafted by the Chargers in 1976 and also played later for the Colts and Falcons. Former Oilers QB Oliver Luck and Giants Super Bowl XXV Champion LB Bobby Abrams were elected last month to the Board of Directors of USA Football, which is recognized as the national governing body for amateur American football in this country. Luck is currently the EVP for Regulatory Affairs for the NCAA in Indianapolis, while Abrams is a high school principal and former coach in Alabama… LB Clark Haggans, who has a Super Bowl XL ring from his years (2000­07) with the Steelers, was inducted late last month into his alma mater, Colorado State University Hall of Fame.