NFL Retired Players Association Letter from the President to the Retired Players Hello, my name is Carl Eller. I know many of you do not know me, or have any idea about my background. Even though you may have seen a lot of me during the Collective Bargaining talks where I was representing the retired players in the Eller vs. the NFL Class Action Lawsuit, I thought this would be a good time to tell you a little about me. I have been meaning to do this for quite some time but things like the negotiations and the ongoing litigation just kept getting in the way. You know how that is. Now that that is over, I have a little time to breathe. By way of background, I played defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings for fifteen years and finished my career after one year in Seattle. Since the tenth grade at Atkins High school in Winston Salem, North Carolina, every summer and fall, I was in football gear. I attended the University of Minnesota (‘60 to ’64), where we were National, Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champions. I was also a two-time all American. In addition, I was runner up for the Outland Trophy my senior year. The fact that Golden Gophers Tom Brown (guard) and Bobby Bell (tackle) had won it two years in a row prior to my senior year, probably did not help my chances of bringing it to the University of Minnesota a third year in a row. I played in most of the popular bowl games for graduating seniors including the All-Star game against the NFL Champion Chicago bears. Moreover, through senior bowl games, I met players that are still my dearest friends, even today. Strange how friendships form and last forever. However, now I was really in the big leagues and now it was for real. 1 NFL Retired Players Association Most football players, even those who were stars in college or try out for the pros, but do not make it, really have no idea of how different and how tough the competition is in pro ball. It is not a big step; it is more like a giant leap. It was quite an adjustment that first year, but the best part of it was I did not have classes and did not have to study. It opened a completely new world for me. I thought college was great! This was truly the big time. And, I was enjoying it. Many of your experiences were like this. I know that for me, life was never the same after that. How could it be? Nothing compares to playing in the National Football League. The NFL. I have met plenty of players from other sports. I know they must feel the same thing. But boy, I do not think anything can compare to the NFL. That’s why football is America’s number one sport. I want to be honest with you. I am still a great lover of the sport, even though I am out of the game, and have been for almost thirty years, I still love it. I am also a great lover of the fans, and even the chalk on the grass fields, what few there are these days. People still recognize me when I walk down the streets in Minneapolis. And again, I have not played football in over thirty years. I did not start the NFL Retired Players Association because I was having a grievance with the NFL. But believe me, I have had more than my share. Unlike some of you, my pension is more than adequate and I have Medicare. Therefore, you are saying, “Well Carl, life must be pretty sweet”. Well that is yes, and no. Actually, my income without investments is about equivalent to my highest paid salary, including bonuses and incentives. Nevertheless, I consider that to be pretty good compared to when I hear there are guys out there who played when I played up till now were making under $400.00 a month and some even lower than that.. (The new Legacy Fund Guaranteed minimum is $600.00.) In addition, when you consider a player today will walk away with five times as much money and will have put less than half the time into the league than I did. What went wrong? You probably know the story by now. However, the significant part is they were ripping us off. Ripping off retired players such as you, who built the game, and love the game of professional football, were just plain ripped off. I included. It is only by sheer determination and following some basic principles that I developed on my own, that I am in as good a shape I am in today and able to do the things I can do. Not because of anything the League did. Here is a good story for you. Can you believe that due to some swift maneuvering by the Vikings General Manager at the time when I retired, I actually owed them money and was faced with a huge debt and problems I did not know about and never heard about from my agent? I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the bin, but how could that happen? I had made plans all along to keep this from happening. However, somewhere I missed the meeting where they tell you that when you are done they kick you up on the sidewalk and leave you without a condom or KY jelly. You know how I felt. Fortunately, some of you have no idea of what I am talking about. But, I bet that right now most of you are going “Those guys did the same thing to me.” Believe me. I know I am not the only one. What I am telling you is I fought back through a lot of problems with no job and a newborn baby to take care of. What is unbelievable, even with all the support players get, some are still having the same problems today. 2 NFL Retired Players Association Not to mention all the other problems I had going on in my life at the time. This is not a story guys. I was in bad shape and had to work my way out of it. After getting my life together, I went to the league office and said; “Look I know that there are other guys out there with some of the same problems I had and are in bad shape. I think I can help them.” You know what they said; “Carl, get out of here. You do not know what you are talking about. If there were problems, we would know about them.” Less than a few months later, they were calling me and asking me ‘Please Carl, come up and help us out. By this time, I was set on a new career and thinking I really need to think of my own family and let the league fend for itself. After all, they had turned me down once. To make a long story longer, I did go to the NFL. My program became a big success and made a huge difference for player’s lives and in their family’s lives and their careers. The reason I am telling you this is because we have come full circle. Here we are at a point where, with the NFL and the NFLPA where guys like you and me can make a big difference in the lives of retired players. As retired players, you know in the past, this has not been about you. They could care less about you and believe me I have heard them say it. I am only saying I avoided some of the pitfalls that some of you are going through today only because I have used many of the tools I created which have protected me from the abuses and indignation that so many retired players are faced with every day. It is unfair. Totally unfair. But let me say, in all fairness to the league, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners that I personally do not think that is the attitude of NFL today. The NFL Retired Players Association was at the table during the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. I was able to personally express our concerns directly, face-to-face with the league, and owners. I believe they have begun to understand the value of the retired player and the necessity to embrace what the retired players have contributed to the game and will continue to bring to the League and to the game itself. This was a huge departure from the attitude of the late Executive Director of the Players Association, a former Oakland Raider and Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, who made it clear that they (The NFL Players Association) did not work for the retired players. Furthermore, he felt that the retirees got more than they deserved, and were nothing more than bunch of overage complainers. Because of that kind of an attitude in the previous leadership, we were not able to communicate our needs and our issues directly to the owners. Consequently, any access that was beneficial was blocked. Well, that was all changed in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations between the owners and the players. To clarify, when I say the owners and the players, traditionally that meant the current owners and the current players, to the exclusion of the retirees. The retired players, unfortunately, were historically not present at the table.