Ex-Players: NFL Benefits Not Enough
Silas knows, though, that many players from his era are not doing so well. And he said he doesn’t think the NFL is doing enough for retired players with battered bodies.
“Any number of (former) players across the league are in need of help,” said Silas, 69. “And it’s not like it would bankrupt the organization because professional football players don’t live too long.”
The NFL has beefed up its benefits programs for former players in recent years, creating new programs for ex-players needing joint replacement, spinal treatment and neurological care. And in 2007, the NFL created the “88 Plan,” which offers up to $88,000 per year to cover care for retired players with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
The plan is named for John Mackey, who wore No. 88 for the Baltimore Colts from 1963 to 1972. He has been diagnosed with dementia.
Among six former NFL players from Polk County contacted by The Ledger, only Jason Odom, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle from Bartow, said he has received disability benefits from the league.
A back injury forced Odom’s retirement in 2001. Based on his five seasons with the Bucs, he qualified for the NFL’s “line-of-duty” disability payments, which lasted 7 1/2 years. He said the payments were a portion of his salary.
Torrian Gray, a Kathleen High graduate, sustained a career-ending knee injury during his second year with the Minnesota Vikings. But Gray didn’t play long enough to qualify for disability payments.
Odom, 36, said many players from his era are coping with football-related ailments but don’t qualify for disability benefits.
“I do know guys are struggling and suffering from their days of playing,” Odom said. “I do think they (the NFL) could do more. I’m a realist, too. I know something’s got to give. There are a lot of funds floating around in the NFL, but it’s not an unlimited budget.”
Like Silas, Ken Riley considers himself fortunate. The Bartow native played 13 years for the Cincinnati Bengals and has no disabling maladies.
But many of Riley’s contemporaries are hurting. One of his best friends on the Bengals, linebacker Reggie Williams, has endured so many knee operations he can barely walk, yet he reportedly has never received disability benefits from the NFL.
Sammy Green, a graduate of Fort Meade High School, spent five years in the NFL as a linebacker in the 1970s and early 1980s. He said older ex-players are finally getting overdue attention.
“It’s good people are beginning to look at this because 10 years ago I don’t think anybody cared,” Green said.
“You didn’t hear anything from the NFL camp that they would do anything about the physical liability players take on. I think all that’s going to change now, and I think there will be a whole lot of progress.”
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