Disabled NFL players

[FrankSG]

I've been hearing on the news that there is a group trying to get people to contribute money for the disabled NFL players. Now--if I'm misunderstanding what is being said about this, then someone please correct me. Let me make my self clear on something--I'm all in favor of helping people who really need help. However, most of the football players make much more money in one year than the average person makes in a lifetime. There are a lot of people in this world who truly do need assistance; such as those who depend on a paycheck every week and then have lost their jobs--children who have lost their parents, etc., etc., etc. There are a lot of disabled persons in this world who were making just enough money to make ends meet, then they became disabled. Those people need help. Now we have football players making multi-millions a year. They then become disabled and say they need our help. I don't understand why they should be out asking for donations when they have made millions? As I said, if I'm misunderstanding what's being said, then someone please correct me. ~Frank~

[pentachris]

Now we have football players making multi-millions a year...

The NFL has a per-team salary cap. In 2007 it is $109m. Each team has a roster of 53 players. That works out to a little over $2m per player on average. But you can bet that the stars are taking a bigger chunk than the journeymen. Looking here (http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/teamdetail.aspx?year=2006&team=12), you can see that while Favre made $7m last year, the majority of the Packers roster made $275K. Still not a bad living, right?

What happens when you pull that kind of money in for 4 or 5 years and then suffer a debilitating injury? Perhaps, after suffering 12 concussions over the course of your short career, you take a hit that fractures your spine in 17 places and causes severe nerve damage, like Brian DeMarco (http://www.gridirongreats.org/BrianDemarcoPage.html)? And what if the NFL Players' Association denies benefits? You can go through a lot of money very quickly in medical bills...

And then there are the older players, the ones who played back before the salaries skyrocketed like Willie Wood (http://www.gridirongreats.org/WillieWood.html)...

I think the NFL and the NFLPA should take care of their own. They've got the money to do it. But there are plenty of sad stories out there of players who go through their savings on medical bills, or suffer advanced dementia due to repeated head injuries and have no one to take care of them.

[mjc]

Which, to me at least, speaks of a need to support individuals directly, not some group or organization that may or may not provide only help for those who truly need it.