Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Moving forward, we must come to terms with our past, acknowledge our failures, learn from our
mistakes, and take remedial action now in order to preserve our gains, pay homage to our
predecessors, and make our game better for future generations. I would greatly appreciate the
opportunity to continue advocating on your behalf, to commission all the requisite expertise to
analyze every financial, legal, and health matter affecting NFL Players, to make informed
business decisions based on data, and to represent each of you with honor and distinction.
The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of
delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.
-- Winston S. Churchill
We are here to save the owners from their lawyers, the NFL from the owners, the NFLPA from
Mr. Smith, and the game of football from the NFL. Participation rates in large markets are
dropping steadily due to the NFLs intransigent nature and refusal to provide adequate medical
care to our disabled retirees suffering from brain damage and occupational disease. At the same
time, Mr. Smith has masterfully weaved countermeasures into the 2011 CBA to restrict active
players rights and their ability to recover lost wages, medical costs, and quality of life.
This election cannot be a matter of personality or popularity; it must be about performance. Real
wages have not increased in six years, union revenues are down $95 million, the pension gap has
grown to at least $1.4 BILLION, and our dues-paying membership has decreased by 10%.
During the same period (2009-2015), NFL revenue has increased by 31% net of inflation. The
current agreement is a fraud. Too many undisclosed side letters, back room deals, and acts of
collusion have left well-intended player representatives ineffective.
In order to achieve peace and reinstate equitable balance, one must prepare for war. In order to
win a war, an army must be properly staffed and provisioned. Clearly, the NFLPA is neither
properly staffed nor provisioned, and the NFL knows it. The NFLPA is in crisis. Rather than
engage in harmful whispering campaigns used to divide our members, we must come together to
embrace our challenges with a critical eye, learn from history, and instill a culture of
transparency and inclusivity to formulate strategic plans.
The past years events have illustrated the NFLPAs inability, or unwillingness, to form and/or
execute a strategy to take advantage of the owners legal missteps and the Commissioners
embarrassing performance. In the face of this, the NFLPA has lost ground, and the NFL has
consolidated its gains and applied a chokehold to the membership. Commissioner Goodell is paid
well for accepting fault on behalf of the owners, while Mr. Smith was gutted during negotiations
and is still busy blaming the players.
Mr. Smiths reliance on futile legal methods to advance the NFLPAs interests is not just
lamentable but has effectively stripped our members of their rights. Mr. Smith betrays his limited
business acumen with legal jargon used to confuse members, conflate real issues, and give others
a false sense of security. Only a fool goes to court when he has already bargained away his
clients rights. Further, the long-term disability costs associated with treating CTE, footballs
occupational disease, should not be the financial responsibility of current players. Crucial
provisions in the 2011 CBA remain corrupted and/or unrealized.
Article 65 was hijacked by the NFLs Susan Cassidy, who is not only a partner at
Tagliabues law firm but also a highly-paid employee of the NFL Pension plan. By
eliminating the signature neurobehavioral syndromes affecting our members, the NFL has
optimized the exclusion of qualifying diagnoses while minimizing its costs.
$22 Million of discretionary, annual funds secured to treat former NFL players remains
buried in a failed marketing campaign referred to as The Trust.
$50 Million of Research Funds had been diverted to The Football Players Health Study at
Harvard University, which is still formulating survey questionnaires.
The absurdity of willful indifference perpetuated by the NFLPA, permitting NFL Physicians
to ignore the return-to-play guidelines, makes our union a farce and puts our members at an
increased incremental risk of permanent brain damage.
Workers Compensation denies latent neurological afflictions by design. With that, active
NFL Players continue to incur uninsured medical costs.
I was forced to resign from the Mackey-White TBI Committee before the NFL could co-opt
me to sign off on a 13-year, $100 Million dollar joint study designed to quantify the risk of
neurobehavioral syndromes in former NFL Players compared with aged-matched college
controls, without allocating any funds to treat former players.
The 2012 NFLPA Health Report remains withheld from our members.
Resolution 15, passed in 2012 by the Board of Player Representatives, was violated by
employees Smith, Fishman and DePaso, as well as President Foxworth and Drew Brees.
Please take the time to review the Request for Information submitted to the Executive Committee
and President Winston on February 18. It contains crucial information covering Personnel &
Financial Details, Legal Matters, Pensions, Discipline, Health & Safety, Conflicts of
Interest/Related Party Transactions, and Suggested Election Oversight.
Below is a list of forward recommendations for the Board of Player Representatives to consider.
Investigation
I.
The NFL Players Association requires every aspect of union business to be independently
reviewed. I have identified a highly-qualified independent law firm to conduct an end-toend analysis of our union.
II.
In an effort to empower our Board of Representatives, I intend to initiate a complete
analysis of all prior collective bargaining agreements, including, but not limited to all
NFL revenue streams and deductions, both included and excluded from the players share
of revenue.
III.
NFL Players, Inc., the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players
Association, requires a complete and thorough analysis by forensic accountants. This
team of experts will report directly to the Board of Player Representatives.
IV.
A review of all liability limiting strategies executed by and between the NFLPA, third
parties, and the NFL intended to insulate one another from a very large and damaging
class action lawsuit stemming from concussions against the league and union will be
conducted. Members of the NFLPA Legal Department will be prosecuted by the proper
authorities, if any federal or labor laws were violated.
V.
The execution of the medical standard used to qualify former NFL Players as
experiencing mild-to-moderate neurocognitive disability will be investigated, scrutinized,
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Workers Compensation will begin to work for our injured players, and the NFL will in
turn feel the impetus necessary to raise the standard of medical care in NFL locker rooms,
knowing they will bear the cost of inadequate medical treatment.
Electronic medical records made available to injured players will be reviewed and
confirmed by an independent third party on a weekly basis, so that players can be assured
that accurate medical records are being kept.
League and team sponsored medical care will be reviewed carefully.
Players will have access to online educational tools necessary to understand the potential
risks of the medications being prescribed by team medical staffs.
Sean J. Morey
Former NFLPA Executive Committee member
Founder and former Co-Chair NFLPA Mackey-White TBI Committee
BIOGRAPHY
Former Ivy League standout and Super Bowl Champion Sean Morey '99 is currently the head
coach of the Princeton University Sprint Football program. Morey moved into the coaching
ranks at Princeton after completing a two-year fellowship in the Athletic Department, where he
worked closely with the Athletic Director, Gary Walters on special projects and served in a
number of supportive roles as the Athletic Administrative Fellow.
Sean graduated from Brown University in 1999 and was the schools first Ivy League Rookie of
the Year (1995) and Player of the Year (1997). A three-time First-Team All-Ivy and All-New
England selection, he twice garnered All-America accolades as a wide receiver and led the
NCAAs Division I-AA in receiving during his junior campaign. Sean was elected captain and
had his #24 jersey retired before the last home game of his senior season. Morey established five
new Ivy records and 11 Brown records by catching 251 career passes for 3,850 yards, 39 of
which went for touchdowns, including the first scored in the new Princeton Stadium in 1998.
Morey was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by his hometown team, the New
England Patriots. After playing several seasons for NFL Europes Barcelona Dragons and being
named the 2003 Special Teams MVP for the Philadelphia Eagles, he signed with the Pittsburgh
Steelers. He was named the special teams captain in 2005 and became the first Brown alum to
win a Super Bowl. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2007, where he was elected to serve
on the NFLPA Board of Representatives and made both Super Bowl and Pro Bowl appearances.
Morey was named to the All-NFL Europe Team and regarded by Peter King as the Sports
Illustrated Special Teams Player of the Decade.
While an active NFL Player, Sean was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the NFL
Players Association and appointed Co-Chair of the NFLPA Mackey-White TBI Committee. He
vigorously defended players rights during CBA negotiations and worked closely with some of
the leading independent neurological experts to help inform and protect fellow members. Sean
devoted his energy towards advocating for comprehensive clinical research efforts intended to
understand, quantify, and treat pressing health care issues associated with the cumulative and
compounding effect of repetitive and recurrent brain trauma.
Morey is also a member of the Brown Football Association and Brown Athletics Hall of Fame.
Seans wife Cara is an Assistant Coach for the Princeton Womens Ice Hockey Team and a
former two-sport All-Ivy standout at Brown. Sean and Cara live in Princeton and have three
daughters named Devan (11), Kathryn (9), and Shea Piper (6).