Thread: Ditka's calls Upshaw a fraud

[size=13pt]Ditka's retort: Upshaw a fraud[/size]

By David Haugh
Tribune staff reporter

May 26, 2007, 12:17 AM CDT

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

[size=13pt]Ditka raises stakes in feud[/size]

ATTACK ON AIR | Upshaw denies accusation he took illegal loans from players union

May 26, 2007
BY ROMAN MODROWSKI rmodrowski@suntimes.com

"cajunvike" wrote:

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

Amen

"cajunvike" wrote:

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

We're all responsible for how our soldiers are treated, and we should do what we can to make sure they're treated right.

But as to retired NFL players, I don't think you can call out Upshaw on that.
Simply put, it's not his responsibility.
His job is to look after the guys in the players association.
The retired guys aren't in it.

It's the NFL or the retired players themselves that should find someone else to represent their interests, and it's really the NFL owners that should take any heat on this.

Of course, the loan thing... who knows what happened.

"Overlord" wrote:

"cajunvike" wrote:

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

We're all responsible for how our soldiers are treated, and we should do what we can to make sure they're treated right.

But as to retired NFL players, I don't think you can call out Upshaw on that.
Simply put, it's not his responsibility.
His job is to look after the guys in the players association.
The retired guys aren't in it.

It's the NFL or the retired players themselves that should find someone else to represent their interests, and it's really the NFL owners that should take any heat on this.

Of course, the loan thing... who knows what happened.

I disagree...the current players wouldn't have SQUAT if the oldtimers hadn't paved the way!

"cajunvike" wrote:

"Overlord" wrote:

"cajunvike" wrote:

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

We're all responsible for how our soldiers are treated, and we should do what we can to make sure they're treated right.

But as to retired NFL players, I don't think you can call out Upshaw on that.
Simply put, it's not his responsibility.
His job is to look after the guys in the players association.
The retired guys aren't in it.

It's the NFL or the retired players themselves that should find someone else to represent their interests, and it's really the NFL owners that should take any heat on this.

Of course, the loan thing... who knows what happened.

I disagree...the current players wouldn't have SQUAT if the oldtimers hadn't paved the way!

I don't disagree with that point, but the fact remains that Upshaw's job is to represent the current players.
I'm not saying the old timers shouldn't be represented.
But it's not Upshaw's job.

"Overlord" wrote:

"cajunvike" wrote:

"Overlord" wrote:

"cajunvike" wrote:

But it's the American way!
It is no less an affront to these old veterans as it is the way that our returning soldiers from Iraq (and those who returned from Vietnam years ago) are being treated.

Gene Upshaw and the rest of the NFLPA should be ashamed of themselves...as should the rest of the country as regards our soldiers!

We're all responsible for how our soldiers are treated, and we should do what we can to make sure they're treated right.

But as to retired NFL players, I don't think you can call out Upshaw on that.
Simply put, it's not his responsibility.
His job is to look after the guys in the players association.
The retired guys aren't in it.

It's the NFL or the retired players themselves that should find someone else to represent their interests, and it's really the NFL owners that should take any heat on this.

Of course, the loan thing... who knows what happened.

I disagree...the current players wouldn't have SQUAT if the oldtimers hadn't paved the way!

I don't disagree with that point, but the fact remains that Upshaw's job is to represent the current players.
I'm not saying the old timers shouldn't be represented.
But it's not Upshaw's job.

Its his responsibility to represent all NFL players, current and old.
That is pretty crappy to just help the new ones.
The old ones did pave the way. They gave the current players the opportunity to make the money they are making now.

"PurpleGator" wrote:

Its [Upshaw's] responsibility to represent all NFL players, current and old.
That is pretty crappy to just help the new ones.
The old ones did pave the way. They gave the current players the opportunity to make the money they are making now.

Current players are the voting members of the NFLPA of which Gene Upshaw is the head.
Gene Upshaw said this on the matter:

The bottom line is, I don't work for [retired NFL football players]. They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That's who pays my salary.

The fact that the retired players helped build the league to the cash cow that it is today doesn't change this.
I'm sure that Upshaw thinks it's terrible that these old guys are having hard times.
But he isn't doing this to be a nice guy.
He's paid to represent the current players.
He's just doing his job.


The truth is that the old NFL players didn't set up a good pension system that would be able to grow with the league.
Now that they're retired, they have almost no leverage with the NFL or NFLPA.
They're cut off from the money.


The only way to get a piece of the pie now is to convince the NFLPA or the NFL that 1) giving them cash is the right thing to do, or 2) giving them cash is easier than putting up with the media circus and bad publicity the retired players can generate.

So basically, there's this entire group of people that were idolized by millions and have built friendships with sports reporters, and this group is now trying to drag Upshaw through the mud.
The reporters put out articles for their old friends, and the fans eat it up.
Now everyone hates Upshaw.


Give the guy a break.
It's okay to think that the old players should be taken care of a little better without blaming Upshaw.

"Overlord" wrote:

"PurpleGator" wrote:

Its [Upshaw's] responsibility to represent all NFL players, current and old.
That is pretty crappy to just help the new ones.
The old ones did pave the way. They gave the current players the opportunity to make the money they are making now.

Current players are the voting members of the NFLPA of which Gene Upshaw is the head.
Gene Upshaw said this on the matter:

The bottom line is, I don't work for [retired NFL football players]. They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That's who pays my salary.

The fact that the retired players helped build the league to the cash cow that it is today doesn't change this.
I'm sure that Upshaw thinks it's terrible that these old guys are having hard times.
But he isn't doing this to be a nice guy.
He's paid to represent the current players.
He's just doing his job.


The truth is that the old NFL players didn't set up a good pension system that would be able to grow with the league.
Now that they're retired, they have almost no leverage with the NFL or NFLPA.
They're cut off from the money.


The only way to get a piece of the pie now is to convince the NFLPA or the NFL that 1) giving them cash is the right thing to do, or 2) giving them cash is easier than putting up with the media circus and bad publicity the retired players can generate.

So basically, there's this entire group of people that were idolized by millions and have built friendships with sports reporters, and this group is now trying to drag Upshaw through the mud.
The reporters put out articles for their old friends, and the fans eat it up.
Now everyone hates Upshaw.


Give the guy a break.
It's okay to think that the old players should be taken care of a little better without blaming Upshaw.

A lot of people don't like Upshaw.
There have been so many people talking about how he handles things.
He is a little cocky and thinks he is a god.
I think a lot of the current players don't like him.
Who was the person that blasted him last year?
I forgot who it was but I remember last year he got into it with somebody.