Congressional Report Chides NFL and Union on Injuries

Two members of a House committee that held hearings last summer on the complaints of retired NFL players said yesterday that the league and the NFL Players Association are not doing enough to deal with former players' health problems. The committee's chairman threatened to hold more hearings and might even introduce legislation to deal with the issue.

Also yesterday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and member Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) released a 144-page report compiled by the Congressional Research Service that collected data on NFL injuries and the response to those injuries by the league and the union.

According to the report, the NFLPA does not have a full-time person to deal with health and safety and has limited say on the subject. It also said the fact that teams treat their own players for injuries creates a conflict of interest, because it is in the teams' interest to get players back on the field quickly and team owners expect those athletes to play injured.

The report sided with former players who have alleged it is difficult to get health benefits after they retire and said that neither the NFL nor NFLPA keep data on the percentage of players who retire because of injuries.

The CRS also found that NFL players are eight times more likely to get hurt than their counterparts in "any other commercial sports league, including ice hockey and auto racing."

"This report clearly demonstrates that the NFL and NFLPA need to make serious efforts to collect data on player injuries and eliminate the conflict of interest by team doctors who place the financial interests of their teams ahead of players' health," Sánchez said in a statement.

Bernie Parrish, a former Cleveland Browns defensive back who has led the movement by retired players against the league and the union's executive director, Gene Upshaw, called the report "a step in the right direction."

The NFL said in a statement that it is reviewing the report and has worked with the union to take 20 steps to improve health and benefits for retired players, including providing money for joint replacements, increasing dementia benefits and adding a medical director to assess initial disability claims.

"We will continue to be fully responsive to the committee's inquiries and hope to have an early opportunity to meet with Chairman Conyers and Rep. Sanchez to review with them the most recent improvements in medical and disability benefits," the statement said.

The NFLPA did not comment.

-- Les Carpenter