Thx
Mike Landrum
Atlanta Falcons
1984 – 1986

Brandi Winans

Good to hear from you.

Mike Curtis
1965 – 1978
Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Luv ‘n Hugs Blessings,
Brandi

Also any word on the caretakers video? I would love to get a copy. or a copy of The Summit.

Luv ‘n Hugs
Brandi Winans

I am inspired in reading the above postings. I missed the Las Vegas Summit due to my father’s admission to a hospice facility in Phoenix during the same time period. I have done my best to ‘ketchup’ by reading Dave Pear’s and others blogs and postings. I congratulate all that placed their time and effort in this needed conference.

Recently, I reached out for assistance to attend to my father in Phoenix. Although there were some initial harsh feelings expressed between myself and the president of “Gridiron Greats,” they eventually were gracious enough to assist me with a plane flight from Kauai to Phoenix. One classification criteria that arose again, as has with NFL Alumni, was the divisive reasoning of separating assistance for retired players by the so-called “Three Year Rule.” I can see no better example of the means and ways the powers-that-may-be to create friction and division amongst retired players than by creating a “rule” that separates us by basically a criteria of when we were injured while playing our sport. We all know that we were always one play away from the operating room. To discriminate against those of us who failed to play three years is similar to the owners’ strategic ‘length of play’ for pensions, in comparison to the average players’ length of service.

Another “rule” the NFL Alumni initiated and cited for not granting me medical assistance was that a player had to play in 5 consecutive games in order to qualify. Where did this rule come from? I received a hateful letter from the NFL League office’s acting attorney demeaning my playing time for this factor. I need to post the letter to verify the hate that evolves from the NFL’s New York office’s hired gun’s letter. It borders on disbarment action for moral turpitude for this particular attorney that I’m considering pursuing. It also represents how closely in bed the NFL Alumni and the owners truly exist.

I am aware that Bob Grant is strongly in favor of eliminating these petty rules that were presented by the owners. Their only motivation is to create discrimination, demean and spark friction among the retired players. For these reasons, I was encouraged to read the above postings about their attempts to bring us together as a whole, rather than create 20 splinter organizations.

Personal regards, with Mahalo
Frederick ‘Rick’ Hayes
LA Rams – 1974

Included in the group that I have met with are Marvin Cobb, Lee White, Reggie Berry and Carver Shannon while Dave Pear and Robert Lee have participated via telephone.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be unveiling some plans to start work on bridging the racial divide and the generation gap that has hindered the development of relationships and understanding between Retired Players and Active Players.

Just as there some who told Marvin and me that the Summit was an impossible undertaking, I’m sure that there are many who will say we’re planning is also an impossible undertaking. We will see.

Bob Grant
Free and Independent Retired Player Advocate