Mike Ditka slaps Gene Upshaw upside of the head over NFL vet's care

Mike Ditka, Gene Upshaw both former NFL Hall of Fame players, both feisty and both full of vinegar.  Upshaw involved in the NFL Players Association;  Ditka involved formerly in coaching, and now in media broadcasting.  Any confrontation between the two reverberates around the NFL and the country.

Confrontation erupted plenty the past few days.  Ditka says he is upset about the sorry condition, physically and mentally, former NFL players find themselves in often without proper finances or insurance to alleviate some of the pain,  Ditka says he is further upset about the ineptness the NFL Players Association shows in getting help to the players.  We looked at the medical problems of former Steelers here.

Gene Upshaw says Ditka is offside.

Ditka added a new blow in Round 17 of the fight last week when he questioned the NFL's intentions to help out the maimed players.  Form the Chicago Tribune:

There was just as much cynicism is Mike Ditka's voice Wednesday when he questioned whether the new NFL measures were little more than a PR stunt.

According to Chicago Sports, Gene Upshaw retaliated against Ditka's remarks, calling the former Bear TE 'dumb':

"It was irresponsible and shows how dumb [Ditka] is," Upshaw said Thursday. "I didn't just come to this rodeo. I've been doing this since 1983. When did he start? Last year? I get upset when people say I turned our back on players. The NFL never turned its back on anybody."

Ditka, who last year started the organization Gridiron Greats with former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer to assist retired players, had dismissed the league's announced plan to improve benefits as "a lot of rhetoric." Miffed at the characterization, Upshaw urged everyone to consider the source.

"Look, I was in the Hall of Fame before Mike Ditka got there [in 1988]," said Upshaw, a 1987 inductee. "He just runs his mouth. He doesn't want to know the facts, which are we are already helping people but we just can't talk about everyone we help because these guys have pride."

Ditka not only called Upshaw a fraud, but blitzed Upshaw even more charging improprieties in NFLPA's loans to the former Raider Upshaw:

"They're the people who are irresponsible," Ditka said of Upshaw and his fellow union leaders. "Nobody is less deserving of his position because he has no comprehension of what it means to give back to the game. He's a fraud."

And here from AOL:

[Upshaw is] taking loans from the Players Association which are illegal,'' Ditka said. ''You cannot take any loan which [is] over $4,000 from the union.

  ''He's on the books for over [a] $100,000 loan, which is really a criminal offense.''

''There's going to be a Senate investigation of the National Football League Player's Association, believe me,'' he said, ''... and we'll see what happens, that's all.

  ''They brought it on themselves.''

Former NFL players suffer from a myriad number of health problems including football injuries, dementia possibly involving concussions from playing, consequences of old steroid use, etc.  This is an important issue that needs to be worked out at the highest level, rather than end up as a bicker between two old nemesis.

Comments

[texmex]

very typical of the game of football. but nobody, seems to care.

http://deadspin.com/sports/arkansas-razorbacks/they-grow-up-so-fast-these-days-263817.php