NFLPA

History of the NFLPA and Retirement Benefits for NFL Players

The National Football League 3
The NFLPA 4
The Bert Bell NFL Player Retirement Plan 6
1970 CBA 8
The Bert Bell/ Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan 9
Current Controversy and New Retirement Benefit Plans 10
Conclusion 13
Works Cited 14

The National Football League
Professional football in American can be traced back to 1892 in Pittsburgh, PA. It was an era where football was the main attraction at local athletic clubs. In order to beat out the competition, the Allegheny Athletic Association paid former Yale All-American guard William “Pudge” Heffelfinger $500 to play against the rival Pittsburgh Athletic Club. This marked the first time a player was paid to play football. The following year, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club signed halfback Grant Dibert to the first pro contract. As the years went by, the local athletic associations turned their rosters over into professional players.
By 1920 pro football faced two major problems. Player salaries were rising as the players jumped from team to team, signing with the highest bidder. The other problem was college players, still enrolled in school, were being used. Organizational meetings were held in Canton, OH in order to develop a league in which all members followed the same rules. The American Professional Football Conference was born. A second meeting was held a month later. At that meeting, the league expanded and elected the first President, Jim Thorpe.   The league changed its name to the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the name was changed again. The National Football League (NFL) era began. By 1923, all professional franchises played under the NFL.

The NFLPA
For over forty years NFL players were not protected from their owners. In 1956, disgruntled players in Cleveland organized to seek a minimum league-wide salary, per diem pay, for organizations to pay for uniform and equipment maintenance and for...