NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith labeled the Bears "cheap" based on his perception of Chairman George McCaskey’s role in supporting a bill that would change workers’ compensation law.
Chicago’s four other professional sports franchises joined the Bears in support of the measure.
With the start of NFL free agency less than five weeks away, Smith went so far as to promise he will encourage players to stay away from the Bears if lawmakers pass Senate Bill 12 SA #2, which he claims the McCaskeys have pushed.
Contacted while in town for Super Bowl LI, McCaskey declined to respond but referred to the statement the Bears released after Smith’s incendiary interview on WSCR-AM 670.
"We join the four other major professional Chicago teams in monitoring and supporting changes to the system that protect athletes’ rights under the workers compensation system while acknowledging athletes are not competing professionally until age 67,” the statement read. "Nothing in the wage differential language under consideration impacts the right for any athlete to receive just compensation for partial or permanent injury, medical benefits, or to file a claim itself."
Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) would adjust the Workers’ Compensation Act as it applies to professional athletes, who currently may be entitled to a wage differential award. Tied to a larger compromise package intended to pressure Gov. Bruce Rauner and House legislators to resolve the state’s budget impasse, it proposes to eliminate professional athletes from being eligible for wage differential awards after age 35.
The law currently allows players to get paid for the term of their natural life, legally established at 67 years old. Those advocating changes contend that pro athletes, even the healthiest ones, seldom play beyond age 35 so paying out until 67 because of injury borders on being too unfair and expensive.
In a Jan. 27 letter to state senators John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Radogno obtained by the Tribune, signed by the Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks, the teams explain the rationale.
Read: Letter from Chicago sports teams in support of Senate Bill 12 Senate Bill 12 – Illinois Workers Compensation Reform (PDF) Senate Bill 12 – Illinois Workers Compensation Reform (Text) Senate Bill 12 – Illinois Workers Compensation Reform (PDF) Senate Bill 12 – Illinois Workers Compensation Reform (Text)Read the story
"According to Ram Financial Group, the average career of professional athletes is: 3.5 years for an NFL player; 4.8 years for an NBA player; 5.6 for an MLB player; and 5.5 years and an NHL player,” the letter stated. "Therefore, even without injuries, the average player in any professional sport will be done playing before he or she even turns 30 years old.”
Chicago lawyer Richard R. Gordon and a lobbyist representing the NFL Players Association testified against the provision last week in Springfield during the Senate Executive Committee hearing, arguing mostly on behalf of those professional athletes without multi-million-dollar contracts.
Gordon told the Tribune via phone that pro athletes making less than $100,000, such as players in soccer or minor-league baseball, potentially suffer the most by legally lowering the age limit to 35. He referenced several state senators mentioning to him the Bears’ interest in the bill but had no knowledge whether other Chicago pro sports team were or weren’t supporting the changes.
"If you pay millions of dollars to have your employees entertain people, those employees should be compensated and taken care of when they’re injured for life because of that ‘show’ (and) what this law looks to do is take away protection benefits, to lower those further,” Gordon said. "These guys are going to have life-long injuries and are entitled to the compensation that will help them in the long run.”
While Smith threatened to sway free-agents away from Chicago if the bill passes, several states recognize the complex situation involving pro athletes and specifically exclude them from workers compensation benefits — including Florida, Texas and Missouri. As the teams’ letter pointed out, only 13 states even offer wage differential benefits, with Michigan specifically restricting pro athletes from collecting them. Three states — Ohio, New York and Nebraska — cap the number of weeks any injured employee can collect wage differential benefits.
The fine print didn’t stop Smith from swinging away at the McCaskeys during an appearance Friday on WSCR.
94-year-old Virginia McCaskey, daughter of the legendary George Halas, is the matriarch owner of the Bears.
"The Bears owners are behind it as well," Smith said. "To be blunt, it’s just another way to bankroll the coffers of the rich owners … at the expense of the players who do all the work. They’re pushing the bill. Our understanding is they are the people who have lined up the lobbyists to promote the bill.
"I wish I could say there is something bigger. I wish I could say it is something more noble. I wish I could say it is something philosophically that makes sense. It’s just cheapness. It’s just being cheap."
With free agency around the corner and the Bears among the leaders in the NFL in available salary cap space, it will be an important period for general manager Ryan Pace to overhaul the roster. That alone made it necessary for the Bears to respond Friday armed with information providing context missing from Smith’s comments. The suggestion that the bill would allow the Bears to deny medical benefits for retired players particularly rankled the Bears.
Smith has been down a similar road before regarding workers’ compensation; In May 2014, the NFLPA sent a letter to agents advising them of potential changes in laws in Louisiana, another state where the union has fought lawmakers over the same issue. The NFLPA has battled workers’ compensation laws in California and North Carolina as well.
"If this bill passes and you’re not going to have injury care, I will tell you from the bottom of my heart that this union will tell every potential free agent player if this bill passes to not come to the Bears," Smith said. "Think about it, if you’re a free agent player and you have an opportunity to go someplace else where you can get lifetime medical for the injuries that you’re going to have, isn’t a smarter financial decision to go to a team where a bill like this hasn’t passed?"
This isn’t the first time Smith has expressed dissatisfaction with the Bears either. In 2012, the NFLPA went to bat for former Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer. The Bears terminated his contract Feb. 28, 2011, one month after the team’s concussion consultant, Elizabeth Pieroth, a board certified clinical neuropsychologist, examined him and recommended he no longer play. Medical documents provided by Hillenmeyer showed he suffered five concussions while playing for the Bears.
When the Bears cut Hillenmeyer, he had one year and $1.8 million remaining on his contract. According to the union, Article 45 of the collective bargaining agreement stipulates Hillenmeyer is eligible for an injury protection benefit of 50 percent of his base salary up to $1 million, meaning he should have collected $900,000 from the team.
It wasn’t that simple and Hillenmeyer, with the help of the NFLPA, fought the team. Hillenmeyer told the Tribune the final outcome was confidential.
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