They're Still Standing By This Guy?

I was a little surprised to read this item by Don McKee today on the issue of how the NFL is treating former players with medical problems:

But the biggest scandal around the NFL is not Spygate. It's the plight of former players who lack medical care.  At 36, Brian DeMarco walks with a cane and is unable to get in and out of a chair without assistance because of a spinal injury.  Mounting bills have left the former Cincinnati and Jacksonville offensive lineman and his family homeless three times.

"Oftentimes in our lives, we walk around and we turn a blind eye to things," DeMarco said. "We see the homeless guy in the street . . . and we kind of just walk on by."

DeMarco is the kind of tragic figure that the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund was established to help - former NFL players who can't get medical care from the league or from their union.

I think the league should do more to help these guys (hey, it's not my money) but I'm wondering why all the burden should fall on the players, rather than the owners who built their franchises on these former players?

Either way, has anyone ever answered the charges Chris Mortensen leveled against DeMarco in particular in this piece he did last summer:

DeMarco, who was unavailable for comment Monday night, acknowledged to the Sun-Times that he had received about $10,000 in assistance from the NFLPA, yet he still complained about the union's response to his plight.

Another union official told ESPN that it's DeMarco who has been non-responsive, saying he has not returned disability forms which have been sent to him twice and has ignored the NFLPA's instructions to fill out forms for an annuity worth more than $40,000. DeMarco also has received a $50,000 severance claim when he left the NFL after the 2000 season and has a 401(k) plan with $151,000 in it, the official said.

The NFLPA official said it also had lined up a job for DeMarco in Austin, Texas, but that he "no-showed."

...

A prominent ex-Jaguars player told ESPN that he and another former teammate "cringed" when they saw DeMarco appear at Monday's press conference. The ex-Jaguar did not want to be identified but said DeMarco has been given significant financial help by his former teammates, including three jobs "that he's blown."

"Now he's walking with a cane in front of cameras," the ex-Jaguar said. "Last time we saw him -- and it was in the past two weeks -- he didn't need a cane. He has some physical problems, yes, but there are other things going on there."

Seems like it's time for a new poster child here.