National Football League Veterans' Day in Court, or: Attaboy, Adderley!

Started way back in February '07: Former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Herb Adderley and Bernie Parrish, a former Cleveland Browns defensive back, decided to take on the National Football League Players Association, about damned time. Adderley and Brown, front men for thousands of other ex-ballers...

By Robert Wilonsky

November 11, 2008

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Started way back in February '07: Former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Herb Adderley and Bernie Parrish, a former Cleveland Browns defensive back, decided to take on the National Football League Players Association, about damned time. Adderley and Brown, front men for thousands of other ex-ballers broke and broken after years of making owners big bucks, were sick of being shorted, and the veterans wanted a cut of the royalties the union collects from apparel and video-game licenses bearing their names and likenesses.

Yesterday, Adderley finally got his victory, as a federal jury awarded the ex-players some $28.1 million -- including $21 million in punitive damages -- in ruling that the union had indeed betrayed the very folks it's supposed to support and protect. Adderley -- who's so fed up with the league he doesn't wear his Super Bowl or Hall of Fame rings and who said last year, "I stopped going to different [NFL] functions because I'm embarrassed" -- was delighted with the win. Far as he's concerned, it's "bigger than my two Super Bowl victories, because of the number of players involved." --Robert Wilonsky

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