Happy Veterans’ Day!

Justice. Finally served. My 11-year-old was challenging me in Madden ’08 a while back. Of course, I picked the Vintage Cowboys and inserted a nameless No. 26 at cornerback. Me: Herb Adderley! 11-year-old: Who? Exactly. Thanks to a diabolical collusion between the NFL Players' Union and companies like EA Sports,...

By Richie Whitt

November 11, 2008

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Justice. Finally served.

My 11-year-old was challenging me in Madden ’08 a while back. Of course, I picked the Vintage Cowboys and inserted a nameless No. 26 at cornerback.

Me: Herb Adderley!

11-year-old: Who?

Exactly.

Thanks to a diabolical collusion between the NFL Players' Union and companies like EA Sports, Adderley and his Cowboys’ ’71 Super Bowl ring and his Hall of Fame bust were anonymously wasting away. Until yesterday, that is.

A federal jury award Adderley and the 2,056 retired NFL players represented in his class-action lawsuit a staggering $28.1 million from the NFLPA, finding that the union failed to properly market their image. The pivotal play in the trial was a 2001 letter from a union executive telling EA Sports to scramble the images of retired players in the popular “Madden NFL” video game or they would have to pay them.

Now, is that any way to honor our vets?

Hate to disparage the dead, but I only wish Gene Upshaw were forced to pay his fair share. – Richie Whitt

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