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Advertising has permeated every level of product branding, from beer to deodorant to Fed-Ex. In addition, emphasis on revenue sharing and a strict salary cap has created for league parity. Unless you live in one of a handful of cities (Minneapolis, one of them) you’ll likely have high hopes for your team before each season begins. Recently, NFL players and organizations have been actively involved in charities and in assisting their respective communities. New commissioner Roger Goodell has all but vowed to institute a strict conduct policy for the players.

Commercial marketability, fairness, goodwill and good character. A recipe for success? Not quite. The NFL has been terrible at taking care of their former players. This makes them ultimately unsuccessful because the NFL is nothing more than the sum of its parts, and its most important part is its players.

Due to the physical requirements and violent nature of football, it’s no mystery that a vast number of retired players run into significant health risks. Many former players have struggled with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, and other ailments. These problems are of course exacerbated by the physical expectations for NFL players. Three-hundred-pound linemen are as common today as are crappy reality television shows. Expect these ailments to grow exponentially in the coming years.

Today’s players, while at greater weight-related health risks, do have an edge on the gridiron warriors of yesteryear. First, today’s players benefit from better and safer equipment, and are protected by stricter rules on the field. In addition, today’s players make vast amounts of money. Players 30 years ago (and stretching back further) made considerably less, and the pension provided for them is often inadequate. It isn’t at all uncommon for ex-players to pinch pennies to pay their medical bills.

Many former players must battle chronic pain and injury on a daily basis. Former running back and Hall of Fame inductee Earl Campbell has developed severe arthritis and is often confined to a wheelchair. Constant physical pain and economic instability like that which Campbell experiences lead players into dark spirals of depression. In only the last few years, a handful of former players have committed suicide. In the cases of former Steelers lineman Terry Long and Eagles defensive back Andre Waters, there has been a direct causal link between football related brain injuries and the severe depression that led to their suicides.

The NFL must do more to protect these players. Just last week, former Patriots star receiver Darryl Stingley passed away at the tender age of 55, due to heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia. In 1978, Stingley, a gifted player near his prime, was on the verge of negotiating a contract extension that would have made him rich when he experienced a horrific injury in a pre-season game that left him paralyzed. The contract was never signed, and Stingley lived out the rest of his short life as a quadriplegic. Stingley’s life expectancy plummeted the moment Raider defensive back Jack Tatum made contact with him and compressed his vertebrae, but I’d be willing to bet his quality of life could have been greatly increased had the NFL Player’s Union taken better care of him.

Player union president Gene Upshaw, a former player himself, has given the veterans the cold shoulder. “The bottom line is I don’t work for them,” he said. “They don’t hire me and they can’t fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That’s who pays my salary.” If it wasn’t already glaringly clear, the NFL needs an attitude and a policy adjustment.

A league that boasts unmatched revenues, equal opportunity for its teams and community service for its football towns should take a stand and tend to those veterans that made the game great. To say that the current pension and amount of concern for former players is regrettable doesn’t do any justice. It’s downright appalling.

The Pretty Sweet

Baseball is back, and for once, Minneapolis Twins fans should be happy the team still plays at the Metrodome. Opening week temperatures plummeted to 30 degrees below tolerable for this time of year. But remember what they say, “April snow brings...April depression.” Despite the weather, the Twinkies are proving once again that good pitching and guys with funny names (Morneau, Boof Bonser, “Tiny” Tyner, ‘Cuddy, Kubel) will win you games. Let’s just hope they keep at it.

The Bet You Didn’t Know

It was on this day in 1916 that the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) was created in New York City by 82 charter members. I bet they never figured that the most dominant golfer of a future era was to be a biracial prodigy named Tiger. What losers.

Hall of Fame inductee John Madden turns 71 today. Madden coached the Oakland Raiders to a Superbowl victory in 1977 and ended his career with the best winning percentage of any coach. He has since moved to the announcer’s booth where his endearing personality and simplistic approach have garnered nationwide acclaim. ACE Hardware for all appliance needs, Tough Actin’ Tinactin for athletes foot.

In 1912, a wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more than 11 hours. Klein eventually won, but didn’t have the energy to participate in the championship match. This didn’t happen on April 10. I’m not actually sure when in 1912 it took place, but I bet you didn’t know about it.