To View Original Source, Click Here  Article Taken from NFLPLAYERS.COM and written by CK Leon

WAILEA, Maui, Hawaii—The NFL Players Association Board of Player Representatives gathered in Hawaii for its annual meeting, resulting in an unprecedented display of unity in the face of a likely lockout by team owners. A lockout would shut down the 2011 season and severely impact players and their families. 

The meeting included an historic joint session between approximately 200 active and former players that formally recognized their shared legacy and the need to work closely together to pursue mutual interests at a time when hard-earned benefits are being threatened. 

The Board of Player Reps solidified a revitalized relationship between the two groups by unanimously passing a resolution to add two non-voting seats for former players on the union’s Executive Committee. 

NFLPA President Kevin Mawae, unanimously elected to a second term during the annual meeting, called the resolution “the last piece of the puzzle to be put in place” acknowledging the contributions and concerns of former players.

Mawae said, “When (DeMaurice Smith) took over as executive director last year, a big part of his plan was, ‘How do we bring those players back into the fold, how do we debunk that myth that we don’t care about them and how do we unite and make us stronger?’

“Part of that was to bring those guys here to have the first ever joint meeting with them so they could sit in on some of our meetings and understand that when we work through our issues, there’s always a time when retired players are talked about or thought about, and that when we do get more money, we always discuss how much to give back to the former players.”

The two non-voting members will include the Former Players Board of Directors president and an additional board member. As part of the resolution, a third former player—a chapter president—will be invited to attend and participate in Executive Committee meetings.

Jean Fugett, president of the Former Players Board of Directors, said his constituents have long wanted to be able to be at the table with the active players. “We’ve wanted to be able to fully support the players and work side by side, shoulder to shoulder with the current players, and we achieved that goal this year,” he said.

Bringing the two groups together for a common purpose was a particularly urgent task, considering the contentious negotiations with NFL owners, who have rejected union proposals to continue the current salary-cap system for an additional year so the parties can work on a long-term Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“It’s been important for a long time, and it’s especially important now that the owners are trying to use the former players as a bargaining chip in their negotiations,” Fugett said. “It’s been a negotiating tactic going back to 1974, when I went out on strike, to divide our locker rooms and then to divide the active and former players, but they’re not going to be able do it. It gives us a voice. It gives us representation and it gives us a formal role. Now, we have an ongoing channel of communication and also transparency, because … we’ll be at the table.”

Paul Guidry, who played linebacker for Buffalo and Houston in the late 1960s and early 1970s, called adding two former players to the NFLPA’s Executive Committee “a huge step.”

Guidry and other players from past eras were honored during the Board of Reps Meeting for their efforts on behalf of the union, often at great personal and professional expense. As a result of his involvement in the players’ lawsuit challenging the “Rozelle Rule” that severely restricted free agency, and his other union activities, Guidry was benched, traded and released without cause, he said.

“I was in Buffalo but had been traded to Houston,” he said. “I got a call from the players association saying that Bills players were thinking about breaking the strike and could I go over there and try to convince them not to. I did, and upon settlement of that, when the players went back to camp, as soon as I got back to Houston I was cut immediately.”

Decades later, Guidry said active NFL players have to be ready to battle and sacrifice, if necessary, for fair compensation and benefits.

“You still have to fight. And for a person like (DeMaurice Smith), who has that reputation, he’s excellent being in that position,” he said.

Mawae said there is “absolutely no doubt” the league wants to foment dissension among the ranks and ignite conflict between active and former players, as it has during past labor disputes. Most notably, the league hired former NFLPA President George Martin in October 2009 for the newly created position of head of the NFL Alumni Association.

“The NFL Alumni Association got George Martin, a former player paid by management, to bring other players over to their side, and their message has always been anti-union and anti-player,” Mawae said.

Mawae said the unity and brotherhood emanating from the Maui meetings will serve as an effective counterpoint to attempts by NFL owners to undermine player resolve.

“I think it’s going to cause other guys to reconsider their position, because at the end of the day, you’re either with management or you’re with the players,” he said.

The free agent and eight-time Pro Bowl selection at center has served on the NFLPA Executive Committee since 2002 and was a Player Representative for five seasons. Other players newly elected to the Executive Committee were quarterback Charlie Batch, linebacker Scott Fujita, wide receiver Sean Morey and offensive lineman Brian Waters. They join current members Drew Brees, Brian Dawkins, Domonique Foxworth, Tony Richardson, Jeff Saturday and Mike Vrabel.

In anticipation of the lockout by team owners and expiration of the current CBA on March 1, 2011, the annual meeting also was a chance for the union to educate players and their wives that under the current CBA, management is not required to continue health care, tuition assistance or other benefits in the event of a lockout.

“Active players need to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, which is a lockout,” Mawae said. “We’re gonna get locked out and I know the wives are extremely upset and worried about the health benefits. You look around and you see the young kids, the pregnant moms and things like that, and those are issues the players are going to have to deal with. Right now, 100 percent of prenatal care is paid for. After the 2010 season, they (the owners) don’t have to pay for any of that.

“I’m a vested veteran with five years of post-play insurance. I could lose that because of the work stoppage. And I could lose benefits for continuing my education. Those are things I fought for and I worked for and I put it on the line for management to make billions.”

Houston schoolteacher Tamika Holdman said her family depends on husband Warrick Holdman’s health-care benefits as a former NFL player. Warrick Holdman played nine seasons as a linebacker before leaving the game due to a spinal cord injury that initially left him paralyzed.

Tamika Holdman reports her 34-year-old husband is doing better now, but he suffers a lingering disability that has left him barely able to lift their 6-year-old daughter. She said she is most concerned about making sure her family has continued health care and was encouraged by the attention shown to former players at the meeting.

“I think that’s awesome,” she said. “It felt good. It didn’t seem faked or forced. It was very genuine.”

Mawae added that players hope NFL team owners will make a good-faith effort toward negotiating a new CBA before taking the drastic step of a lockout, which would bring the widely profitable pro football league to an unwanted halt.

Mawae said, “Our fans need to know that we want to play. We love coming out of the tunnel with 65,000 fans cheering for us. It’s what we do and what we’ve done our entire lives. It’s what we love, and now someone is trying to take that away from us.

“Fans need to know that it’s not about millionaires and billionaires. It’s about the fundamental right to do the job that you love to do in a corporation that’s not losing money in the most difficult economic time in our country, and our bosses are telling us to please take a pay cut because they’re not making enough money even though they’ve lost nothing.”