European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Pre-59ers vow to Aid old-timers7 by Fred Indian Lake estates. Pla. A a company formed to help support professional football s old timers Calls to Nam the forgotten men victims of the in equity of 959." red Grange. Frankie Albert Sammy b Hugh. Sid Luckman Marion Motley. Don Lutson and Bronko Nagurski arc just a few of the More than 700 former National football league players who arc ineligible for the nil s pension plan be cause they played before 1959. None of them has received any formal compensation since leaving the game but Relief is on the Way from a company nil alumni created to help old timers. Grange 83. Received the first Royalty Check issued by pro legends inc., Friday near his Home in this retirement Community about 90 Miles cast of Tampa. Equal payments of $500 will be mailed to 135 other qualified "prc-59crs" by dec. 31. These arc men who were arbitrarily left out of the Bert Bell nil player retirement plan that went into effect in 1962, said Jack Maitland. Head of pro legends. Four dec Ades of forgotten pro legends was formed in 1983 for the purpose of raising Money to compensate cd players who arc still alive and whose careers ended before 1959, the Cut off Date established by the nil plan. The company raises Revenue through the Sale of merchandise and calendars a management fee for producing an annual player of the year awards dinner and the use of the names and reputations of for Mer players in advertising and promotions. After tax profits Are earmarked for Dis i Button in Royalty checks that will go to qualified "pre-59ers" regardless of whether they be allowed their names to be used in fund raising. The payments will vary from year to year although pro legends and nil alumni arc hopeful of reaching a goal of the maximum $3,600 annual stipend Al Lowed a player under the original Bert Bell pension plan. This is a Royalty not a pension Mait land emphasized. We Are not allowed to provide a to qualify for a Check an old timer must have played five years in the league have reached the age of 65 and be a member of the n Al alumni for the past three years. It bothered me that so Many players who made the game what it is have been forgotten said Grange. They played for Littfe or no Money in those Days but with out them there would t be a league today. The players that came along later did t make the league. They already had something to step into added Grange who estimated he earned a top salary of $550 per game during his career. Grange started with the Chicago bears in 1925 and founded the american football league a year later. He played with the new York Yankees in 1926 and 1927 before re turning to the bears from 1929-34. He was a three time All America at the University of Illinois. Tuesday november 19, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 23 m Chicago defensive tackle William Perry running from the tailback position is stopped inches Short of the Dallas Goa line. Perry adds new dimension to game watching nil football is Tun again by Hal Boc k Irving Texas a on a grim Gray Texas Day America s team the old Vintage Model got a rude often painful introduction to a new Stream lined Model. Of so 300-plus-Pound William refrigerator Perry in t streamlined. But he is surrounded by a Chicago bears cast that plays this game with a Cal and Joy that is refreshing. Going 11-0 will do that for u team. The bears clinched the pfc Central title sunday beating up on the cowboys 44-0 the worst defeat in franchise history. Even As an expansion team in a wingless first season Dallas had avoided such humiliation. The matchup had whetted their Appe Tite. Here were the ambitious Young bears unbeaten striving for the Excel Lence that Dallas has represented for so Long playing in the cowboys holc in the roof Home. The anticipation faded fast dubbed by a Chicago defense that simply destroyed Dallas. An old fashioned coun try Licking was Cowboy coach Tom Landry s simple description of the devastation. It fits. These bears had been beating up on their neighbors in the pfc Central division not a terribly Tough assign ment considering the Competition. Seven of their wins had come that Way and there were the inevitable whispers. Hey who have they beaten we kept hearing that we had t commentary played anybody like them defensive end Dan Hampton said. They were right. We had t beaten anybody 44-0 All when they reached for a More ambitious prey they snared it most impressively with a stifling sack Happy de sense a proud unit that scored two touchdowns and set up a third in the first half when tic game was decided. Call it fridge fever this propensity that the Bear defense has developed for Landing in the end zone. Defensive end Richard Dent scored a touchdown on an interception. So did cornerback Mike Richardson. Cornerback Leslie Fra ice set up a touchdown with an interception. And Perry Well the fridge showed up in two offensive series once As a tailback his debut at that position. Mis production was modest. Three plays two blocks one carry one Yard. "1 love it he said of his offensive duties. It s fun time for me. I know All the plays by wednesday. There s just three or four of them. I get to Block people hit people do different one of the things he did differently provided a new dimension for Walter Payton and a penalty for Chicago. Consumed by exuberance the fridge tried to carry Payton into the end one. That s carry As in lift. I did t know it was illegal said the Mammoth Rookie pc Ali cd for Illic Gal use of hands. Everybody was jumping All Over my Man. It was instinct. I just tried to get them i did t know it was him Paylon said. We be got to Leach him to turn his Back so the officials can t Sec it when he docs the penalty forced the bears to Settle for a Field goal on that drive which me it four fewer Points that the did t really need anyway. More important perhaps was that it the fridge s slyly simple child like exuberance. He has helped make the bears More than just a frighteningly efficient foot Ball team. They Are fun to watch a breath of fresh air in a snort that or. Been critics cd As becoming too predictable Loo stodgy. Predictable not these Guys. Stodgy never. This might not be the kind of football that George Halas inventor of this icam and this league had in mind. But it s a cinch that he would have enjoyed the outcome. Would Perry have found his Way into the offensive Backfield if papa Bear were still stalking the sidelines it s unlikely. Will the fridge show up there again almost certainly. Down the he said ominously i might throw a . Marathon win could have earned Lopes $130,000 by Ira Rosenfeld Washington a if Portugal s Carlos Lopes the olympic Marathon Cham Pion and Holder of the world Best had run in and won the 1985 new York City mar Al Hon he would have earned at least $130,000, the associated press has Learned. Lopes was guaranteed $70,000 Advance Money by new York City Marathon i i Rector Fred Lebow and was promised $35,000 if he competed the a Learned. That would have been in addition to the $25,000 first prize and Mercedes Bern Given to the Winner. The $35,000 was to have come from an Anonymous portugese Lopes did not compete in the new York City Marathon because of injuries. A copy of a ice scr from Lubow to Lopes detailing the offer was obtained last weekend. In the idler dated May 21, 1985, Lubow guaranteed the payment of $10,000 to Lopes upon the runner s acceptance of the offer. An additional $25,000 was to have been sent to Lopes sept. 15. Five weeks prior to the race. A final $35,000 instalment was to have been paid oct. 28, one Day after the race. Like any other runner in the race. Lopes also would have been awarded a $50,000 if he had broken his world Best of 2 hours 7 minutes. 12 seconds in the new York City Marathon and a $10,000 Bonus if he had broken Alberto Salazar s course re Cord of 2 08 13. That would have boosted his winnings to $190,000. Bob Bright race director of the Ameri Ca s Marathon Chicago was Given a copy of Lubow s ice scr by Lopes and invited to make a counter offer. I was l in lories. He s too erratic too unreliable said Bright contacted sunday at a Road race directors seminar in Washington
