PowerPoints from Our Conference

April 27th, 2012 Robert

Big-time pollen alerts across the country! Jennifer and her daughter are recovering from severe allergies this week, so we’re going ahead and posting up the PowerPoints from some of the discussions at our Second Independent Football Veterans Conference. Sorry for the delays in getting everything posted quickly – we thank everyone for their patience and understand how many of you who couldn’t attend are anxiously awaiting the videos so you can catch up on what you missed. All our best to Jennifer and her daughter for a speedy recovery!
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Without a doubt, the most requested videos and Powerpoints have certainly been for our panel on concussions and the lawsuits filed against the NFL and Riddell. Jason Luckasevic from Goldberg Persky & White filed one of the first concussion lawsuits on behalf of retired football players. To date, his firm is also the only one to include Riddell the helmet manufacturer – “Official Helmet of the NFL” – as a responsible party. Dave had looked at the various suits and after a lot of homework, made an informed decision to sign with Jason’s firm for his concussion issues. Richard Lewis from Hausfeld LLP joined Jason on the panel last Saturday morning to present his firm’s decisions leading up to filing their concussion suit. We expect that both of these firms will likely join together in their efforts as the case continues to move forward in the courts. As we continue to see more and more lawyers attempt to rally retired players into joining their suits, we’re certainly getting a good lesson in how class action and mass tort suits really work: In most cases, the hard work and research is done by a few at the beginning of the rush and many of the lawyers who follow later are looking for a free ride on the coattails of the pioneers who lead the way. We strongly urge each and every one of you to look closely at who the real players are in this game and listen closely to what they have to say. What you DON’T want is a law firm who will settle quickly for the money and try and force you to go along because they’re not in it for you. So do take you time in looking over Jason and Rich’s presentations and watch for their Conference videos to be posted shortly before making a choice of attorneys.
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And two things to keep in mind: You are in charge and you can choose to go with any firm you select. You also have the ability to notify a firm that you have decided NOT to use them any longer and to choose another firm after careful consideration. It’s YOUR choice and yours alone. Quite frankly, most retired players have told us that they’re sick and tired of all the “Join us! No – Join us! No – me, me, me!” from too many uninformed players urged along behind the scenes by unscrupulous lawyers out to get a bigger piece of YOUR pie with as little work as possible! The other issue is a potential statute of limitations specifically related to this round of concussion lawsuits. This means you may have to sign up with a representative firm soon before the filing period expires. More on this shortly from one of the attorneys involved in this suit.
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Feel free to call Jason or Rich directly with any questions you may have regarding your own concussion concerns – each of them has agreed to make themselves available to talk to our readers:
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Jason Luckasevic • Goldberg Persky & White (412) 338-9460
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Richard Lewis • Hausfeld LLP (202) 540-7200
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You can view each slideshow full screen by clicking on the FullScreen icon in the lower right corner of each slide screen (press ESC to close the slideshow).

Jason Luckasevic on Concussions NFL Research and Litigation

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Hausfeld LLP NFL presentation on concussion litigation

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And Dr. Kristen Willeumier presented a great overview of the unique study of retired NFL football players conducted by the Amen Clinic last year. Many of the statistics and details will probably not surprise you while others will leave you shaking your heads!
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Amen Clinic NFL Study by Dr. Willeumier at IFV Conference 2012

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George Visger also talked about his personal experiences following numerous concussions while playing for the 49ers and the subsequent surgeries and treatments he’s gone through while living his life after football. All without the benefit of any access to an NFL pension or Disability Benefits, even WITH a Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl XVI! Why? Because of the NFL/NFLPA’s arbitrary vesting rules that declare he’s not qualified because he didn’t play for at least 4 seasons as a pre-’93 player! And it took George 5 years of fighting California Workers Compensation to get them to cover his near-death recovery from his NFL work-related brain injuries in one of the first cases of its kind in California!
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George Visger’s Personal Story on Tramatic Brain Injuries in Football

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We also had Dr. Bill Duncan from the International Hyperbaric Medical Foundation talking about the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for athletes, particularly football players. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used for a widening range of problems and is finally gaining broader mainstream acceptance. This year, Dr. Duncan has been a leading proponent with current legislation on the recognition and use of HBOT as an acceptable treatment to be covered by the VA and health insurance companies. The studies are growing and the statistics are finally becoming so compelling that they can’t be ignored or dismissed any longer.
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Hyperbarics for Athletes Dr Bill Duncan

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Pictures from Our 2012 IFV Conference

April 24th, 2012 Robert

Thanks to our friend, Jennifer Thibeaux, we have a great collection of photographs from our well-attended Second Annual Independent Football Veterans Conference held April 20 – 22 2012 at The South Point Resort in Las Vegas. Videos and PowerPoints to follow shortly!
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Here’s the slideshow from flickr (there’s an enlarge button in the lower right hand corner of the slideshow screen if you want to view our slideshow fullscreen; just hit ESC to close fullscreen mode):
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Announcing IFV-TV!

April 19th, 2012 Robert

IFV-TV AnnouncementFirst of all, we want to thank every one of our readers for their patience. We’ve been intentionally quiet in holding back until the last minute to announce more about our Second Annual Independent Football Veterans Conference coming up this weekend in Las Vegas at the South Point Resort and Casino. A lot of our readers have been checking in and many of you (friends and others) have been anxiously looking for more details on our panel discussion topics.

As many of you already know, this year we’ve decided to use discussion panels to cover a wider range of topics that are most important to retired football players. While individual speakers have been informative, as these topics become more complex and wider-ranging, the retired player community needs even more timely and detailed information from as many expert sources as possible. We’ve done our best using this blog to convey the latest information on everything that’s important to each of you. Now we’re going to kick it up another notch or two again. Last year, we hosted our First Conference and all of the proceedings were videotaped and made available online. This year, we’re going to create a studio-like setting with panels to discuss all those topics you want to hear about and to take questions from our audience at large. Each topic will be broadcast like a television talk show and after our Conference, we’ll professionally edit them down for online viewing as well.

Lawsuits! We have too many to keep track of this year. From the original Eller and Gault lawsuits filed against the League and the NFLPA during the lockout to all those concussion lawsuits to the lawsuits filed against the NFL and NFL Films. We’ll have several shows to address the latest information and details that so many of you want to know. Confused about all those concussion lawsuits you’ve been hearing about almost daily? Sick and tired of the ‘Join me, Join me’ groups all wanting you to sign up with them? Wondering who you should really sign with and why? We’re going to hear from the top firms leading the charge and from some of the retired players on why they chose the firms they did. And maybe why you might want to re-consider who you’ve signed with!

Concussions! We’ll have Dr. Kristen Willeumier from the Amen Clinics to tell you all about their most recent studies on concussions as well as some of their latest findings and ways to help your improve brain. And we’ll also have the top specialists with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to tell you about their latest studies and their lobbying efforts to bring this life-changing therapy into the mainstream. You’ll even be able to see one of the units that many of the current players have bought for their personal use.

And while we’re at it, we’re going to have a show on the culture of football, from college through to the professional Leagues. With the NFL still doing damage-control from Bountygate, who better to have talk about it than documentary maker Sean Pamphilon? Sean will be joined by attorneys who are currently involved with suing Electronic Arts on behalf of NCAA athletes who have never been paid for the use of their images and statistics in Electronic Arts video games in past years. Does that sound familiar? And they’re still doing it today to retired players!

And while we’re on the topic of not getting paid for playing football, you’ll also be getting an update on the NFL Films lawsuit. The Beatles get paid every time their songs get played on the radio or for every CD sold or for a download of their songs. Authors get paid for every copy of a book they sell. You pay for your movies when you watch them on HBO. And we all pay extra to the cable and satellite companies for all those sports channels that many of us don’t even watch. So why are retired football players the only guys who don’t get paid every time the NFL and NFL Films sells a classic DVD of one of your old games? At $30 – $50 a pop, there’s plenty of money to go around – where’s it all going?

How about all the latest on Workers’ Compensation? It looks like the NFL is now trying some nasty new tricks to cut retired players off from receiving their earned Workers’ Comp claims now as well. Hear all about your rights and what you can do about getting your case reviewed and filed in our special show about Workers Comp from some of the people with the most successful rates.

And how about that Legacy Fund that was supposedly negotiated by a Union that was de-certified last year? And then re-certified with retired players’ new benefits mysteriously negotiated and finalized as part of the new CBA? And did you know that there were $100′s of millions more that was also supposed to have offered by the League directly to retirees? Seems it was already “redistributed” by your friendly Union. All while saying nothing about standing up for widows who will receive absolutely no increases from the Legacy Fund. Never mind that many of you haven’t even received your “new” benefits yet long after the CBA was signed, Roger Goodell got his new $10 – $20 million contract, De Smith got his bonus and a new contract and… football season is now over! And NO Legacy Checks yet! We’ll have show to discuss that as well as to answer your questions on your rights under federal law for pensions and disability benefits. We’ll even have people who heard it directly from Commissioner Goodell about that “other” benefit money the owners offered during the final negotiations.

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Like they say, “STAY TUNED!” Here’s comes IFV-TV for retired football players! Broadcasting monthly soon!
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Our attendees will make up the small studio audience joined by our larger audience online. For those of you able to sign up and attend, we’ll also be hosting a movie night on Friday night with a cash bar and a sponsored dinner for each of our attendees and panelists on Saturday evening. For those of you arriving on Thursday afternoon, watch for an announcement on where our Thursday evening mixer, meet-and-greet will be held in the South Point.
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10 Questions We’ll be Asking at Our Next IFV Conference

March 19th, 2012 Dave Pear

If you haven’t signed up to attend our Second Annual Independent Football Veterans Conference this April 20 – 22 in Las Vegas, you may want to book your plane tickets and rooms this week while the rates are still low. Sign up for our Conference and reserve your room by clicking HERE. This year, we’ll be be using a different format to allow us to present more information and answer more questions that retired players have been asking:
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What’s the latest news on the lawsuit against the NFLPA? When the NFLPA decertified just after the lockout this summer, legally and technically they had no right to represent current or retired players. Yet magically, the Legacy Fund and other benefits suddenly appeared in the weeks immediately following the ratification of the new CBA and recertification of the NFLPA. All with virtually no input or vote from the majority of retired players. We’ll have representatives from some of the law firms there to discuss what has happened so far.
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Why is it that every time a song or a film gets played or sold, a musician, an actor or a composer gets paid a royalty? So why aren’t retired football players paid anything whenever they’re in a video game or on a DVD?
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What are some of the more recent discoveries in concussions and traumatic brain injuries? Is there anything I can do to slow down or improve my mind and my memory?
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And what about concussions? Most of us suffered from countless concussions over our careers. Our coaches and managers taught us to call them ‘zingers’ and sent us back into the game as quickly as possible. And what about the long-term effects? If the League and the owners denied most of us any disability benefits from the effects of concussions, yet in creating the 88 Plan, they finally acknowledged those long-term effects only after it’s taken its final toll from our families both financially and emotionally.
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There are so many lawsuits currently fighting for every player’s attention, hear all the important issues and present your questions to the panel on concussions and equipment. We’ll be covering concussions and equipment on both days of the Conference: On Friday, our law panels will be discussing the legal aspects and what’s being done today as well as reviewing future action. On Saturday, our medical and neurological panels will be addressing topics ranging from how to detect and recognize the symptoms of a brain injury to questions such as just how effective have helmets been in protecting players from concussions?
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And how about the Legacy Fund? Some of you are only finally receiving your retroactive checks while many others are still waiting for return calls from the benefits office in Baltimore. And why were the widows overlooked for the increase?
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Why are more players winning their Social Security Disability and California Workers Compensation cases than those reaching favorable Disability and Pension verdicts with their own Plan? And just how legal is the Plan itself and the way it’s been managed? And just who do those people who run the Plan work for anyway? A panel of Disability and Workers Compensation attorneys will be there to discuss the latest cases and answer your questions.
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If the NFL gets to pick the best of the best out of all the college football teams, then what responsibilities should they – and the universities who benefit from their lucrative football programs – bear when those players sustain life-changing injuries? For many of these college players, the football scholarship is just that: A scholarship based on their abilities as an athlete. Attorney Steve Berman’s firm has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on behalf of college athletes and will be sitting on a panel that will prove to be very informative.
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What new findings have come out of hyperbaric oxygen treatments and how will these new studies advance the general use of HBOT treatments not only for football players but also for our returning veterans and for everyone else who has ever had a concussion? Hear what some of the foremost experts in the field have to say about how much more quickly hyperbaric treatments are becoming accepted as one of the most cost-effective ways to treat concussions and brain injuries.
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And The Amen Clinic will also be back to present results of three new brain studies they’ve completed over the past year.
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I’m so excited about this year’s Conference that I know I’ve gone over the Top 10 Questions we all want to ask! The full list of our panelists’ biographies will be posting up this week. Stay tuned!
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So be sure to sign up for our Conference and reserve your room by clicking HERE!
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IFV Conference Part 11: Dr. Bill Duncan

May 25th, 2011 Robert

Dr. William A. Duncan serves as President of Capitol Strategy Consultants, Inc., where he represents clients on healthcare, biomedical research, veterans, Department of Defense, and criminal justice and public health arenas. His clients benefit from his extensive background in the congressional appropriations process and heath care regulations.
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In the medical realm, Dr. Duncan supervised numerous legislative priorities including National Institutes of Health reforms for setting research priorities, expansion on biomedical research infrastructure, AHRQ and evidence-based medicine initiatives, NIH and CDC initiatives in environmental medicine, amputee services, and addressing chronic disease including diabetes and public health. He dealt with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services problems, including getting CMS to approve a new indication for hyperbaric oxygen to reduce diabetic foot amputations, reducing the regulatory burden on health care, prescription drug, and FDA issues.
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(Our videos are hosted on Veoh in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) To follow the entire slideshow, we suggest starting the video and then opening the slideshow full screen so you can hear the accompanying narration.
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IFV – Bill Duncan from Jennifer Thibeaux on Vimeo.
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And here’s his Powerpoint presentation on SlideShare:
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Bill Duncan saving football with HBOT
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IFV Conference Part 9: Dr. Barry Sears

May 6th, 2011 Robert

Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
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Dr. Sears continues his ongoing research as the President of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, MA. In addition to continuing research on the hormonal effects of food, Dr. Sears has expanded his research in developing innovative dietary approaches to treating cancer and neurological conditions, as well as his on-going work in treating neurological disorder, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
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In his presentation to the Independent Football Veterans, Dr. Sears talks about his ongoing research and studies on inflammation and its correlation with concussions. His Zone Labs most recent focus has been helping athletes diagnose these levels of inflammation and treat them with positive results through individually-tailored combination of diet and supplements.
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(Our videos are hosted on Veoh in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) To follow the entire slideshow, we suggest starting the video and then opening the slideshow full screen so you can hear the accompanying narration.
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And here’s his Powerpoint presentation on SlideShare:
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Dr Barry Sears NFL Retired Players

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IFV Conference Part 10: Ed Nemeth

May 6th, 2011 Robert

Ed Nemeth, a successful, highly educated and trained businessman with a background in neurological research is the father of a severe quad CP child. Shortly after his daughter Rebecca’s complicated birth and cardiac arrest for 35 minutes he and his wife were presented with the unspeakable-yet-strongly-suggested single choice for their first-born child: Discontinue life support or allow their child to continue brain dead. Devoid of options, the Nemeths discontinued life support; Rebecca rallied and lived. Five years later, through their indefatigable efforts, the Nemeths found HBOT and after a short course of HBOT, their daughter experienced a quantum leap in neuro-cognitive function and significantly improved movement and coordination.
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Based on his daughter’s dramatic improvement, Mr. Nemeth vowed to make HBOT available to all of Rebecca’s Friends and to offer parents another choice to removing their children from life support. To do so, he underwrote the “2001 2nd International Symposium on Hyperbaric Oxygenation and the Brain-Injured Child” held in Boca Raton, Florida.
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Starting with a personal story in which hyperbaric oxygen therapy played a dramatic role in his daughter’s recovery, Ed also shares his story about meeting George Visger and providing him with HBOT treatment for his longstanding brain concussion damage. Then Ed presents a compelling slideshow with facts on hyperbaric oxygen treatments.
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(Our videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) To follow the entire slideshow, we suggest starting the video and then opening the slideshow full screen so you can hear the accompanying narration.
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IFV Conference – Ed Nemeth from Jennifer Thibeaux on Vimeo.

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And here’s the slideshow on SlideShare:
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Ed Nemeth HBOT NFL: Healing Powers

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IFV Conference Part 8: Carl Lopez

April 15th, 2011 Robert

Attorney Carl Lopez graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 1975 and is a member of the Washington State Bar and President of Lopez & Fantel, a Seattle law firm. He has been named multiple times to Law and Politics Magazine’s list of Washington Super Lawyers. He’s also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates and Multimillion Dollar Advocates. Selected for “The Best Lawyers in America.” Carl is a certified Contract Advisor, with his first NFL contract negotiation in 1978; among players represented are Jack Thompson and more recently, Robbie Tobeck.
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On very short notice, Carl managed to fly in just for the day from Seattle and gives an overview on the current CBA and the Union’s decertification with an emphasis on how it will affect retired players directly. Carl also reveals some fascinating anecdotes from his many years of dealing with the NFLPA and the NFL while representing many players.
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(Our videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.)
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IFV Conference – Carl Lopez from Jennifer Thibeaux on Vimeo.

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IFV Conference Part 7: Dr. Michael Propper

April 15th, 2011 Robert

Dr. Michael Propper is the Medical Director of the OsteoArthritis Centers of America and joined the company with over 25 years of experience in Orthopedics and General Medicine. He became Board Certified in Orthopedic Surgery in 1986 and also holds a Fellowship in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. He has practiced medicine for over twenty five years. As a double Ivy League educated Physician and Surgeon who also played college football at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Propper has successfully performed over 8,000 surgeries and has treated many thousands of patients with Orthopedic as well all types of age-related medical issues. Dr. Propper graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. As a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and a Fellow of the American Academy of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Propper is well versed in the treatment of all types of medical issues, including hypertension, obesity, male andropause, menopause, fibromyalgia, cholesterol issues, chronic fatigue, ED, MS, Parkinson’s, and many other disease states and age-related issues.
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Dr. Propper and his lovely wife, Suzy, had literally walked off a long overnight flight that had been nearly diverted because of an on-board medical emergency – which he actually managed to resolve mid-flight to avoid another long layover – and managed to take the floor while the airline was still looking for their luggage! Dr. Propper talks about his years of experience in the operating room and in working with thousands of patients’ age-related conditions.
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(Our videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.)
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IFV Conference – Dr. Michael Propper from Jennifer Thibeaux on Vimeo.
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IFV Conference Part 6: Steve Reimers

April 9th, 2011 Robert

Steve Reimers was introduced to hyperbarics as a young Naval officer in 1969 and has been designing and building hyperbaric facilities ever since. Presently he runs two companies, Reimers Systems, Inc. (RSI) and Hyperbaric Clearinghouse, Inc. (HCI). RSI is a major installer of monoplace chambers. They have developed liquid cylinder based oxygen supply systems and air ventilation equipment that make it possible to establish a monoplace center nearly anywhere.
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Steve gives an excellent primer on the long history of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and its effectiveness in healing. Steve then discusses recent advances in its use for treating brain injuries and efforts needed to get this treatment into mainstream healthcare.
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(The videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.)

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IFV Conference – Stephen Reimers from Jennifer Thibeaux on Vimeo.
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