Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and Joe DeLamielleure introduced former Jaguars and Bengals offensive lineman Brian DeMarco on Monday as an example of the NFL Players Association's failure to guarantee the medical care of its former players.
In doing so, Ditka and DeLamielleure continued their battle with union boss Gene Upshaw and put a face to their campaign. The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund has been established to provide medical relief for former players. Ditka, who is an analyst for ESPN, is on the organization's board of directors.
DeMarco, 35, said he and his family have been homeless three times since he retired in 2000 with back and elbow injuries, and he needed a cane to walk to the podium on Monday.
"My right leg is completely numb. I have extreme nerve pain in my arms," DeMarco said, according to The Chicago Tribune. "I have lost my grip ... my ability to hold my kids."
DeMarco said he exhausted his savings paying for medical expenses. He said he hasn't been given the opportunity to visit league doctors and hasn't received any response from the union in his requests for help.
"I am not the only one," he said, according to the Tribune. "Whether you played in the NFL or not, poverty is poverty."
"All we're saying is do the right thing," Ditka said in an interview with ESPN.
"I would like to see a fund established that would take care of retired football players ... that won't make them jump through hoops when they need medical assistance."
DeLamielleure again responded to Upshaw's comments about him and his criticism of his support for Gridiron Greats that appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News.
"He threatened to break my neck," DeLamielleure said, according to the Tribune. "I say that he stunk as a union leader for 20 years. Screw Upshaw. He stuck it to us for 20-some years.
DeMarco was a second-round draft pick of the Jaguars in 1995. He finished his career with the Bengals.
A prominent ex-Jaguars player told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that he and another former teammate "cringed" when they saw DeMarco appear at Monday's press conference. The ex-Jaguar did not want to be identified but said DeMarco has been given significant financial help by his former teammates, including three jobs "that he's blown."
"Now he's walking with a cane in front of cameras," the ex-Jaguar said. "Last time we saw him -- and it was in the past two weeks -- he didn't need a cane. He has some physical problems, yes, but there are other things going on there."