The NFL and the NFLPA (the union) have done little to promote players until recently, creating a Q Rating gap between current players and retired ones.  The NFL wanted to promote teams over players to keep loyalties (and cash flow) strong.

On the other hand, the NFLPA, under the guidance of the recently-passed Gene Upshaw, didn’t give a damn about anyone that wasn’t currently filling the union’s coffers.

(Brett Favre, trying to have it both ways)

Showing that some things haven’t changed, a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of some 2,000 former NFL players to claim royalties from likenesses and near-likenesses on all kinds of licensing deals (like with EA Sports for Madden) when the NFLPA allegedly cut them out of the deals to protect their active players/dues-payers.

It’s quite the ingenious scheme, really: don’t promote the retired players at all because the gains would supposedly be marginal and then claim that you don’t owe those men a damned thing because they aren’t marketable now.  If only the NFLPA could have wrapped them up in bonds, double-insured them, and sold them to Lehman Brothers, too…

Our favorite new factoid from the piece:

Last year, the union reported to the federal government that it took in $49.8 million in marketing revenue and distributed $26.9 million to active players, while keeping the rest for operating expenses.

What on Earth could cost $23m to operate?  The Hubble telescope?  Considering that Upshaw himself pulled in $6.7m in 2006, $2.4m of that as a bonus from the licensing deals, maybe we can see some overhead that could be available now.