Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Filing 254

Declaration of Ronald Katz in Support of 253 Reply Memorandum, filed byBernard Paul Parrish, Walter Roberts, III, Herbert Anthony Adderley. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6, # 7 Exhibit 7, # 8 Exhibit 8, # 9 Exhibit 9, # 10 Exhibit 10, # 11 Exhibit 11, # 12 Exhibit 12, # 13 Exhibit 13, # 14 Exhibit 14)(Related document(s) 253 ) (Katz, Ronald) (Filed on 4/4/2008)

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xhibit 1 .to the Declaration of Ronald Katz in Further Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification

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Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company The New York Times February 16, 2007 Friday Late Edition - Final SEC'T'ION: Section D; Column 1; Sports Desk; PRO FOOTBALL; Pg. 7 LENGTH. 823 wards HEADLINE, Upshaw Maintains ]loyalties Were Distributed Properly BYLINE- By ALAN SCIIWARZ BODY: Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the National Football League. Players Association, has denied allegations in a federal class-action lawsuit that maintained that the licensing arm of the union has improperly represented retired players and could owe them tens of millions of dollars. Upshaw said yesterday that the union had correctly paid royalties to all deserving former players. The lawsuit was brought Wednesday by the former players Bernie Parrish and herb Adderley on behalf of the 3,500 retired players whom Players Inc- -- the union's licensing subsidiary -- claims in its literature to represent. It questions why only 358 players received any licensing revenue in 2005 from licensees like apparel and video-game companies. Upshaw said that only players whose names and likenesses were actually employed by licensees were entitled to royalties under Players Ine.'s voluntary group licensing arrangement with retired players, (This agareement floes not delineare how royalties are distributed; Upshaw said paying players only to the extent they were-used was longstanding practice-) Upshaw said that barring human error, all deserving former players had been paid, and that the other 90 percent generated no income due them for 2005. "If you generate revenue, you get it -- it's that simple," Upshaw said in a telephone interview. Upshaw, who re= Gently has been criticized by some retired players over what they claim to be low pension and disability benefits, said that the marketplace determined which players received money "We could have the greatest do- food in the world," he said, "but if the dogs don't like it, we can't sell it. Put that at the top of the story." Upshaw and his outside counsel, Jeffrey Kessler, responded to other accusations made in the suit. Adder]-.y, a Hall of fame defensive back for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, said that he had never been sent royalties for a deal he signed with Players Inc. aJlawing his name to be included on a line. of Reebok apparel. Upshaw said he checked Players Inc. records and learned that Reebok had decided not to use Adderley and, therefore, no money was due him. (Documents fled with the United States Department of Labor indicate that Adderley did reeive a check for S 12,220 From Players Inc. in 2005, which Upshaw said was for his inclusion in an Upper Deck trading card set.) dderley also asserted that his phone calls and letters to Players Inc. to inquire about any Reebok royalties went unreturned, which the lawyer for the 3,500 retired players claimed was part of a longstanding pattern of keeping information from players.

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Upshaw Maintains Royalties Were Distributed Properly The Now York Times February 16, 2007 Friday

Adderley offered as an illustration a July 2004 letter he wrote to Iloward Skall, then the vice president of Players Inc. for player marketing. Reached yesterday, Skall, who resigned from Players Inc. last July and is now a marketing agent for Creative Artists Agency, declined to comment because he no longer works for Players Inc. In response to the lawsuit's allegation about poor communication between Players Inc. and players, Upshaw said, "I don't agree with that because 1 can tell you that when players or anyone else called me, I called them back."
Kessler said that Parrish, a farmer defensive back, primarily for the Cleveland Browns i n the 1960s, and the founder of the players association, had never signed the Group licensing agreement and so was not due royalties from Players Inc. licensing deaN. But Parrish said Wednesday that video games such as Madden 2007, by FA Sports, in depicting old-time teams such as the 1965 Browns, inherently use the firmer players' personas, regardless of whether their names are ii,5art,

Kessler said: "Did you look at that game and find his name? His image? His face? Anything'? Of course not. If you ook at the 1922 Browns, you are aping to see my image there. I looked at that and it looks just like me. Forget about the fact that I didn't play MEL. football. I mean, this is an absurd claim. I can understand Mr. Parrish if they used the name 'Parrish` there, or they even used his statistics, but none of that is there." Ronald Katz, the lawyer for the retired players, said yesterday that even if names of such players are not displayed, Players Inc. behaves in the marketplace as if it represents all former players. As an illustration, he cited a form letter in which Upshaw warned retirees that his deals with HA Sports and some others forbid those companies from using former players not under contract with Players Inc. Katz said that created an economic benefit for Players Inc, for which all players should be compensated. "That would be true," Upshaw said, "if we were using 3,504 players' names and we were actually collecting revenues and not paying them. That ain't lhe.case." layers Inc.'s official response to the lawsuit will probably be tiled in three to eight weeks, with any subsequent trial beginning in late 2008. IURL: http://www-nytimes.com GRAPHIC: Photo: Herb Adderley, with Packers Coach Vince Lombardi, says Players Inc. did not respond to his inquiries about payment he thought he was due. (Photo by Leonard McCombe/Time Life Pictures -- Getty Images) LOAD-DATE: February 16, 2007