Retired players sue union for video royalties
Fans of the popular “Madden NFL” video game by Electronic Arts Inc. can play vintage matchups such as the 1967 Green Bay Packers against the 1971 Dallas Cowboys.
Just don’t look for either team’s dominant left cornerback: Hall of Famer Herb Adderley, who played for both Super Bowl champions. There is only an anonymous video game figure with Adderley’s weight and height displayed at left cornerback on each defense.
That did not sit well with Adderley, so he sued. His class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 2,000 retired players is set to start today in federal court, with the retirees accusing the NFL Players Association of cheating them out of millions of dollars in royalties from video games, trading cards and others sports products.
They contend that the union actively sought to cut them out of licensing deals so active players could receive bigger royalty payments. As proof, the retirees point to a 2001 letter from an NFLPA executive telling EA to scramble the images of retired players in “Madden NFL,” otherwise the company would have to pay them.
Phillips’ job safe with Dallas
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after Dallas’ loss to the Rams that coach Wade Phillips’ job is not in danger.
“No, it is not,” Jones said after Dallas’ 34-14 loss. “Emphatically, no.”
The Cowboys (4-3) lost for the third time in four games after a week of turmoil, with cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones suspended and quarterback Tony Romo (broken pinkie) deciding he wasn’t ready to play after going through pregame warmups. Jones said it was a good time to assess the state of the franchise, but not to make sweeping changes.
Phillips led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record last season. He said the only positive is the Cowboys have nine games to go.
Brady has second surgery
Injured New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady confirmed for the first time this weekend that he had not one, but two operations on his left knee.
In a posting dated Saturday, Brady thanked fans for supporting him “during the challenging times” and confirmed that he had surgery on Oct. 6 and again on Wednesday.
“The (first) surgery went well and my doctor described my knee as ‘rock solid,’ ” Brady wrote on tombrady.com. “Unfortunately, in the week following the surgery, I developed an infection. … We were proactive with the infection and the doctors went in for a second procedure this past Wednesday to clean and to test the wound. The results of the tests have all been positive and we are very thankful.”