Turley joins Ditka's cause in helping disabled players

With an assist from Kyle Turley, active NFL players are joining Mike Ditka's effort to help disabled retired players pay their bills.

Turley, a Kansas City Chiefs lineman, challenged players around the league to donate part of their game checks on Dec. 23 to needy retired players.

At a news conference at Mike Ditka's restaurant in Chicago, Turley kicked off the effort by donating his whole game check - $25,000.

"We make a lot of money playing this game and it's because of the guys that played before us," Turley said.

His effort is the latest chapter in a very public and bitter feud between retired players and the NFL Players Association. Ditka and others say the union refuses to award disability benefits to former players. In recent months, they publicized the plight of retired players wiped out financially by the cost of multiple surgeries and injuries that have left them unable to work.

They've told the stories of former players such as Mike Webster, the Hall of Fame center of the Pittsburgh Steelers who died homeless in 2002 after suffering from mental illness widely attributed to head injuries sustained as a player.

The union and the league have defended the disability system. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told a Senate hearing in September that the league is boosting benefits when many companies around the nation are reducing them. And Gene Upshaw, executive director of the players association, has told the Senate that Congress should give the players' union greater authority to approve disability claims.

NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis declined comment on Turley's announcement, saying the union was focused on Tuesday's shooting death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor.

Former Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers joined Ditka to applaud the effort. Ditka warned today's players that their injuries could someday leave them in desperate need of help, just like their predecessors.

Dec. 23 has been designated by some players as "Gridiron Guardian Sunday." Turley is coordinating this effort with active players to help retired players in dire need through the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, a charitable organization overseen by Ditka, Sayers and other NFL legends.

"Many of my friends and colleagues have already signed up," Turley said.

Turley said reading about the Congressional hearings and in particular the emotional stories about players he admired as a boy prompted him to donate his money and ask his fellow players to do the same.

"Are we going to wait until guys die? Are we going to wait until guys commit suicide before we make a difference and change this thing?" he asked.

Turley said he did not know how much money he might raise. But he said he already has talked to as many as 20 players who said they will donate, and that he expected the number to grow when other players receive a letter he is sending out this week.