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January 3, 2020

Dear Friend of Advocacy for Fairness in Sports,

The past year has really flown by! I hope that all of you had a happy holiday celebration and that the New Year treats you well. It's been quite an eventful year for Advocacy for Fairness in Sports in incorporating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and all the growing pains associated with the move, but I believe it's been a positive step in reaching more people to promote issues of fairness in sports.

I feel our reporting is making a difference and take a small degree of satisfaction in the fact that at least in part, it seems to have forced the NFL to change strategy in the concussion settlement, perhaps (hopefully) slowing down their race to block as many awards as possible. Through our investigations of their bulk "objections" encompassing numerous players and publication of the relevant non-public documents, they seem to have retreated from the bulk tactics and are now attacking claims one-by-one. It's unfortunate and disheartening that they still continue to attack the men who built the league, but at least somewhat gratifying to know that we appear to have slowed them down in their attacks that can impact the entire class of retired players.

We've expanded our writing staff and would like to welcome Kelsey Trainor, who will be contributing from time to time and serving as a legal analyst. Kelsey is an attorney in New York City, working as in-house counsel with a media company, and also has production experience, in that she was part of the production team for the CBS drama, Blue Bloods.

Maurice Clarett, a former college standout who fell from grace and rebuilt his life in prison joins us as a columnist showcasing, "The Mind of Maurice Clarett." His perspective is especially valuable and his writing cuts to the heart of matters, with a focus on saving and enriching lives. His most recent column, "Charles Rogers Didn't Have to Die" is the first of our featured articles this month.

In the hysteria about weekly updates to college football playoff rankings, the suspension of Chase Young (and James Wiseman), and Tua Tagovailoa injuring his hip, there was another college football story that might have been lost in the shuffle.

Charles Rogers, a former first-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions (#2 overall), died last month at 38. After a record-breaking career at Michigan State, he was out of the NFL before his 25^th birthday and, after that, the story of being a bust in the draft practically writes itself: weed, booze, “brushes with the law.”

One tribute casually mentioned he had smoked weed every day he was at Michigan State and became addicted to painkillers after two broken collarbones with the Lions. More than a decade of struggle ensued, and now he is gone.

There but for the grace of God go I. Continue reading...

NFL Player's Case Paints an Ugly Picture of Police, Prosecutor Misconduct

Khaseem Greene is a free-agent linebacker in the NFL who last played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. Greene was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and attended Elizabeth High School, where he played football for the Elizabeth Minutemen.

He received a football scholarship to Rutgers University, where he played from 2008 to 2012. He was a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a selected as a first-team All-American by ESPN in his senior year. Green was signed in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft by the Chicago Bears where his professional career got off to a nice start with a 98-yard pick-six.

Greene was active for 25 games in the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Bears. In 2015 he was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and released prior to the start of the regular season. In November, he was picked up by the Detroit Lions and signed to the practice squad. On January 21, 2017, Green signed a futures contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, but his career would soon come to a screeching halt in the town where it began—Elizabeth, New Jersey. Continue reading...

Advocacy for Fairness In Sports scoured Twitter for the very best sports law accounts to follow in 2020. It's a diverse group of familiar names and obscure treasures who tweet on all aspects of American and international sports law, ranging from athlete rights, compliance, Title IX, finance, sports biz, anti-trust law and much more. Click to check out our Top 100!

Here are a few more articles that we think you'll find interesting.

The NFL’s Blitzkrieg Against Disabled Retirees Advances
Tyrone Keys’ Disability Case Illustrates the Triumvirate’s Scorched Earth Assault

There’s a 100% injury rate in the NFL. NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has been quoted in regard to consequences of possible termination of the Affordable Care Act, and

workers’ compensation restrictions in Illinois that all players leave the NFL with pre-existing conditions. One need only take a peek at the weekly injury reports to confirm the pandemic of injuries in the NFL. While absolutely truthful in this regard, Smith speaks with a forked tongue Continue reading...

Ex-NFLer with ALS is Sacked for $1.25 Million Loss in Funder Concussion Deal Dispute

While the issues surrounding dementia claim difficulties continue to be shrouded in mystery, settlement funder issues in the NFL Concussion Settlement have presented a more visible face,

and the face at the center of the drama is that of William White... It was in December 2016, the same month that the concussion settlement became final after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, that White took a $500,000 advance from Thrivest, a sum that eventually cost him $1.25 million. Continue reading...

NEWSLETTER EXCLUSIVE

Recently several retired NFL players were indicted by the Department of Justice for healthcare fraud. Advocacy for Fairness in Sports has not yet reported on this case but we are investigating and the scoop that we're able to give at this point is "things are not always as they appear." What we know so far that the government hasn't revealed is that several players are cognitively impaired, and it's likely that impairment led to some questionable decisions on the part of at least some involved. There are other parts of the indictment that aren't adding up, but our investigation is ongoing and more will be reported as we are able to reliably confirm some non-public aspects of the case.

Breaking Down NCAA's Latest Stall Tactic for Athlete Compensation

In September of this year, California enacted a law that would allow college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL) beginning in 2023. The NCAA vehemently opposed this law and even threatened that any California schools

that allowed their student-athletes to profit off their NIL would be in violation of NCAA rules and therefore unable to compete against NCAA teams. On October 29, the NCAA appeared to have changed its stance by issuing a statement with the headline, “Board of Governors starts process to enhance name, image and likeness opportunities.” But after a close read of the actual statement, it was clear that the NCAA’s statement was nothing but a stall tactic. Continue reading...

More Headlines:

NFL Deflects Blame to Teams for Painkiller Abuse in Painkiller Suit by Derek Helling and Sheilla Dingus

What's Ahead in the Oakland vs. Raiders Lawsuit? by Sheilla Dingus

Jennifer Bradley's Case Highlights the NCAA's Cherry-Picking by Derek Helling

Lane Johnson's Appeal Casts Shadows on NFLPA, District Court by Sheilla Dingus

What's Next in the Face-off Between Kaepernick and the NFL? by Habiba Youssouf

What the Aspen’s Insitute’s Panel on NIL Legislation and a 1974 Chart-Topper by America Have in Common by Derek Helling

The Joker Has Nothing on the NCAA by Derek Helling

Be sure to check out the homepage of our website for stories that didn't make it into the newsletter.

While it's been an exciting year with substantial growth for Advocacy for Fairness in Sports, we've also had a few challenges along the way. In mid-November through mid-December our site fell under a spam attack in which someone was attempting to try stolen credit card numbers on our site. Fortunately Stripe, our credit card processor was on top of things and none of the fraudulent attempts went through, but unfortunately, our donations had to be taken offline for a while as well. We eventually had to take down the entire form and page and recreate new ones to shake the scammer's attempts. If you attempted to donate during that period and were unable to, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

As a result of the technical problems and possibly the holidays, donations were way down and for the past two months. we've been dipping into reserves to cover expenses. (The 5,000 pages for the Tyrone Keys lawsuit that were filed this month were $96.00 alone, and we're tracking well over 50 lawsuits!)

Our reporting is reaching people and making a difference. As more and more mainstream media sources are gobbled up by profit-oriented corporate players who care little about quality content, prioritizing ad revenue and clicks, independent journalism increases in importance. Please help us to continue our mission of reporting important stories that are often overlooked and providing a moral clarity purposed to promote change and reform. Your donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law, and are greatly appreciated because they make our reporting possible.

Happy New Year to All! May it bring good things and positive change!

	Best, Sheilla

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