Eric Dickerson is doing OK, but he’s not crazy rich.

Apparently, the NFL should help compensate for that. Why? Because the onetime All-Pro running back was a great player. A Hall of Famer. A touchstone in league history. So he wants a $300,000 a year stipend for himself and all other Hall of Famers. For life. And maybe in death, too.

As messages go, this one is a total mess and extremely unflattering for the players it aims to represent.

But this is what Dickerson has been sharing with the world the past few days. First in a letter to the league, the Hall of Fame and the union, signed by a handful of living Hall of Famers and the wife of deceased NFL star Reggie White. It’s a message that feels awkward and mixed – on one hand, banging a drum for necessary health care coverage for players but on the other hand, adding some self-enrichment for players who already earned top-end NFL salaries during their eras. All while threatening to hold out of future Hall of Fame activities if some kind of agreement isn’t reached.

View photos Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is leading a group of former players seeking increased compensation from the league. (AP) More

It’s hard to see this as anything less than a legitimate need (health care) married to an awkward reach for the NFL’s gravy train of new money. And you can bet it’s why some Hall of Famers are trying to subtly distance themselves from parts of the effort. Already, guys like Kurt Warner and Jerry Rice said their names shouldn’t have been on the initial letter, while very delicately supporting the health care aspect of the pursuit.

It’s not hard to understand this point. When a Hall of Fame player says, “Guys in the NFL should have their health taken care of later in life,” it’s a noble message. But when a Hall of Fame player essentially says “the NFL has a ton of new money and we laid this foundation,” then throws out a $300,000 salary-for-life suggestion, that cheapens the message. It feels sour, arbitrary and unrealistic. Why $300,000 per year? Why not $50,000? Does the NFL owe Hall of Fame players alimony? Should the league be required to keep players and their families in the style they were accustomed to when the playing checks were rolling in?

How should the NFL feel about paying O.J. Simpson $300,000 a year for the rest of his life? Or Joe Namath, who is unquestionably fortunate that his drunkenly inappropriate, nationally televised “I just wanna kiss you” moment didn’t happen today, when he would have been eviscerated for it.

After dissecting the letter and multiple statements made by Dickerson, this feels more like a ham-handed mistake that badly needed more thought and a better spokesperson. Nobody wants to hear Dickerson talk about how former players aren’t rich and how the NFL today is practically printing money. Especially when Dickerson made good money in his career – both in salary and endorsements – and was free to grow it or lose it as he saw fit.

It’s also worth noting Dickerson was one of the biggest stars to cross the picket lines during the 1987 strike, an act that ultimately helped undermine a union effort to achieve better health care and benefits for players. Another star who scuttled that strike? Lawrence Taylor, who was also on the letter threatening to boycott Hall of Fame activities.

When Dickerson had to put his paychecks on the line in 1987, he folded and abandoned lesser players who didn’t have the star power to push for better benefits. That’s not a great look for anyone arguing for a paycheck for life for the NFL elites – while simultaneously attaching that message to health care for all.

I’m trying to tread lightly here because there is no denying the NFL is overflowing with cash. And the last thing anyone in the world needs is someone strapping on a cape for team owners or the league commissioner, who all make absurd sums of money on an annual basis. Particularly when there are so many things to loathe in the NFL – concussions; domestic violence; officiating; rules; the Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid sagas; or any multitude of embarrassing issues involving the billionaires who are at the controls.

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