At the commissioner's press conference today, he appeared caught off guard by a question from 49ers tight end Vernon Davis: Why doesn't the league take care of its former players?
Goodell's scattershot answer included the notion that the healthcare benefits for current NFL players are "the best in the world." Past players? Not so much. Every NBA player who played from 2000-01 on receives some post-career benefits, and in MLB, all it takes is one day on an active roster to get lifetime coverage. But in the sport where they need it the most, NFL players (if they played three seasons) receive five years of healthcare after retirement, and then they're cut off.