Dispute with union escalates

The public relations battle between retired NFL players and their former union escalated again Thursday when a Chicago-based retiree group encouraged former players to publicize gripes about the union’s pension and medical disability plan on its website.

The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund described its move as a counter to “dirty play tactics” by the NFL Players Assn., which on Sept. 27 established a website to help correct what it described as false allegations by retirees who believe they have been short-changed by the league’s retirement system.

Former NFL player and coach Mike Ditka, who invited former players to post their stories on gridirongreats.org during a news conference in Chicago, described the union’s website as “deplorable” and “despicable.” Ditka, who last month testified about alleged medical disability plan shortcomings during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, called upon union leaders to “focus their attention on fixing a pathetic disability program.”

Ditka said that NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw “should be ashamed” by the NFLPA’s “deplorable tactics.”

But Upshaw has stated that the union website is simply an attempt to “get the facts out” in the increasingly heated debate with former players.

Word that the NFLPA had created the so-called “truth squad” website infuriated some retired players because it debuted less than 24 hours after a meeting in New York City that was attended by retired players and top NFL officials, including Upshaw and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

During that meeting, attendees said, the parties agreed to try to limit public attacks and work together to find solutions.

“I remember hearing the words ‘kinder and more empathetic,’ ” said Jerry Kramer, founder of Gridiron Greats and a former Green Bay Packers star. “So I was especially disturbed by Gene’s attack on the [former players] that are having the hard times. That was the last thing I would have expected, and I suspect that a lot of other people in that room were surprised, given the tone of the meeting.”

Some former players also questioned why such vocal critics as Bruce Laird, a former Baltimore Colts player, weren’t invited to the Sept. 26 meeting -- or to a previous meeting, during which a dozen former players met with league and union officials to discuss the league’s retirement and medical disability system.

“I wasn’t invited,” Laird said Thursday. “But my understanding is that the message from the meeting was, ‘Let’s bury the hatchet and see if we can come to a meeting of the minds.’ But someone at the union obviously didn’t get the memo.”

greg.johnson@latimes.com