Mark Craig: Aid efforts hobble along

Like some of his peers, Mike Ditka was moved deeply a few years ago by the story of fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer John Mackey, his wife, Sylvia, and their mental, emotional and financial struggles with John's frontotemporal dementia.

"John was the first one you saw having to deal with Alzheimer's and dementia," Ditka said. "Then it was Doug Atkins, another Hall of Famer, a guy I played with in Chicago, and maybe the best football player I ever saw."

Then it was Hall of Famer Pete Pihos. And then more of Ditka's contemporaries. Former Bears teammates such as Harlon Hill and Larry Morris fell victim to the same illness as the NFL and its players union, at least in Ditka's mind, didn't offer enough financial assistance.

"Guys who were coming to my golf tournament weren't coming anymore because they were getting Alzheimer's, dementia, terrible diseases," Ditka said. "Doug Atkins won't even see anybody in person anymore. It's a shame what's going on. And these guys aren't getting the help they deserve."

Three years ago, Ditka formed the Hall of Fame Assistance Trust Fund to help put a "band-aid on a problem the NFL wouldn't fix." Last week, USA Today reported that Ditka's charity collected $1.3 million since 2004, but netted only $315,000 after expenses and distributed only $57,000 to former players. Ditka said the amount distributed was $159,000.

In the face of heavy criticism that followed the USA Today report, Ditka announced Tuesday that he was dissolving the trust fund. He then handed over half the money -- about $300,000 -- and a $25,000 personal check to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, a new organization that distributes 100 percent of its donations to former players in need.

Ditka admits his trust fund could have been run more efficiently. He admits it should have found a better way to identify former players in need and distribute more money to them.

Ditka's charity cut checks mostly to the former players who Ditka knew needed help. The charity sent Atkins $5,000 to put a new roof on his house. It also sent Hill money for a surgery.

"And I got a nice letter from Donna Pihos, Pete's daughter," Ditka said. "We sent them $5,000. She wrote in her letter that they used part of the money to put an alarm on Pete's wheelchair. I called her and I said, 'An alarm on the wheelchair? What's that?' And she said, 'Well, when he stands up, he forgets to walk sometimes.' That's disgusting. That's who we're trying to help here."

The level at which the NFL and its union are at odds with former and current players is unprecedented. And it shows very little sign of being resolved, despite Wednesday's announcement that the league and the union was implementing seven upgrades to its disability program.

"I looked at the changes, and it looks like the same old smoke and mirrors to me," former Viking Jim Marshall said Thursday. "They talk about hiring a medical director, a claims specialist. But those are people who work for the NFL Players Association.

"They talk about having doctors in areas where there are a lot of alumni, like Florida and Arizona. But what about the guy in Minnesota who doesn't have the money to go see a doctor who's getting paid by the players' association? We should be able to see our own physicians. Until they allow that, guys will always be denied benefits because the players' association will always take the word of the physician they've hired over the word of our physicians."