Sportsmanship
Teamwork
Strength
Character
Discipline
Dedication
We welcome all retired professional atheletes and their families regardless of race, age, sex,religion or background.
The Retired Professional Athletes Association was founded in August 2006 and incorporated in March 2007. Our interest is not in drawing attention to our organization, but to the men who laid the foundations for sports as we know them today. To honor the history, contributions and sacrifices that were made which now benefit todays fans and players.
The RPAA is a nonprofit
corporation.
A sport like football takes a toll, no doubt. Previous generations played the game without the equipment and medical technology we have today. They put their livelihoods on the line every weekend. Today, many of your Sunday heroes are struggling, looking for some type of support.
They didn't earn millions, didn't retire to posh gated communities. They left the game with busted knees, sore backs and head injuries that didn't surface until much later.
But it's not only their bodies that have betrayed them. (today’s football) built on the shoulders of a dying generation, has also turned its back.”
Rick Maese, Baltimore Sun
While today’s football players are earning six, seven and eight figures, many of the pioneers of this sport are living on pensions that place them below the poverty level, with no health insurance. The life styles of today’s players have been built on the foundation these men gave their lives and bodies to. Salaries in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s required all of them go to second jobs when the pro football season ended, with little complaints as these men played with dedication and the true love of the game.
The newly created programs recently announced by the football league address only a small fraction of the difficulties and struggles many of these men now face as a result of the contributions and huge physical sacrifices they made.
