Ex-NFLer Mark Gastineau to Roger Goodell: 'Treat People Right'
Former NFL defensive lineman Mark Gastineau broke down in tears while pleading to commissioner Roger Goodell to treat former players right.
"I want the NFL to treat people right," Gastineau said in an interview on WOR Radio. "I want to hold you to your promise, Roger Goodell."
Gastineau said he's known the commissioner since Goodell was a public relations intern with the Jets in the early 1980s.
Gastineau played 10 NFL seasons, all with the Jets, and was named to the Pro Bowl five times. He has since revealed that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and believes it is a result of his football playing days.
Gastineau said on WOR that he was a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against the NFL that forced the league to payout over $1 billion in damages to former players, but that his medical claim was rejected and he did not receive any compensation.
"I used to think I was all that -- I did. But you know what? I was nothing," he said. "You know why? Because of what happened to me, and I'll tell you this much:
"The NFL is wrong. The NFL is wrong. They're wrong. I'm not telling them to give me zillions of dollars. I don't want zillions of dollars. I want to be treated with respect."
