"Drew Brees is a great quarterback, but personally I don't care for him," Dobler said. "I don't like him very much. He basically called us a bunch of whiny old men. He's in the Super Bowl but doesn't understand the history of the game.

"He's never called the retired players or communicated with us for saying something that was false about us. We're not complainers. We just want the system to be better. He portrayed us as irresponsible. Older players aren't the irresponsible ones."

Then, referring to Plaxico Burress, Dobler said, "You don't see retired players shooting themselves in the leg at a nightclub the way current players do."

Dobler was then asked if he has ever spoken to Brees. "Drew Brees is way too important to speak with us," he said. "Most of the current players ignore us. Brees is no different."

This is what Brees told USA Today last January when speaking of the complaints of the retired players: "There's some guys out there that have made bad business decisions. They took their pensions early because they never went out and got a job. They've had a couple divorces and they're making payments to this place and that place. And that's why they don't have money. And they're coming to us to basically say, 'Please make up for my bad judgment.' In that case, that's not our fault as players."
Brees added that he respected retired players -- "They shaped the game for us. Because of those guys, we have an opporutnity to play this game, to make the money that we make" -- but didn't agree with their criticism of the union on the issue.