A few days ago DeMaurice Smith, the new head of the NFL Players Association, asked for unity among current and former players as the union and the National Football League prepared to embark on negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Thursday, perhaps in a tip of the cap toward achieving that unity, the NFLPA settled a lawsuit that alleged the union had breached licensing and marketing terms while using retired players’ images in video games and other projects, according to several media accounts including the linked ESPN article by Chris Mortensen.

The settlement, for about $26 million, was just under the $28.1 million a jury had awarded the retired players in a San Francisco court last November. The union had originally planned to appeal the court judgment.

Herb Adderley, a former Dallas and Green Bay cornerback, was one of the main faces behind the suit and a frequent antagonist of former union head Gene Upshaw, who died in August. “I’m elated that this thing is coming to a close,” he told the Associated Press. “It’s a great feeling and I’m happy to be a small part of it.”

Retired players have been fighting the union hard in recent years over disability and pension reform along with the licensing issues. With this issue seemingly out of the way for now, it appears as though they may be preparing to next put John Madden in their sights.

Bernie Parrish, a former Cleveland Browns defensive back from 1959-1966, has long fought for players – and retired players – rights. He and Adderley are co-presidents of an organization called Retired Professional Football Players for Justice.

And he posted last month on the blog of Dave Pear, a former Tampa Bay Buc and Oakland Raider defensive lineman, that the recently retired broadcaster and former Raiders coach, along with EA Sports, should have been included in the previous licensing lawsuit.

Parrish asks the 2,062 players who participated in the previous lawsuit to leave $1,000 a piece (just over $2 million collectively) from the settlement of the previous case to use in a “litigation War Chest” to pursue several other issues, including exploitation of the Retirement Disability Plan”, NFL Films showing vintage era games, and several other alleged wrongs.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on licensing law, nor do I know all of the details of the abuses the former players are alleging. I will say it isn’t difficult to take this group seriously when you read the stories of some of the former players who put their futures on the line back when salaries were much, much lower and equipment much less protective.

I don’t think these guys are hoping to get rich – when split among the players who participated in the lawsuit, the settlement comes to something around $13,000 per person. But there is a principle involved.

Many former players, including Pear, suffer from highly debilitating injuries suffered during their playing days. It would be nice if the league, the union and the current players did more for the players who put in the time to make the NFL the great product it is today.

The retired players – and the courts seem to have agreed with this in November – would also seem entitled to the same type of compensation for having their images used in video games and in other marketing opportunities that the players of today receive.

I’ve long been a fan of Madden as an announcer. His enthusiasm and knowledge helped make me a fan. But he’s alleged to have collected more than $100 million in royalties from his popular John Madden Football video games.

Unless I’m missing something – which I admit is entirely possible, but I have yet to hear or read about it – it would seem like sharing that pie among the aforementioned thousands of players would only be a reasonable thing to expect. It does appear that the former players are gaining some momentum in their effort to be heard – and compensated – for the issues they have been discussing.

I haven’t seen notice of an official court filing yet. Nor have I found a response from EA or Madden to the allegations made by the retired players. We’ll keep an eye on this one as it develops.