Add Tony Jones to the list of former NFL players speaking out for better pension and disability programs.

"A lot of players didn't make the money I made," said Jones, who played 13 seasons in the NFL (eight with the Cleveland Browns, the last five with the Broncos) and retired in 2001. "That's why I'm fighting for the guys who played before me. I know they struggled, and I can feel their pain."

There are hundreds of retired players who have been turned down for disability by the NFL and the NFL Players' Association. Many say they are in dire need of financial aid to help cover skyrocketing medical costs and basic living expenses.

The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, founded by Jerry Kramer, recently brought attention to the situation with an online auction that sold the 1975 NFC championship ring of Mike Ditka.

Among those paying the price of a lengthy football career are Hall of Famer Willie Wood, who is wheelchair-bound and living in a nursing home awaiting knee surgery. He suffers myriad physical ailments, including painful knees, hips, arthritis, gout, diabetes and high blood pressure.

There are many others like Wood in need of assistance who didn't cash in on free agency from an industry that last year created $6 billion in revenue.

They scoff at plans for a 10 percent to 20 percent increase in their pension benefit, which is being proposed in the new collective- bargaining agreement.

That increase could amount to as little as $40 a month per credited season, or an extra $2,880 a year for a player who played six seasons.

Jones said the NFL should set aside more for retired players.

"Just because we ain't playing any more ain't mean we ain't living," said Jones, who expects his own battle with disability.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is continuing to focus on the concerns of retired players, especially as they relate to physical needs.

He pointed to an agreement in the summer that added $120 million a year for retired players. That brought the annual total to $700 million.

Though the issue isn't specifically on the agenda next week at the owners' meetings, Aiello said the new benefits for retired players might be part of the Management Council's report on the status of the new CBA.