. >> i've had nine brain surgeries -- >> reporter: for two seasons george visger gave everything he haduntil his playing career was cut short by a major concussion and brain surgery. >> major headaches every night, prong isle vomiting, a ball of light in each eye. >> reporter: visger was one of 6,000 former players left on the sidelines as owners and the players association negotiate a players contract. two years in the nfl what do you get? >> nothing. >> reporter: no pension? >> nothing. >> reporter: you're not vested? >> no, very few guys are and even those that are vested draw next to nothing. >> reporter: to collect benefits, players must have been in the league for four years but just half the 13,000 retired players are eligible for pension and disability coverage, although visger was on the san francisco 49ers team that won the super bowl in 1982 he had to battle the team for five years to cover his medical expenses for nine surgeries. >> they opened me up back here, there's a tube goes down the side of my neck. >> reporter: brain damage left him with severe short term memory loss

. >> reporter: for two seasons, george visger gave pretty much everything he had to the n.f.l.l his playing career was cut short by a major concussion and brain surgery. >> major headaches every night, projectile vomiting, i would get a ball of light in front of each eye. >> reporter: visger is one of nearly 6,000 former players left on the sidelines as the n.f.l. owners and players' association negotiate a new labor and benefits contract. two years in the n.f.l., what do you get? >> nothing. >> reporter: no pension? >> nothing. >> reporter: you're not vested? >> no. very few guys are. and even those that are vested draw next to nothing. >> reporter: to collect benefits, players must have been in the league for four years, but just half the 13,000 retired players are eligible for pension and disability coverage. although visger was on the san francisco 49ers team that won the super bowl in 1982, he had to battle the team for five years to cover his medical expenses for nine surgeries. >> they opened me up back here, there's a tube goes on the side of my neck. >> reporter: brain

george visger, obviously the nfl has their own position. been a responsible employer. but we appreciate you telling your side of the story and we'll see how the negotiations turn out. good luck to you. >> thank you. appreciate it. >>> coming up, another vicious cycle we have to look at. people lose their jobs and their homes, then cities can't collect the property tax. then vital services suffer like schools. and without education, you get the picture. on and on it goes. it's being played out in memphis tonight where school is out maybe forever. stay with us. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track ur claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's