60 Heroes: The Queen of Benefits

A veteran of the NFLPA and a breast cancer survivor, Miki Yaras-Davis is a hero in more ways than one.  As the current Senior Director of Benefits, Yaras-Davis has numerous achievements in her 30-plus years at the NFLPA.  

Hired as a 23-year-old just beginning her career, one of her first acts at the NFLPA was to oversee the distribution of money from the Kermit Alexander Settlement Fund to active and former players.  The fund was created in 1977 as a result of the NFLPA's victory in the John Mackey case and was designed to pay damages to players affected by the old Rozelle Rule. From there, Yaras-Davis made it her mission to help players from the moment they entered the league through their post-football lives.  

When she became the Director of Benefits in the early 1980s, there was only one pension plan and its total assets sat at $36 million.  Today, thanks in large part to Yaras-Davis’s efforts, there are 10 player benefit plans with total assets of $5 billion.  One of these plans is the 88 plan, named after late NFLPA President John Mackey, which Yaras-Davis personally helped design.  This one-of-a-kind plan covers in-house and in-hospital care costs for vested players diagnosed with dementia, ALS or Parkinson’s disease.  

During her tenure with the NFLPA, she has experienced multiple strikes, union decertifications and the most recent lockout.  Through it all, she has been at the bargaining table, negotiating and fighting for players’ benefits—going above and beyond when needed.  During the most recent decertification in 2011, Yaras-Davis and her colleague Chris Smith worked off site to maintain the players' stake in the plans, including the all-important Bell/Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. 

Yaras-Davis currently lives in Key West, Fla., working remotely for the NFLPA.  She credits her tenacity, endurance and fight for her ability to assist in making a better world for both former and active players.