The NFL drama continues with a judge’s approval of the proposed settlement. CNN provided the initial coverage here:
The agreement provides up to $5 million per retired player for serious medical conditions associated with repeated head trauma.
While the lawsuit was a combination of hundreds of actions brought by more than 5,000 ex-NFL players, the settlement applies to all players who retired on or before July 7, 2014, according to Judge Anita Brody’s 132-page decision.
It also applies to the family members of players who died before that date.
There is a maximum for each player, but no total cumulative maximum; an earlier version of the deal called for $765 million. This deal is not acceptable to all members of the class, as the family of the late Chicago Bear player Dave Duerson will be filing suit against the agreement.
Family lawyer Thomas Demetrio objects to the exclusion of future awards for CTE, the brain trauma that some call “the signature disease of football.”
Not everyone is convinced. Vice Sports published this article, by Patrick Hruby, is a trifle dated but suggests there’s more liability than admitted to:
To the contrary, it’s designed to save the NFL as much money as possible, to the tune of billions of dollars of potential brain damage liability. If the deal goes through, many sick retirees won’t get paid.
Seems to me, this settlement gives visibility to the formidable condition an ex-player may find himself in, and this, you’d think, must impact a prospective player. However, I think that’s a bit optimistic (or pessimistic, depending on your viewpoint), as young men hardly ever think, and since many see the NFL as one of their few paths to a secure future, I suspect this will only lessen the stature of the sport, rather than resulting in its abandonment. After all, back when it started, players were actually dying. A few rules changes and that – mostly – stopped.
And I’ll just be surprised if a technical fix for headgear comes along. You snap someone’s head around like that and the brain’ll go slosh and start bruising no matter what you’re wearing.
If you’re a retired NFL player, here’s the website.
