NFL

Some NFL concussion cases won’t see cent of $765M

The sum of $765 million likely won’t be enough to help repair generations of trauma.

Citing new details from the NFL’s proposed concussion settlement, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” is reporting several players and attorneys are concerned with confirmed brain damage cases growing, the $765 million proposal would not be enough to cover all eligible players diagnosed with such injuries.

“It is a very valid concern,” said Jason Luckasevic, a Pittsburgh attorney who filed the first concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL in 2011 and represents roughly 500 former players. “It would appear as though there are not enough funds for those that are injured.”

The current proposal has created much confusion among former players regarding who will qualify for compensation and how the money will be dispersed. Additionally, though the NFL will pay for a separate fund for lawyers, some attorneys will be paid directly by players, which contradicts assurances that little or no money received from the settlement would be used to cover legal fees.

According to ESPN’s sources, the settlement would not include compensating players who died before 2006, even if they were diagnosed with football-related brain damage. The NFL also wished to only include death claims that fell within the statute of limitations, which is two years in most states.

Though negotiators and commissioner Roger Goodell have said the settlement money is more than enough to meet the needs of all players who qualify, information from the NFL Players Association and researchers at Boston University show there already are more than 300 cases of former players who would qualify in the highest compensation categories, which may be as high as $5 million per individual in certain cases.

The settlement, which was announced on Aug. 29 to resolve a class-action lawsuit in which 4,500 former players accused the NFL of concealing the link between football and brain damage, ended up covering all 18,000 of the league’s retired players, making the $765 million proposal worrisome.

Christopher Seeger, a lead co-counsel and one of the select lawyers privy to the terms of the closely held agreement, said the settlement will cover all eligible players.

“As the approval process moves forward, analysis from economists, actuaries and medical experts will be presented to the court,” Seeger said in a statement. “These reports will confirm that the programs established by the settlement will be sufficiently funded to meet their obligations for all eligible retired players.”

Additional details about the compensation plan are expected to be filed with the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia within the next several weeks, at which point the terms will be made public, the sources said. A judge must still approve the settlement.

“A lot of people are calling me who want to know what’s going on,” said Dave Pear, a lineman who played six seasons in the NFL and runs a blog dedicated to retired players. “They say, ‘Dave, what’s it look like?’ My answer is, ‘I have no idea.’ Nobody knows right now. Nobody knows any details.”

After the agreement is filed, players will have the opportunity to “opt out,” meaning they would not qualify for compensation but would retain their rights to pursue further legal action. No former player has yet indicated he intends to opt out, but one lawyer involved in the case said he expected some players to refuse to join the settlement.

Negotiators initially said all retired players or their families were eligible for compensation if they could show “demonstrated cognitive injury,” but a provision disqualifying most players who died before 2006, even if they were diagnosed with football-related brain damage, would deny payment to the families of players with the earliest documented cases.

Such a provision would dismiss claims from the relatives of players such as Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who died in 2002 and was later diagnosed with the first case of football-related brain damage, as well as lineman Terry Long, who killed himself by drinking antifreeze in 2005.

“If the guys that brought this to light aren’t qualifying, then there’s something wrong with the terms of this deal,” Luckasevic said. “It’s because of guys like Webster and Long that guys understand they are not just a crazy bunch of retired football players. They actually have problems. They have a brain disease. They should be calling it the Mike Webster Compensation Fund, honestly.”