Black Former NFL Players May Benefit From New Concussion Deal


The federal judge overseeing the NFL concussion deal has officially removed the use of a race-based method to assess black former players’ dementia tests, paving the way for thousands of players to potentially file claims worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Friday’s order by U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody, who has overseen the case since it began in 2012, ended an 18-month contentious battle that began in the wake of the lawsuit. two former players sue the NFL for discrimination. They alleged that the league used race-based scoring methods that had the effect of denying benefits to Black players in the groundbreaking class action settlement that has so far approved claims of nearly $1 billion.

last March, Brody dismissed the lawsuit He was brought in by Najeh Davenport, a former back runner, and Kevin Henry, a longtime defensive end.but the cases brought The use of race-based assessments to illuminate and trigger attention ultimately led to their removal. Both men are Black.

The manager of the deal must now reconsider the dementia tests performed by the few thousand Black former players who made the request. They will be notified if their new score allows them to claim for a financial payment. If they meet the scoring thresholds and have a proper diagnosis, their claim is still subject to appeal from the NFL and their case may be prosecuted.

Davenport, who filed a discrimination lawsuit with Henry in 2020, said: “I think this is a step in the right direction. We still have a long way to go on race relations in America. I was happy to contribute. I hope other organizations take note and do the right thing.”

Davenport and Henry on their first claim He said that while doctors are not required to consider a player’s race when evaluating his claim, the league often disputes assessments that are not used. race-based benchmarks.

In October, the NFL and lawyers for all former players agreed to eradicate the race as one of the factors when evaluating a player for dementia. A player’s age and education level will still be taken into account.

in a 46-page documentboth parties agreed that “no racial norms or racial demographic estimates will be used in the forward settlement program – whether Black or white -” and that neither party may contest claims based on the use of racial or racial norms.

In addition, all pending claims and all claims currently under appeal using racial norms or racial demographic estimates may be subject to new consideration.

Race-based norms (one for former white players and one for former black players) used in NFL dementia tests assumed that former black players began with worse cognitive function than white former players. A Black player’s cognitive abilities would have to fall to a lower threshold than a former white player’s to qualify for a payout, or for a Black player to be eligible to receive the same payout as a white player, all else being equal.

Henry and Davenport’s attorney, Cyril Smith, claimed that white players’ dementia claims were confirmed at two to three times the rate of Black players. Smith was unable to prove this discrepancy, as the NFL and the deal’s manager refused to provide any data on settlement payments.

The case caught the attention of New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, and other members of Congress. Data requested from the NFL To determine if black players are discriminated against. An ABC News report More than a dozen Black retired NFL players encouraged his wife to send Judge Brody a petition with nearly 50,000 signatures calling for an end to the use of race-based norms.

Some former players blamed the NFL, while others criticized Christopher Seeger, the lead attorney for the entire class, in the class action lawsuit. Players say Seeger knew about the abuse of race-based criteria as early as 2018 and did not fix the problem. Henry and Davenport’s attorneys asked the court to replace Seeger in March 2021.

Seeger later apologized for not realizing the problems caused by using separate criteria for Black and white players, and promised to get rid of potential racial biases.

“We look forward to building more relationships with former NFL players and implementing this deal that will improve a deal that has already yielded nearly $1 billion in benefits,” Seeger said in a statement Friday. Said.



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