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Just heard it's for $765M total. $24M/team and $170K/player named in lawsuit (all amounts prior to legal fees).
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The NFL and more than 4,500 former players want to resolve concussion-related lawsuits with a $765 million settlement that would fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation and medical research, a federal judge said Thursday.
The plaintiffs include at least 10 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. They also include Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon and the family of Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year.
"This is a historic agreement, one that will make sure that former NFL players who need and deserve compensation will receive it, and that will promote safety for players at all levels of football," said Judge Layn Phillips, the court-appointed mediator for the dispute said in a statement.
Many former players with neurological conditions believe their problems stem from on-field concussions. The lawsuits accused the league of hiding known risks of concussions for decades to return players to games and protect its image.
The NFL has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted that safety has always been a top priority.
Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia announced the proposed settlement Thursday after months of court-ordered mediation. She still must approve it at a later date.
"Of course, I reserve judgment on the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of thes ettlement until the motions for preliminary and final approval of the settlement are filed," she wrote. "At that time, counsel must present a complete explanation and justification for the settlement. Right now, however, I commend the parties and their counsel on their extensive and good faith negotiations and thank Judge Phillips for his diligence in assisting the parties in reaching an agreement."
The settlement likely means the NFL won't have to disclose internal files about what it knew, when, about concussion-linked brain problems. Lawyers had been eager to learn, for instance, about the workings of the league's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, which was led for more than a decade by a rheumatologist.
In court arguments in April, NFL lawyer Paul Clement asked Brody to dismiss the lawsuits and send them to arbitration under terms of the players' contract. He said that individual teams bear the chief responsibility for health and safety under the collective bargaining agreement, along with the players' union and the players themselves.
Players lawyer David Frederick accused the league of concealing studies linking concussions to neurological problems for decades.
Brody had initially planned to rule in July, but then delayed her ruling and ordered the two sides to meet to decide which plaintiffs, if any, had the right to sue. She also issued a gag order, so it has been unclear in recent weeks whether any progress was being made.
The lawyers were due to report back to her Tuesday, but Brody instead announced in court files Thursday that the case had settled.
In recent years, a string of former NFL players and other concussed athletes have been diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Those ex-players included Seau and lead plaintiff Ray Easterling, who filed the first suit in Philadelphia in August 2011 but later committed suicide.
About one-third of the league's 12,000 former players have joined the litigation since 2011. They include a few hundred "gap" players, who played during years when there was no labor contract in place, and were therefore considered likely to win the right to sue.
The timing of the settlement allowed the NFL to drop the issue from the national conversation before the start of the new season.
All 32 clubs were scheduled to play their final exhibition games Thursday night, in preparation for the start of the regular season next week. The first real game is next Thursday, with the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens playing at the Denver Broncos.
Concussions -- and the former players' lawsuits -- had become a main theme of recent NFL seasons, with players, coaches and league officials all forced to address the topic repeatedly, especially as new plaintiffs came forward on nearly a weekly basis. It was the sort of public relations distraction the league has become skilled at avoiding -- and the easiest way to set this topic aside, of course, was to have the court cases resolved.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
The plaintiffs include at least 10 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. They also include Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon and the family of Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year.
"This is a historic agreement, one that will make sure that former NFL players who need and deserve compensation will receive it, and that will promote safety for players at all levels of football," said Judge Layn Phillips, the court-appointed mediator for the dispute said in a statement.
Many former players with neurological conditions believe their problems stem from on-field concussions. The lawsuits accused the league of hiding known risks of concussions for decades to return players to games and protect its image.
The NFL has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted that safety has always been a top priority.
Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia announced the proposed settlement Thursday after months of court-ordered mediation. She still must approve it at a later date.
"Of course, I reserve judgment on the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of thes ettlement until the motions for preliminary and final approval of the settlement are filed," she wrote. "At that time, counsel must present a complete explanation and justification for the settlement. Right now, however, I commend the parties and their counsel on their extensive and good faith negotiations and thank Judge Phillips for his diligence in assisting the parties in reaching an agreement."
The settlement likely means the NFL won't have to disclose internal files about what it knew, when, about concussion-linked brain problems. Lawyers had been eager to learn, for instance, about the workings of the league's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, which was led for more than a decade by a rheumatologist.
In court arguments in April, NFL lawyer Paul Clement asked Brody to dismiss the lawsuits and send them to arbitration under terms of the players' contract. He said that individual teams bear the chief responsibility for health and safety under the collective bargaining agreement, along with the players' union and the players themselves.
Players lawyer David Frederick accused the league of concealing studies linking concussions to neurological problems for decades.
Brody had initially planned to rule in July, but then delayed her ruling and ordered the two sides to meet to decide which plaintiffs, if any, had the right to sue. She also issued a gag order, so it has been unclear in recent weeks whether any progress was being made.
The lawyers were due to report back to her Tuesday, but Brody instead announced in court files Thursday that the case had settled.
In recent years, a string of former NFL players and other concussed athletes have been diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Those ex-players included Seau and lead plaintiff Ray Easterling, who filed the first suit in Philadelphia in August 2011 but later committed suicide.
About one-third of the league's 12,000 former players have joined the litigation since 2011. They include a few hundred "gap" players, who played during years when there was no labor contract in place, and were therefore considered likely to win the right to sue.
The timing of the settlement allowed the NFL to drop the issue from the national conversation before the start of the new season.
All 32 clubs were scheduled to play their final exhibition games Thursday night, in preparation for the start of the regular season next week. The first real game is next Thursday, with the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens playing at the Denver Broncos.
Concussions -- and the former players' lawsuits -- had become a main theme of recent NFL seasons, with players, coaches and league officials all forced to address the topic repeatedly, especially as new plaintiffs came forward on nearly a weekly basis. It was the sort of public relations distraction the league has become skilled at avoiding -- and the easiest way to set this topic aside, of course, was to have the court cases resolved.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Staubach doing well at 71, despite career-ending concussions
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 29, 2013, 4:16 PM EDT
One of the first players in NFL history to quit the game because of concussions says he’s doing well and has no interest in joining the lawsuit against the league.
Roger Staubach, the Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback, retired from football after the 1979 season because he had suffered his 19th and 20th career concussions that year. But Staubach told USA Today after the concussion lawsuit settlement was reached on Thursday that he never considered joining the lawsuit. Staubach says he’s doing great at age 71 and doesn’t believe that the NFL misled players about the risks associated with brain damage suffered on the football field.
“I don’t think the NFL initially tried to hide the fact that you might have dementia one day because you’ve had a concussion,” Staubach said. “The players that are in the middle of the lawsuit, they feel differently. I just have stayed out of it because I don’t think anyone intentionally tried to deceive me.”
Staubach said he hopes the settlement is the best result for all involved, even as he expressed some skepticism about whether all 4,500 of the players who joined the suit really do have symptoms of brain damage. Staubach said he believes some players may hear about the lawsuit and “jump into it just to jump into it,” and he wanted no part of that.
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 29, 2013, 4:16 PM EDT
One of the first players in NFL history to quit the game because of concussions says he’s doing well and has no interest in joining the lawsuit against the league.
Roger Staubach, the Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback, retired from football after the 1979 season because he had suffered his 19th and 20th career concussions that year. But Staubach told USA Today after the concussion lawsuit settlement was reached on Thursday that he never considered joining the lawsuit. Staubach says he’s doing great at age 71 and doesn’t believe that the NFL misled players about the risks associated with brain damage suffered on the football field.
“I don’t think the NFL initially tried to hide the fact that you might have dementia one day because you’ve had a concussion,” Staubach said. “The players that are in the middle of the lawsuit, they feel differently. I just have stayed out of it because I don’t think anyone intentionally tried to deceive me.”
Staubach said he hopes the settlement is the best result for all involved, even as he expressed some skepticism about whether all 4,500 of the players who joined the suit really do have symptoms of brain damage. Staubach said he believes some players may hear about the lawsuit and “jump into it just to jump into it,” and he wanted no part of that.