On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 5:59 PM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]>wrote:
> > PGage, to Mark Jeffries: > >> Here is a good summary of one of the larger law suits pending against the >> NFL: >> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/**08/29/sports/football/** >> concussion-case-nears-key-**phase-for-nfl.html?partner=**rss&emc=rss&_r=0<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/sports/football/concussion-case-nears-key-phase-for-nfl.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0> >> >> > The league announced a settlement of the suits today (29). A Federal judge > still has to approve it. > > AP: > http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000235494/article/settlement-reached-in-nfl-concussion-lawsuit > And I should acknowledge here that I have been proven wrong in my expectation that the settlement/judgment in this case would be much larger than this. I am actually kind of shocked - $765M might sound like a lot of money, but the NFL's annual revenues are about $9 Billion, and there were 4,500 players in the consolidated cases, which averages out to something like $150,000 per player (but the money will not be equally distributed; the NFL will pay for all of these players to get assessed, and pay out based on the results. Payments for the most serious conditions will get capped at $5 million for Alzheimer's, $4 million for those diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and $3 million for players with other forms of dementia); many players of course will get very little, or nothing. I have to assume two factors led the players to settle for this small amount: 1) a number of the veterans have very serious medical conditions, very little money, and in some cases very little time left to live. Holding out for the bigger judgement many think they were owed ($2.5B or more) would have meant 5 to 10 years of litigation and legal fees, and many of these players would be dead by then, and their families bankrupt. 2) it looks like the judge was going to rule that each player in the law suit was going to have to prove that concussions suffered while playing in the NFL were the cause of their medical problems. That is a high bar, given the complexity and ambiguity surrounding many of these neurological conditions, and the fact that all of these players will no doubt have histories of multiple concussions suffered prior to working in the NFL. Under the settlement they will only have to show that they suffer from medical damage (and the tests will be paid for by the league) - they do not have to prove that the damage was caused by trauma suffered while employed in the NFL. As an abstract legal matter (and in the interests of justice) the case should have gone forward; as a practical matter of what is in the best interests of many of the most seriously damaged former players, I guess I can see how this is a better outcome than going forward, waiting many years, and taking the risk of getting nothing. The NFL has made out like bandits (perhaps I should say murderers). Most importantly, they do not have to open up their books and go through discovery, risking the coming to light of evidence that they knew of the likelihood of widespread damage to their employees long before they took even beginning steps to moderate it. I am still not sure if this rules out any additional law suits - the mediator said such challenges would face great difficulty, in part because they would be required to show that the trauma was caused while in the NFL, but also implied that maybe the court was going to accept the NFL's absurd (in my judgement) argument that even if NFL trauma caused the damage, the only appropriate place to deal with that is in the context of the collective bargaining agreement. I hold out hope that, if evidence can be found that the NFL did know of the danger and covered it up, they can be found in violation of some law and heavily fined. Of course Congress could always open up hearings, but I had a look at the political donation record of NFL owners - Robert Kraft (surprisingly to me) and Dan Rooney (not at all surprisingly) are big contributors to Democrats, but most of the rest heavily support Republicans, who control Congress. I do hope that this tiny settlement at least does help the veterans who are in the worst shape get some of the help they need, and that it at least puts enough of a scare into the NFL to continue to do more to protect its employees. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
