PHILADELPHIA — Hundreds upon hundreds of Black NFL retired players who were denied payments in the $1 billion concussion settlement are now eligible for awards. Their tests were rescored to remove racial bias.
The settlement was amended last year to make the tests more race-blind. Ex-Black players had to prove that they were suffering from the type of cognitive decline that allows them to receive awards of up $500,000 per year.
According to Friday’s report from the law firm representing the NFL in claims, almost 650 men have had their dementia testing automatically rescored. These retirees also met the criteria to be successful in a claim. They had to pass hours of validity testing that will show their daily lives are severely impaired and they are not misbehaving.
501 people are now eligible for advanced to moderate dementia awards. These vary depending on their age and condition. Nearly 250 individuals have early signs of dementia. They will be eligible for up to $35,000 in medical treatment and enhanced medical testing. They were all initially denied due to race-related issues in the testing.
The NFL will increase its payouts by millions thanks to the new test results.
Many other Black retirees have the option to take new tests to determine if they are eligible under the revised scoring system. Advocates for former players worry that many people don’t know this, particularly if they have memory problems or live alone.
Amy Lewis, her husband and retired running back Ken Jenkins filed a petition with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for the court to address the issue of race-norming.
They were once critical of Chris Seeger, class counsel, for his response to the matter. Now, they are working with him to spread the word.
Lewis stated that she doesn’t care if she is “inside or outside the tent” as long as there are more men helping to navigate the claims process. Many cases drag out for years.
A spokesperson for the NFL did not return a call on Friday morning, nor did he respond to emails in recent weeks requesting comment about the rescoring.
Seeger, who was the lead lawyer representing the almost 20,000 former players involved in the NFL settlement, has since apologized for not seeing the full extent of the racial bias. In a recent interview, he promised to make sure that the NFL paid every penny they should.
The league’s approved claims total just exceeded $1 billion. Appeal and audits mean that actual payouts are behind this number at around $916 million. These include compensation for four other diagnoses, including Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Lou Gehrigs Disease, and deaths involving chronic traumaticencephalopathy.
The process has slowed down as reviewers deal with the more complex dementia claims. This has led to increased NFL appeals. Nearly 40% of dementia claims are reviewed by BrownGreer, a Richmond, Virginia-based claims administrator — even after expert panels and program doctors weigh in.
James Pruitt (58), a wide receiver, said that “Their mantra was deny. deny. delay until you die.” Indianapolis Miami From 1986 to 1991
Pruitt retired from the NFL and became a teacher in Palm Beach County, Florida. The district asked Pruitt to step down in 2010 when he was in his late 40s. He couldn’t continue to perform his duties.
He stopped calling his friends from his playing days over and over again.
“I can’t get out and I don’t recall a lot.” He said that he had been telling me that I repeated things. “So I’m embarrassed by this whole situation.”
Pruitt, his wife and their settlement were approved in 2015. Pruitt attended meetings with lawyers who travelled the country to sell the plan for retired players groups.
Traci Pruitt (42), said that she was told it would be easy. She needed to visit the doctors and get a qualifying diagnosis. “Yet, six years later, we still get the runaround.”
After being approved twice by doctors, the decision was reversed once more times — one after their first doctor was removed. Their lawyer is confident that they will succeed on their third attempt under the race-neutral scoring system. They are still waiting for word.
Traci Pruitt works from home as an accountant and stated that she would be able to receive the financial support she needed to care for her husband.
She said, “While I love him,”
The fact the scoring algorithm adjusted scores by race — as an approximate proxy for someone’s socioeconomic backgrounds — went unnoticed for several decades until lawyers for former Pittsburgh Steelers It was exposed by Najeh Davenport and Kevin Henry in a 2020 lawsuit. This formula was taken from a method used in medicine for the diagnosis of dementia. However, it was never intended to be used in legal awards to determine payments.
Seeger stated that he believes that the claims process is picking it up after a slow start.
“I have heard from people who said that they didn’t feel as well for a while. Seeger stated, “I think we won some appellate battles before the courts.” “I don’t believe the NFL expected $1 billion in payment — and we’re on track to surpass $1 billion.”