NFL concussion lawsuit: This time, players get what they deserve
Anita Brody, judge for the U.S. district court of eastern Pennsylvania, is a hero. Retired NFL players should celebrate this day in her honor every year, and rejoice in whatever compensation they may be receiving for the suffering their sport caused them.
Judge Brody on Wednesday did what the NFL should have done in the beginning, and what the roughly 4,500 plaintiffs in the concussion lawsuit should have compelled the league to do. Brody was handed the task of reviewing the $765 million settlement from last August that, at the time it was announced, seemed utterly inadequate.
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It didn't feel like nearly enough to cover the potentially 20,000 retired players who might someday need the funds to save their lives or provide for their survivors- and not even close to enough for the NFL to even feel a nick, much less a sting .
Brody reviewed it, and in January she said no. Not good enough. Specifically, she said in her decision: 'I am primarily concerned that not all retired N.F.L. football players who ultimately receive a qualifying diagnosis or their related claimants will be paid.'
That made what the agreement look less like a settlement than a surrender.
Wednesday, the two sides made it a lot better. The first settlement, then, hadn't settled what it was intended to.
The new agreement still doesn't hold the NFL accountable for its role in creating generations of damaged humans, and that's still tough to swallow. But combining that with the provision in the original settlement that capped the damages at $675 million-with a pool of potential players so large, and in a league so filthy-rich-was enough to make you gag.
The lead lawyers for the players, Christopher Seeger and Sol Weiss, said it perfectly in their statement about the revised settlement: It gives the players and their families 'peace of mind.''
The idea that a retired player who could later find himself facing what the Tony Dorsetts and Jim McMahons face-or what the Dave Duersons and Junior Seaus faced-might have seen the money already run out by the time they need it? It would be inexcusable.
Brody was not alone, and special commendation must go to Perry Golkin, the special master assigned by the judge to gather and sort through all the relevant financial information needed to come to a fair-or a least a more fair-conclusion.
The players and their sport won. They couldn't have done it without the judge who made their lawsuit settlement much more just.
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