Black retirees get new payouts
PHILADELPHIA — Two years after a pair of former players sued the NFL over the treatment of Black retirees in the league’s $1 billion concussion settlement, hundreds of men whose medical tests were rescored to eliminate race bias now qualify for awards.
The newly approved payouts, announced in a report Friday, are a victory for NFL families in the decade-long legal saga over concussions. The 2020 lawsuit unearthed the fact the dementia tests were being “race-normed” — adjusted due to assumptions that Black people have a lower cognitive baseline score. Changes to the settlement made last year are meant to make the tests raceblind.
The new results will add millions to the NFL’s payouts for concussionlinked brain injuries. A league spokesman did not return a phone call Friday or respond to emails sent in recent weeks seeking comment on the rescoring.
Of the 646 Black men whose tests were rescored, nearly half now qualify for dementia awards. Sixty-one are classified as having early to moderate dementia, with average awards topping $600,000; nearly 250 more have milder dementia and will get up to $35,000 in enhanced medical testing and treatment, according to the claims administrator’s report.
Former players, lawyers and advocates say they’ll now turn to getting the word out to more players who could receive awards.
“Our work has produced some great results and has opened many eyes,” said Ken Jenkins, a former Washington player who, along with his wife, petitioned the federal judge overseeing the settlement to make the changes and urged the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate.
“Now we’re really focused on getting as many players who deserve compensation to be compensated.“
This first group of players had the best chance of success because they otherwise passed the testing protocols and would have qualified if they were white.
Thousands of other Black former players can ask to be rescored or retested, but their cases might not be as strong based on earlier results on dementia, validity and impairment tests.
About 70 percent of active players and 60 percent of living retirees are Black.
The fact that the testing algorithm adjusted scores by race — as a rough proxy for someone’s socioeconomic background — went unnoticed for several years until lawyers for former Steelers Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport sued the league. Factors such as age, education and race have long been used in neurology to help diagnose dementia.
But experts say the formula was never meant to be used to determine payouts in a legal case.
Jets QB Wilson injures knee
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson injured his right knee in the first quarter in Friday night’s preseason win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After going back to pass, Wilson was flushed out of the pocket and scrambled to his right for 7 yards, but went down after the play.
Vikings’ Cousins out with COVID
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not play this weekend in the team’s first preseason game.
Coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed the diagnosis Friday at practice, where Cousins was absent for a second straight day. He felt ill Thursday and sent home.
Odds and ends
Len Dawson, the 87year-old Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title, has entered hospice care in Kansas City. … Marshawn Lynch, a former Seattle Seahawks running back, disputed the police account of his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning.