The NFL's most significant fights are no longer contested on the field. The far-reaching issues involve concussions, dementia and other long-term effects of head trauma, caused by violent action on the field. Thursday marked a day of triumph for Commissioner Roger Goodell, but hardly a shelter from the storm clouds to come.
In agreeing to a settlement that will pay $765 million to more than 4,500 retired players, as well as the families of players who died from allegedly football-related injuries, the league saved itself the cost and public-relations nightmare of potential litigation. This deal - subject to approval from a United States District Court Judge - effectively throws the past under one convenient blanket, as opposed to lingering court cases involving thousands of claims.
Given that the players alleged the league mistreated concussions, either by ignoring the symptoms or concealing the risks involved, legal experts estimated that the volume of those cases would have cost the NFL more than $2 billion.
Now? This settlement amounts to a pittance for a $9 billion industry - or to put it another way, roughly the value of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were sold for $760 million two years ago. Not only that, the wording of the settlement includes no admission of guilt on the NFL's part - so once again, Goodell and his staff look like the good guys.
It's hardly that simple. Taken literally, the math works out to around $170,000 per player - a solid figure, but hardly sufficient for those facing daily hospital bills. And here's the hell of it: So many of these men are fighting for their lives, or at least to retain a measure of clear-headed thinking. They're up against the clock. So it wasn't surprising to hear the words of Kevin Turner, a former running back for the Eagles and Patriots, in his public comments Thursday.
Turner, 44, who will serve as the lead plaintiff for one group of retired players, spoke of a "big relief" on the part of those undergoing medical care, and "a huge breath they can take" because "it's happening now."
In other words, sure, it would have been nice to get more money, but there's no time for quibbling. Turner is stricken with ALS, a disease for which there is no cure, and he spoke through slurred speech. Other ex-players are fighting for their ability to retain rational thought. "Tomorrow" doesn't quite resonate with them.
(Not that relief will be immediate; a lawyer for the plaintiffs told the New York Times it could take about 180 days for the players to start receiving compensation, and that only half of the settlement will be paid over the next three years.)
Reaction around the league was mostly positive, although former NFL center Kevin Mawae wrote, in a tweet, "Big loss for the players, now and for the future! Estimated NFL revenue by 2025 = $25 billion."
Goodell's ongoing strategy has been to get in front of this crisis, to keep it from dominating the headlines and perhaps, in a doomsday scenario, bringing down the NFL as we've known it. Each season brings additional safety-related rules in the realm of helmet-to-helmet hits and concussion protocol. In truth, though, nothing can fully curtail the violent nature of the NFL - or the investigative nature of journalists looking deeper into the story.
Former Chronicle writer Mark Fainaru-Wada (co-author of "Game of Shadows") and his brother, Steve, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter during his days with the Washington Post, have worked tirelessly on concussion-related issues for ESPN and the research for their upcoming book, "League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth." Don't think the NFL hasn't noticed. Recent developments would suggest nothing short of bullying tactics.
With the Fainarus' work at the heart of the piece, ESPN had spent 15 months working with "Frontline," the public-television affairs series, on a two-part documentary about concussions in the NFL, scheduled to be televised in October. On Aug. 22 - a week after the NFL had voiced its displeasure with the documentary at a lunch with ESPN executives - ESPN abruptly ended that association, claiming it did not have its desired level of editorial control over the project.
More likely: The NFL bullied ESPN right out of the picture. Goodell hasn't been happy with the Fainarus' work, some of which has been aired on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" series, and the NFL's reaction smacks of repression.
"I spoke to several of the biggest names in journalism at ESPN," wrote columnist Dave Zirin on thenation.com, "and their thoughts on ESPN's official comments and reasoning for dropping out of the project ranged from 'mystifying' to 'deeply depressing' to 'palpable B.S.' No one I spoke to believes that ESPN looked up after 15 months and discovered to their collective shock that they didn't have final editorial control."
Maybe Goodell dodged a couple of haymakers on that one. But the Fainarus' book is due out in mid-October. It's being advertised as revealing "how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, sought to cover up and deny mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage."
The commissioner had better get ready to get back in the ring.
Settlement at a glance
Highlights of the proposed settlement between the NFL and more than 4,500 ex-players who sued over concussion-related injuries:
-- NFL would pay $765 million plus legal costs, but admits no wrongdoing.
-- Individual awards would be capped at $5 million for players with Alzheimer's disease.
-- Individual awards would be capped at $4 million for deaths from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
-- Individual awards would be capped at $3 million for players with dementia.
-- Money would go toward medical exams and concussion-related compensation for NFL retirees and their families, and $10 million toward medical research.
-- Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia must approve the settlement.
0 comments:
Post a Comment