A brand new plan finalized on Friday will enable retired Black NFL gamers who had been denied cash for dementia claims to resubmit these claims and doubtlessly faucet right into a concussion settlement distributed by the league.
A Philadelphia decide authorized the plan through an order filed on Friday, The Related Press reported. It might give 1000’s of retired Black soccer gamers the possibility to get a roughly $600,000 aid cost through the NFL’s $1 billion settlement account for concussions and associated accidents.
The NFL had been accused of systemic racism over its use of so-called race-norming in its dementia testing, which assumed Black folks had decrease cognitive scores, thus making it more durable to show signs.
Due to the rule, some retired Black gamers had been denied funds regardless of struggling a number of concussions all through their careers. About 3 in 10 claims for dementia have been denied, in line with the AP.
Kevin Henry, a lineman for eight seasons within the NFL, was denied a aid declare regardless of affected by gentle to average dementia.
“They arrive out with all these slogans like ‘We care’ and ‘Black Lives Matter,’” Henry informed The Hill final 12 months. “And I’m sitting there, like, you’re mendacity. You’re mendacity out of your enamel. It is so painful to sit down there and watch, realizing that you recognize one thing completely totally different.”
In October, as outrage grew over the usage of race-norming, the NFL stated it will halt the follow.
The decide’s choice on Friday finalizes the brand new concussion settlement settlement.
The NFL has paid out round $800 million by means of the settlement, and is anticipated so as to add one other $100 million to the account beneath the brand new plan, in line with the AP.
