NFL Concussion Settlement Reached with 4,500 Former Players

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The National Football League has agreed to pay more than $765 million to resolve a massive consolidated class action lawsuit accusing the league of hiding the risk of brain trauma caused by repeated head injuries associated with the sport. The money will fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation, and a program of medical research for retired NFL players and their families.

U.S. District Judge Anita Brody announced the proposed NFL concussion settlement on Thursday after months of court-ordered mediation under the supervision of U.S. District Judge Layn Phillips, the mediator assigned to the case.

“This is a historic agreement, one that will make sure that former NFL players who need and deserve compensation will receive it, and that will promote safety for players at all levels of football,” Judge Phillips said in a statement released Thursday morning by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center. “Rather than litigate literally thousands of complex individual claims over many years, the parties have reached an agreement that, if approved, will provide relief and support where it is needed at a time when it is most needed. I am deeply grateful to Judge Brody for appointing me as mediator and offering me the opportunity to work on such an important and interesting matter.”

Judge Brody must still approve the NFL concussion settlement and is expected to hear any appeals over the next few weeks.

More than 4,500 former NFL players will share in the proposed $765 million class action settlement, which will require each team to pay approximately $30 million each to fund the following:

• Up to $75 million for baseline medical exams
• $675 million to compensate ex-players or the families of ex-players who have suffered cognitive injuries
• $10 million in research and education
• Up to $4 million to cover the costs of giving notice to all the members of the class
• $2 million to compensate the Settlement Administrator for the next 20 years

Plaintiffs Allege Severe Injuries, Commit Suicide

Approximately one-third of the NFL’s 12,000 former players have joined the litigation since 2011. Plaintiffs include 10 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including the family of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year, and the widow of former Atlanta Falcons star Ray Easterling, who committed suicide about a year after suing the NFL for concealing the long-term brain-injury risk associated with the league’s “lax head-safety” approach. Easterling took his life after being diagnosed with dementia following 20 years of depression and insomnia, which he believed was linked to head injuries he sustained during his career.

Plaintiff Kevin Turner, a former Philadelphia Eagles running back who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease, alleges in the class action lawsuit that he believes his diagnosis was caused by injuries sustained while playing in the NFL.

The players accuse the NFL of conspiring to conceal “clear evidence” that their passive approach to helmet use and concussions resulted in severe long-term damage to NFL players, including headaches, dizziness, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The class action lawsuit alleges the league has known about the high risk of post-traumatic brain injury in its players since the early 1970s, but continues to deny and “actively conceal” any connection or correlation between players suffering concussions and long-term chronic brain injury or illness.

The NFL has continued to deny any wrongdoing and has called the allegations “baseless.” It did not admit any liability in agreeing to the class action lawsuit settlement.

“This is an extraordinary agreement that will provide immediate care and support to retired players and their families,” lead plaintiffs’ attorney Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP said in a statement. “This agreement will get help quickly to the men who suffered neurological injuries. It will do so faster and at far less cost, both financially and emotionally, than could have ever been accomplished by continuing to litigate.”

The NFL Concussion MDL is In Re: National Football Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation, MDL No. 2323, Case No. 12-md-02323-AB in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE 1: A federal judge rejected preliminary approval of the proposed NFL concussion class action settlement on Jan. 14, 2014, expressing fears that it may not be enough.

UPDATE 2: The NFL announced June 25, 2014 that it has reached a revised class action settlement agreement that removes the $765 million compensation cap, making approval of the deal likely.

UPDATE 3: The NFL concussion class action settlement received final approval on April 22, 2015.

UPDATE 4: On Oct. 23, 2018, NFL players who were set to receive compensation from a traumatic brain injury settlement have discovered that their payout will be reduced to almost nothing.