Roughly a year after the NFL agreed to an estimated $1-billion settlement in a concussion lawsuit filed by former players, the system is already failing some of those involved.
"The settlement is broken" and "on the brink of collapse," attorney Peter Shahriari wrote in a court document, according to Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe.
A total of 214 claims related to brain damage have been outright denied by the league, while only 156 of the 1,731 retired players who submitted claims had received payments as of March 26.
Overall, 350 former players made claims that were initially approved for about $380 million total in payments, but thanks to various delays - including appeals by the NFL - almost 200 of those players haven't been paid. Players filing claims for diagnoses of dementia appear to be experiencing the most significant delays.
Shahriari, one of more than 15 lawyers who's part of the case, says the NFL is trying to evade compensating players through "a campaign to hide the truth about the dangers of the game," and by calling former players and their doctors fraudulent.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is adhering to the rules approved by the court. An independent law firm is administering the settlement.
Lawyers representing the players say the league is exercising too much influence over the process.
"One year into implementation, the NFL has turned the settlement into a secret, privately litigated claim system that involves changing standards for claim packages, inconsistent and often improper standards of review, a black hole of audits, alleged deficiencies, anonymous opinions, denials, appeals, remands, and technical squabbles over what a valid diagnosis might be," wrote attorney Gene Locks - the head of Locks Law Firm, which represents more than 1,000 former players in the case.
