Philadelphia (AP) — The NFL will propose a change to a $ 1 billion concussion reconciliation on Wednesday after protests against a test score adjustment known as “race noming.” that’s all.
A new test formula developed during the months of private negotiations with a player’s lawyer will remain secret until a federal judge reviews it. This means that 1,435 NFL retirees, many or most of whom have been denied dementia claims, are black, but don’t immediately know how changes will affect them.
They also don’t know if their previous tests are simply re-scored or if they have to withstand another rigorous cognitive test.
“The NFL should be really angry about the norms of the race … it shouldn’t be acceptable to them and all their sponsors,” said Stanford University graduate husband Roxanne “Roxy” Gordon at the age of 40. I realized I couldn’t work.
Amon Gordon has been awarded the Advanced Dementia Award twice, simply overturning the decision for unclear reasons. His case is being heard in the Federal Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
NFL agreed in June Stop using “racial norms” This assumes that black players will start with lower cognitive function. It makes it difficult to show that they are suffering from the mental deficiencies associated with their play day.
The binary scoring system for dementia testing (one for blacks and one for everyone else) was used in the 1990s as a rough way to take into account the socioeconomic background of patients. Developed by a neurologist. Experts say it was never intended to be used to determine payments in a court settlement.
Of the approximately 20,000 NFL retirees who have Register for payment program — Provide monitoring, testing, and in some cases compensation — more than 2,000 have sought awards for early or progressive dementia.
Only 30% got them. The award averages $ 715,000 for people with progressive dementia and $ 523,000 for people with early dementia.
The majority of league players (70% of active players and over 60% of live retirees) are black.
“It would be great if the new process eliminates race noming and more people qualify,” said Ken Jenkins, a black NFL retiree who defends people with disabilities without disabilities. I did.
“(But) we’re not going to get everything we want,” insurance company executive Jenkins said Tuesday. “We want full transparency of all demographic information from the NFL — who applied and who was paid.”
He and other critics want to see the $ 821 million racial breakdown paid so far through the program. It’s not clear if the court will release the data, but he and others have also asked the Civil Rights Department of the Justice Department to begin an investigation.
The issue first became apparent in 2019, when former Steelers Najeh Davenport and Kevin Henry filed a civil rights lawsuit exposing unequal testing methods.
Anita B. Brody, a senior US judge who has overseen the settlement for 10 years, dismissed the proceedings for procedural reasons. But this year, as the racial norm turmoil intensifies, she works with an intermediary to deal with lawyers who negotiated a 2013 settlement: New York plaintiff lawyer Christopher Seger and NFL Brad Carp. I ordered you to do it.
She later allowed Davenport and Henry’s lawyers to attend the meeting and issued a gag order to all involved.
Meanwhile, Gordon and the other NFL families are waiting.
“His life is ruined,” Roxy Gordon said of his husband, who spent more than a decade in the league as a defensive tackle or defensive end.
She said he then wanted to work with children in urban areas like Seattle where he grew up. Instead, she can’t rely on him to pick up her 10-year-old son from a school near San Diego.
“He’s a 40-year-old educated man who can’t even use his skills,” she said. “It was terrible.”
