Editorial Editor
A group of former National Football League (NFL) players is suing the organization for allegedly denying disability claims and benefits. The ten plaintiffs — Jason Alford, Daniel Loper, Willis McGahee, Michael McKenzie, Jamize Olawale, Alex Parsons, Eric Smith, Charles Sims, Joey Thomas and Lance Zeno — filed their suit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL’s Disability Board in the Maryland District Court on Feb. 9.
According to the complaint, “[Board] members have engaged in repeated and substantial derelictions of their responsibilities, have repeatedly refused to pay contractually mandated benefits, and have statistically proven conflicts.” The lawsuit seeks to prove that physicians who evaluate players for disability benefits are biased based on their pay and are discouraged from approving players for the benefits by the league. The complaint cites a study of NFL physicians from 2019 to 2020 that revealed “physicians paid more than 210,000 dollars found 4.5 percent of players to be totally or permanently disabled, compared to 30 percent by physicians paid 54,000-60,000 dollars.”
Additionally, plaintiff Smith pulled statistics from his experience in receiving disability benefits to back up the lawsuit. The offensive tackle suffered 13 traumatic brain injuries during his six-year stint with the New York Jets. The board denied his request for line of duty (LOD) benefits in 2013 and once again in 2014. He reapplied after a physician, paid 34,268 dollars by the board, found 20 LOD impairments. After this consultation, Smith was finally approved. The next year, the physician’s compensation from the board dropped to 16,718 dollars.
The claimants also suggested that the NFL does not implement any regulations to keep physicians neutral. They pointed out that there is not a system in place to audit physicians’ reports, the NFL does not collect data on the approval rate of claims, and there are no penalties for physicians who make inaccurate or incomplete reports.
Plaintiff McGahee provided personal case information for the lawsuit as well. The running back played in the NFL for 11 years, and a doctor from the NFL claimed he was unimpaired by head injuries despite tests that indicated impaired cognitive function. The same doctor also used demographic information, including race, to estimate McGahee’s IQ prior to the injury, according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiff Sims faced similar difficulties in securing disability benefits. His decision letter indicated that one member of the board didn’t believe he had post-concussive syndrome and other football-related disabilities, despite an external doctor’s report proving otherwise. He did not receive benefits. When Sims submitted additional information, including team and medical records, the board again claimed there was no evidence that any injuries occurred during the running back’s NFL career.
Smith declared, “I’m trying to look out for all the other guys that have gone through this and gotten the short end of the stick with these evaluations.”
(Sources: NFL, CNN, NYTimes, NPR, People)
Categories: National Sports, Sports