PHILADELPHIA — A lead players’ lawyer pushing the estimated $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion claims predicted Wednesday that the league would pursue “scorched-earth litigation” if the case doesn’t settle.
Christopher Seeger’s arguments opened a daylong “fairness hearing” on the plan in federal court in Philadelphia. The deal would settle thousands of lawsuits that accuse the NFL of long hiding what it knew about concussion risks to rush players back on the field.
“It would have been an expensive, scorched-earth litigation (without a settlement). We know that because of other parties that have litigated with the NFL,” Seeger said.
The NFL has deployed several strong legal defenses already. The league has said the dispute belongs in mediation under the contract; that former players can’t prove which concussion caused which injury; and that many ex-players filed suit too late. On the other hand, the NFL would have to open their files if the case goes to trial, and potentially disclose damaging information.
“What matters now is time, and many retired players do not have much left,” former Philadelphia Eagle Kevin Turner said in a statement Tuesday urging the plan’s passage.
Turner, at 45, has battled Lou Gehrig’s disease since 2010 and was too ill to attend the hearing.
The NFL expects about 6,000 former players to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia in the coming decades. Their awards could reach $3 million, but would likely average $190,000, given reductions for advanced age, other medical conditions and years in the league.
Some critics feel that’s not enough to cover their needs, while others complain that there are no awards for depression, mood swings, dizziness and other problems they link to football concussions.
Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody gave preliminary approval of the plan in July after the NFL lifted a proposed $765 million cap. She is expected to hear Wednesday from retired players, widows and others who want the deal revised. About 200 other retired players opted out and could sue on their own.
The case involves only retirees who played under earlier contracts.
The fund is designed to last for 65 years. With inflation, and the proposed $112 million for lawyer fees, the NFL could pay out $1 billion or more.
One chief concern is that the plan leaves out future payments for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which some consider the signature disease of football. The estates of players who died and were diagnosed with CTE from 2006 to 2014 can seek up to $4 million.
The families of former NFL stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson — both of whom had CTE and committed suicide — fault the award scheme.
Still others point out that behavioral problems some researchers link to CTE, including mood swings and erratic behavior, are not covered.
The settlement, if approved, would mean the NFL may never have to disclose what it knew when.
“It will take a whistleblower at some point to give us those details. … But it’s going to be a long time coming,” said NFL widow Eleanor Perfetto of Annapolis, Maryland, who hopes to speak Wednesday.
Her husband, Ralph Wenzel, suffered from dementia for more than a decade before he died in 2012. Tests showed he had both CTE and Alzheimer’s disease.
“An earlier diagnosis was prevented thanks to the NFL’s actions — exactly the actions the plaintiffs are suing for,” Perfetto wrote to the judge.
