NFL concussion settlement: It's not perfect
The Third Circut Court recently heard oral arguments on the appeals to the NFL concussion settlement and the three judges that presided over the hearing had some very tough questions for the lawyers that were representing the former players appealing the terms of the agreement. You can listen to the entire oral arguments at the following link: Third Circuit Court Oral Arguments on NFL Concussion Settlement
At one point in the hearing, one of the judges made an interesting comment to one of the appealing attorneys, saying " It almost sounds as if what you, and to some extent, Mr. Molo are arguing is that perfect is the enemy of good. This was a settlement I think probably most people perceived at the outset would be very good, highly unlikely, and yet it's occurred."
Nothing is perfect for either side in a negotiated settlement, and the court acknowledged that in their remarks. Nonetheless, it appeared to the judges that the appealing lawyers wanted a perfect settlement. They noted that many of the changes recommended by the appealing players were already addressed by Judge Brody and that she had already made some significant changes to the settlement to make it fairer for former players.
The appealing attorneys feel there is a conflict between players that are injured now, and those that will manifest injuries in the future and they want to send the settlement back to Judge Brody to make sure there is some form of compensation for the milder injuries that are associated with CTE - even though they acknowledged it cannot be diagnosed in living players.
In reference to this, the Court asked an interesting question when they said: "So now the settlement's going to be watered down by every field goal kicker who's depressed is going to be part of the settlement now? Isn't that going to do great harm to the folks that are part of the class that have really awful brain injuries?
The lawyers for the appealing players didn't have much of a response to that question.
Even though settlement will not benefit all 20,000 of the players that fall under the agreement, the court recognized the fact that only one fourth, or 5,000, actually filed lawsuits claiming injury and they also made mention of the fact that players appealing the settlement had the opportunity to opt-out and continue their litigation against the NFL. They noted that only 200 players had opted-out of the settlement and that an overwhelming majority of former players accepted it and as such, it was an indication that the settlement was "good."
Basically what the Judges were saying is that any former player that thought they had a good case against the NFL and wanted a more "perfect" settlement should have opted out and continued their fight against the NFL.
The lawyers for the appealing players tried their best to say that the settlement was too complicated for most of us to understand and that was one of the reasons for a low opt-out, but if that were true then why did over 2,000 players opt-out of the NFL publicity rights class action settlement? That's ten times as many players!
I have no idea how the Third Circuit Court will rule on the appeals. All I know, is that if the court denies their appeals, I would hope and pray - for the sake of the guys that are currently battling dementia, ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease - that the lawyer's and the players drop any further appeals of the settlement.
It's a good settlement, but it's not perfect. I can live with that, but unfortunately, their are some former players that can't. I just hope they understand that time is not on the side of the players that have serious cognitive impairments. Our alumni brothers have waited long enough for a final resolution of this litigation.
