The families of debilitated former N.F.L. players say the league is obstructing their access to an estimated $1 billion settlement over concussions by reflexively rejecting valid claims and bogging down the process with unreasonable demands.
The families and their lawyers describe a succession of roadblocks as they try to claim payouts, from as little as a few thousand dollars to potentially several million dollars, to help thousands of retired players left mentally infirm, in some cases severely, from years of hits and tackles on the league’s fields.
When the league agreed to the settlement several years ago, retired players were told that they could expect speedy payouts, assuming the diagnoses for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other ailments covered in the settlement were in order.
But the N.F.L. installed so many safeguards and trapdoors into the deal, lawyers for the players said, that in the eight months since the court-approved administrator of the settlement began accepting claims, many players have been forced to spend months scrounging for paperwork they did not think they had to keep, finding new doctors to confirm established diagnoses and lodging time-consuming appeals.
The requests, the league said, are part of its efforts to deter potential fraud and do not represent foot-dragging or a lack of will to help the sick men. But as a result, the players now accuse the nation’s richest league, with $14 billion in revenue, of trying to wear them down so they accept smaller payouts, or none at all.
Stewart, who was in the league from 1989-93 and now lives in Canada, received a Parkinson’s diagnosis nearly a decade ago and has been receiving aid from two N.F.L. benefit plans. But to receive money from the settlement, he was required to get a diagnosis from an American doctor.
