WOOD ARTICLE 29.1 (DO NOT DELETE) 12/12/18 3:48 PM
20 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW [Vol. 29:1
and their families suffer, they’re gonna get nothing for that.”
While the
agreement does allow for it to be revisited every ten years, there is no “legal
guarantee” that CTE will ever be “included [in the settlement] as a
[re-compensable] recogniz[ed] condition . . . .”
Perhaps the greatest irony of the settlement terms, however, is that the
ramifications of the 2006 cut-off date will be to exclude a large number of
former players from recovering under the settlement, “including those whose
deaths sparked the outrage over the NFL’s actions.”
This means that the
families of players “[w]ho died or killed themselves for reasons related to brain
trauma, may not collect a thing.”
For example, while the families of Dave
Duerson and Junior Seau, both of whom committed suicide and were later
diagnosed with CTE, would qualify for coverage under the settlement, the
family of the man whose diagnoses started the awareness of the CTE problem,
Mike Webster, is unable to receive a dime.
It also leaves players currently
suffering from certain symptoms of CTE without a remedy.
A case on point is that of former defensive lineman, Joe DeLamielleure,
who is currently sixty-seven years old and played in the NFL for thirteen
seasons from 1973 to 1885, for both the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland
. Patrick Hruby, Concerns Mount Over NFL Concussion Deal, WBUR 90.9 (July 26, 2014),
http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2014/07/26/hruby-concussion-nfl-cte (Bill Littlefield speaking with Patrick
Hruby).
. Michael McCann, Will New CTE Findings Doom NFL Concussion Settlement?, SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED, Aug. 15, 2017, https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/08/15/new-cte-study-effect-nfl-concussion-set-
tlement.
. Barry Petchesky, The NFL’s Concussion Settlement Is a Disaster, DEADSPIN (Sept. 20, 2013),
https://deadspin.com/the-nfls-concussion-settlement-is-a-disaster-1356127608. CTE coverage could be
added to the settlement at a later date, perhaps as soon as the mid 2020s. See Class Action Settlement
Agreement (As Amended), In re Nat’l Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litig., No. 2:12-md-
02323-AB (E.D. Pa. Feb. 13, 2015). The settlement calls for retired players and the NFL to meet every ten
years. Id. In those meetings, the two sides are expected to evaluate whether the settlement has been effective
and whether changes are warranted. Id. The science of CTE diagnosis could advance over the next several
years. If as credible method of testing for CTE in living subjects were created, the players would have a
compelling argument that CTE should be added to the settlement as a recognized condition. Then again, the
NFL is not obligated to add CTE as a recognizable condition at a later date. The inclusion of CTE testing and
benefits would have to be negotiated with the NFL. The possibility for CTE to later be included as a
recognizable condition is not a legal guarantee. See McCann, supra note 45.
. Id. The settlement agreement does have a loophole for players who died before 2006. Ken Belson,
He Helped Ex-Players Get Benefits. His Family Is Still Waiting, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 13, 2018, https://www.ny-
times.com/2018/01/13/sports/football/nfl-cte-mike-webster.html. While not eligible for payouts under the
agreement, they can seek to sue the NFL if the local statute of limitations, which varies by state, has not run.
Id.
. Jacob Tierney, Family of Former Steeler Mike Webster Get Nothing from $1 Billion Brain-Damage
Settlement, TRIBLIVE (Jan. 13, 2018), http://triblive.com/sports/nfl/13178006-74/family-of-former-steeler-
mike-webster-get-nothing-from-1-billion-brain-damage; Belsen, supra note 47.