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sports Diabierna 22 OctOber 2021

NFL, players agree to end ‘race-norming’ in $1B settlement

(AP) — The NFL and who filed suit, Najeh Daven- to determine payouts in a
lawyers for thousands of port and Kevin Henry. court settlement.
retired NFL players have
reached an agreement to The vast majority of the However, it was adopted by
end race-based adjust- league’s players — 70% of both sides in the court-ap-
ments in dementia testing active players and more than proved, $765 million settle-
in the $1 billion settlement 60% of living retirees — are ment in 2013 that resolved
of concussion claims, ac- Black. So the changes are lawsuits accusing the NFL
cording to a proposed deal expected to be significant, of hiding what it knew about
filed Wednesday in federal and potentially costly for the the risk of repeated concus-
court. NFL. sions. The fund was later
uncapped amid concerns the
The revised testing plan fol- “No race norms or race money would run out.
lows public outrage over demographic estimates —
the use of “race-norming,” whether Black or white — This year, amid the national
a practice that came to light shall be used in the settlement reckoning on race in Ameri-
only after two former NFL program going forward,” the ca, both sides agreed to work was first approved.
players filed a civil rights proposal said. to halt the use of race-norm- “(But) we’re not going to get
lawsuit over it last year. The ing, which assumes Black “The NFL should be re- everything we wanted,” Jen-
adjustments, critics say, may To date, the concussion fund players start with lower cog- ally enraged about the race kins, an insurance executive,
have prevented hundreds of has paid out $821 million for nitive function. That makes norming. …. That should be said Tuesday. “We want full
Black players suffering from five types of brain injuries, it harder to show they suffer unacceptable to them and all transparency of all the demo-
dementia to win awards that including early and advanced from a mental deficit linked of their sponsors,” Roxanne graphic information from the
average $500,000 or more. dementia, Parkinson’s dis- to their playing days. “Roxy” Gordon of San Di- NFL — who’s applied, who’s
ease and Lou Gehrig’s dis- ego, the wife of an impaired been paid.”
The Black retirees will now ease, also known as ALS. The NFL would admit no former player, said earlier this
have the chance to have their wrongdoing under terms of week. Senior U.S. District Judge
tests rescored or, in some Lawyers for the Black play- the agreement. The league Anita B. Brody, who has over-
cases, seek a new round of ers suspect that white men said it hoped the new testing Amon Gordon, a Stanford seen the settlement for a de-
cognitive testing, accord- were qualifying for awards formula, developed with in- University graduate, finds cade, dismissed the suit filed
ing to the settlement, details at two or three times the rate put from a panel of experts, himself at 40 unable to work. by Davenport and Henry this
of which were first reported of Blacks since the payouts would be widely adopted in He has twice qualified for an year on procedural grounds.
in The New York Times on began in 2017. It’s unclear medicine. advanced dementia award But she later ordered the
Wednesday. whether a racial breakdown only to have the decision lawyers who negotiated the
of payouts will ever be done To date, about 2,000 men overturned for reasons that 2013 settlement — New York
“We look forward to the or made public. have applied for dementia aren’t yet clear to them. His plaintiffs lawyer Christopher
court’s prompt approval of awards, but only 30% have case remains on review be- Seeger for the players and
the agreement, which pro- Black NFL retiree Ken Jen- been approved. In some cas- fore the federal appeals court Karp for the NFL — to work
vides for a race-neutral evalu- kins and others have asked es, the NFL appealed payouts in Philadelphia. with a mediator to address it.
ation process that will ensure the Civil Rights Division of awarded to Black men if doc-
diagnostic accuracy and fair- the Justice Department to in- tors did not apply the racial Nearly 20,000 NFL retirees In the meantime, the Gor-
ness in the concussion settle- vestigate. adjustment. The new plan have registered for the settle- dons and other NFL families
ment,” NFL lawyer Brad would forbid any challenges ment program, which offers wait.
Karp said in a statement. The binary scoring system based on race. monitoring, testing and, for
used in dementia testing — some, compensation. “His life is ruined,” Roxy
The proposal, which must one for Black people, one for The awards average $715,000 Gordon said of her husband,
still be approved by a judge, everyone else — was devel- for those with advanced de- “If the new process eliminates who spent nearly a decade
follows months of closed- oped by neurologists in the mentia and $523,000 for race-norming and more peo- in the league as a defensive
door negotiations between 1990s as a crude way to factor those with early dementia. ple qualify, that’s great,” said tackle or defensive end. “He’s
the NFL, class counsel for in a patient’s socioeconomic The settlement is intended Jenkins, who does not have a 40-year-old educated male
the retired players, and law- background. Experts say it to run for 65 years, to cover an impairment but advocates who can’t even use his skills.
yers for the Black players was never meant to be used anyone retired at the time it for those who do. It’s been horrible.”

American Athletic Conference rebuilding with 6 C-USA schools

(AP) - The American Athletic Conference is poaching of its members by wealthier leagues. The American was born in 2013 from the downfall
adding UAB, Texas-San Antonio, Rice, North The American, formerly the Big East, has been of Big East football, rebuilding around mostly C-
Texas, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic to the a feeder conference from Power Five leagues for USA schools. The AAC emerged as the strongest
league, replacing three schools that are leav- nearly two decades. Most recently, the Big 12 an- of the so-called Group of Five conferences when it
ing for the Big 12 Conference and growing to nounced the additions of AAC powers Cincinnati, comes to football during the College Football Play-
14 teams. Houston and Central Florida to replace Southeast- off era. Five times in seven season, the American
ern Conference-bound Oklahoma and Texas. has earned the New Year’s Six bowl spot that goes
The AAC announced the additions Thursday, a to the highest ranked G5 conference champion.
move that it hopes will stabilize the conference The Sooners and Longhorns have said they will
in the short term and allow it to withstand future join the SEC in 2025, but a quicker departure is The AAC targeted schools located in big media
possible. markets and fertile recruiting territory, hoping that
with better exposure and more revenue, they could
The Big 12 has said it is targeting 2023 for the arriv- develop into the next UCF.
al of its new members, which also includes BYU.
The six new schools will join AAC holdovers East
The AAC’s move strips Conference USA of six Carolina, Memphis, Navy (football only), South
schools, leaving that league both searching for new Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita
members and trying to fend off other poachers. State (which does not compete in football). The
The Sun Belt has said it is interested in expanding additions will give the American four members in
beyond its current 10 football members and some Texas. The league office recently relocated to the
of C-USA’s remaining eight schools would be geo- Dallas area after being headquartered in Provi-
graphic fits. dence, Rhode Island.