NFL, former players in $765 million deal to settle concussion suit

By Scott Malone

BOSTON (Reuters) - The National Football League has agreed to pay $765 million to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of former players, many suffering from dementia and health problems, who accused the league of hiding the dangers of brain injury while profiting from the sport's violence.

The deal announced on Thursday comes a week before the NFL begins a new season and could resolve a long-running concern for team owners, who faced the prospect of a possibly lengthy trial that could have delved deeply into how well the league understood the toll that football can take on its players.

Sports business experts described the settlement, which will be paid out over decades, as a modest amount of money for the NFL, believed to generate total revenue of $9 billion or $10 billion a year.

But they also said the more than 4,500 former players who brought their case in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania could have a struggled to prove each plaintiff's health problems was a direct result of years on the playing field.

"It would certainly seem to be fair financial terms to the NFL as an enterprise, especially given how difficult this lawsuit has been from a PR and perception viewpoint on both the NFL and the sport of football," said Robert Boland, professor of sports management at New York University. "This is a very positive end for the NFL."

In recent years, there have been a spate of suicides among current and former NFL players, including Jovan Belcher, Junior Seau, Ray Easterling and Dave Duerson. While none of those deaths could be directly connected to football, violent and erratic behavior is consistent with symptoms of a condition tied to the repeated hits to the head that players endure during games and practices.

A growing body of academic research shows those hits can lead to a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can lead to aggression and dementia.

The research has already prompted the NFL to make changes in play, including banning the most dangerous helmet-to-helmet hits and requiring teams to keep players who have taken hits to the head off the field if they show symptoms including gaps in memory or dizziness.

"This is an important step that builds on the significant changes we've made in recent years to make the game safer, and we will continue our work to better the long-term health and well-being of NFL players," said NFL Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pash.

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NFL, former players in $765 million deal to settle concussion suit