There is alot here to argue about, should the players get paid for concussion injuries or shouldn’t they?

Some people feel strongly that nobody had a gun to any player’s head in the NFL and they would have known full well of the dangers of playing such a rough game. Based on that, and the fact that they were paid, these people don’t feel the players should be compensated for injuries (this case focuses on brain injuries) they received while playing. Others feel strongly that medical evidence has pointed for years that repeated blows to the head causes terrible brain damage and that the helmets were not designed as well as they could have been to protect player’s heads. These folks think these facts, plus the fact that the NFL profitted greatly from the “big hits”, are reasons that NFL players who have suffered head injuries should be compensated under the current lawsuit by over 4,000 current and former NFL players against the NFL and the company who made their helmets. A settlement reached in the suit would also be available to anyone of the 18,000 former and current players in the NFL including the Tennessee Titans.

Both sides mediated a settlement but the Judge denied it saying the proof that it wasn’t sufficiently supported by documentation that she had specifically requested from the plaintiff’s attorneys.  It is unknown why the documentation wasn’t provided to the courts, but attorneys on the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee are reportedly in “open revolt” against the settlement and what they say is a blackout of information from the two attorneys involved in the actual negotiation process. The attorneys on this board represent 10, 100 to over 1000 players involved in the lawsuit yet, when they asked to see pertinent documentation on the settlement negotiations, they were told there was a “gag order” which prevented them from sharing the information.  It is unclear how there can be a gag order preventing attorneys on the same case from sharing information and, in fact, one of the attorneys who felt shut out of the negotiations said such a claim was “bull****”.

The $765,000,000 settlement is in limbo right now.  The Judge expects to get her documentation proving the settlement is appropriate or she can keep denying the settlement.  This could force the plaintiff’s attorneys to keep negotiating with the NFL IF the NFL agrees. They could well decide it’s less costly to litigate the case instead of settlement.