Call me naïve, but when I watch a
football game, the main point seems to be to knock the guy with the ball
down. Hard. Yes, I am sure there is a lot more to
football, but every time I see a linebacker pile into a running back, it makes
me cringe a little thinking about the amount of pain all the players endure
both in practice and on the playing field.
It should come as no surprise then that
at some point or another, there would be a lawsuit
relating to football-related of injuries.
Injuries, that often do not surface until years after the initial
problem. And here it is: former national
football league players are filing workers compensation claims for the
neurological damage suffered during “butting heads on the gridiron.”
More specifically, while many of the
approximately 700 former NFL players are claiming to suffer from more orthopedic-based
injuries, the wife of a former NFL football player claims that her husband
developed dementia
during his 8 year professional football career.
Workers compensation is a
state-mandated insurance program that provides coverage and compensation for on
the job injuries. California has an
interesting workers’
compensation scheme as it relates to retired professional athletes. In order to be eligible to file a claim, an
athlete needed to have played only 1 professional game in the state to be
eligible to receive lifetime medical care.
A recent LegalMatch
study revealed interest in workers compensation issues on both the employer and
employee side in the more “traditional” work situations. Because there can often be a grey area
relating to injuries (i.e. the how, when, and where they occur) issues relating
to workers compensation claim can become quite litigious.
It is funny how often sports intersect with the law. From contract issues, to negotiations, to workers compensation claims, the law permeates the almost every facet of many sports. This is a particularly interesting case because, in my opinion, I am not sure how much a player should be compensated when he has already made millions in his lifetime. Aside from the assumption of risk argument, there is also the notion that the high salaries should suffice for the medical problems that undoubtly result from such a heavy-contact sports. In other words, this is not a situation where major injuries are unexpected or unanticipated.
By: Violet Petran
