In 2013, the NFL settled a lawsuit with former players for nearly $1 billion to pay former players who have dealt with brain injuries and the long-term effects of head trauma from playing football. It was a landmark settlement and one many hoped would help former players who have had their lives irrevocably impacted by brain injuries from football, but in the years since, many Black players have been turned away due to the practice of “race-norming.”
Race-norming assumes that Black people start with a lower cognitive function than others, and when used to determine whether they have dementia or other issues of a decline in cognitive function, the lower starting baseline causes more Black people to be denied a diagnosis — and in this case, a settlement claim. The NFL announced a new panel to create replacement norms that will be used to reassess all previous claims that were denied to determine who should qualify using a non-racist practice, via the Associated Press.
According to the NFL, a panel of neuropsychologists formed recently to propose a new testing regime to the court includes two female and three Black doctors.
“The replacement norms will be applied prospectively and retrospectively for those players who otherwise would have qualified for an award but for the application of race-based norms,” the NFL said in a statement issued Wednesday by spokesman Brian McCarthy.
It is a positive step, but one that should’ve never needed to have been taken. The NFL’s decision comes after a civil rights lawsuit was filed by two former players against the practice that was thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement, but drew ample attention and a massive petition against the league.
