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 Tuesday marked the deadline for players to agree to opt out or
object to the terms of the settlement, before a Nov. 19 fairness
hearing in the case.
"The deal has overwhelming support of the player community," said
Christopher Seeger, the lead lawyer representing retired players.
U.S. District Judge Anita Brody granted preliminary approval to the
deal in June after the NFL agreed to remove a $675 million cap on
payments. Brody refused to sign off on the earlier deal because she
worried the money set aside by the NFL would be insufficient.
Under the revised terms, payments of up to $5 million will be
guaranteed to any retired player who develops the neurological
impairments, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, widely known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
 Payments will be based on a formula that considers years played in
the league and the players' age at diagnosis. The fund is set to
last 65 years from when it is authorized.
"It is nowhere near the deal it should be," Jason Luckasevic, an
attorney who filed the first concussion case against the NFL, told
Reuters.
Despite the concerns, Luckasevic estimated that only two dozen of
his 525 clients would opt out of the deal, freeing them to sue the
NFL on their own.
Despite the widespread acceptance, there remain pockets of serious
concern.
One group of players has asked to modify the deal, arguing it
arbitrarily cuts off payments to those who are diagnosed with a
condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which
is caused by repeated blows to the head and can lead to aggression
and dementia.
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Under the current deal, the NFL will pay $4 million to the families
of men who died from CTE before July 7, 2014. Those diagnosed
afterward receive nothing.
"It makes no sense," Steven Molo, a lawyer representing seven former
players or their families, said of the CTE issue. "There's a whole
group of people being excluded from any meaningful benefit."
The ability to diagnose CTE before a patient dies is only an
emerging science.
The settlement will affect about 20,000 retired NFL players, but
analysts estimate that just 12,500 will participate.
(Reporting by Daniel Kelley; Additional reporting by Steve Ginsburg;
Editing by Peter Cooney)
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