The United States Supreme Court on Monday denied a request to review the N.F.L.’s settlement with retired players who had accused the league of hiding the dangers of head trauma, paving the way for some players with brain ailments to begin receiving payments of as much as $5 million.
The decision ends a contentious five-year fight between the league and many former players, some of whom are suffering from Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other debilitating conditions. The settlement, worth perhaps as much as $1 billion, covers nearly every former player for the next 65 years; the league’s actuaries estimated that just under 30 percent of them could develop Alzheimer’s or other conditions covered in the settlement.