A “significant” amount of the $1 billion-plus the NFL pledged to its concussion settlement fund is being diverted from former players and their families, USA Today reported Tuesday.
“The money was supposed to provide a measure of peace and stability for the wives, widows and children of tormented players who had died young or are fading away in nursing homes,” wrote co-authors Brett Murphy and Gus Garcia-Roberts. “Not disclosed, however, is the significant portion of the fund that is being withheld from those it was promised.”
Some players and/or families have even found themselves owing money.
USA Today highlighted the case of the late Ralph Goldston, one of the first African-Americans to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, and who suffered from Alzheimer’s during his retirement.