PHILADELPHIA — An effort to compensate professional football players for the possibility they will develop brain disease from repeated head hits was met with open skepticism from federal appellate judges Thursday as they weighed whether to reverse a lower-court ruling excluding the claims.
The lower court had approved a settlement in April that would pay up to $5 million to retirees who have severe neurological conditions stemming from their years in the N.F.L., but the court kept out a class of players who had argued they should benefit from the settlement because in the future they may develop a disease, most commonly chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.