NFL to stop assuming Black players have lower cognitive functions

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/pa-state-wire-race-and-ethnicity-health-nfl-sports-205b304c0c3724532d74fc54e58b4d1d?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

NFL pledges to halt 'race-norming,' review Black claims

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFL on Wednesday pledged to halt the use of "race-norming" — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.

The practice had made it harder for Black players to show a deficit and qualify for an award. The standards were designed in medicine in the 1990s in hopes of offering more appropriate treatment to dementia patients, but critics faulted the way it was used to assess legal damages in the NFL case.

Wednesday's announcement comes after a pair of Black players filed a civil rights lawsuit over the practice, medical experts raised concerns and a group of NFL families last month dropped 50,000 petitions at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia — where the lawsuit had been thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody later took the unusual step of asking for a report on the issue. Black retirees hope it will include a breakdown of the nearly $800 million in payouts so far by race. They fear the data will never come to light.

"Words are cheap. Let's see what they do," said former Washington running back Ken Jenkins, whose wife Amy Lewis led the petition drive on behalf of NFL friends struggling with cognitive problems. Jenkins, an insurance executive, has so far been spared.

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.

Lead players lawyer Christopher Seeger, who negotiated the 2013 settlement with the NFL, said earlier this year that he had not seen any evidence of racial bias in the administration of the settlement fund. He amended those remarks Wednesday, apologizing for any pain the program has caused.

"I am sorry for the pain this episode has caused Black former players and their families. Ultimately, this settlement only works if former players believe in it, and my goal is to regain their trust and ensure the NFL is fully held to account," Seeger said in a statement.

Both Seeger and the NFL say the practice was never mandatory, but left up to the discretion of doctors taking part in the program. However, the NFL appealed some claims filed by Black players if their scores were not adjusted for race.

"If it wasn't for the wives, who were infuriated by all the red tape involved, it never would have come to be," Jenkins said of the attention being paid to the issue, three years after lawyers for former Pittsburgh Steelers Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport say they first raised it.

The binary race norms, when they are used in the testing, assumes that Black patients start with worse cognitive functioning than whites and other non-Blacks. That makes it harder for them to show a deficit and qualify for an award. Henry and Davenport, for instance, were denied awards but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit, which Brody dismissed in March, calling it an improper "collateral attack" on the settlement. They have appealed the ruling.

More than 2,000 NFL retirees have filed dementia claims, but fewer than 600 have received awards, according to the most recent report. More than half of all NFL retirees are Black, according to lawyers involved in the litigation.

The awards so far have averaged $516,000 for the 379 players with early-stage dementia and more than $715,000 for the 207 players with moderate dementia. Retirees can also seek payouts for Alzheimer's disease and a few other diagnoses. The settlement ended thousands of lawsuits that accused the NFL of long hiding what it knew about the link between concussions and traumatic brain injury.

[Valmy]

Well...better late than never I guess.

[viper37]

Well...better late than never I guess.

I had no idea they had such policy in place...

[Sheilbh]

As Musa Okwonga put it "pace and power" as policy.

[The Larch]

I saw the news on Twitter yesterday (I think from you, Syt) and many people were praising a legal podcast for bringing it up earlier this year and puttting it into the public discussion, as most people had never heard about the topic. Is this a first for a podcast, proving to be part of the public good?

IIRC from the comments, apparently it's a kind of holdover from traditional American insurance policies or somesuch, and also harms black people when claiming a variety of legal indemnities. I'll see if I can dig it up...

As Musa Okwonga put it "pace and power" as policy.

Do you follow him? I recently discovered him from a footie podcast he does and I must say he's quite interesting.

[alfred russel]

Note that this only applies to concussion claims. No change in assumptions when hiring coaches.

[Syt]

IIRC from the comments, apparently it's a kind of holdover from traditional American insurance policies or somesuch, and also harms black people when claiming a variety of legal indemnities. I'll see if I can dig it up...

Reminds me of: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain

Half of white medical trainees believe such myths as black people have thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings than white people. An expert looks at how false notions and hidden biases fuel inadequate treatment of minorities' pain.

[The Larch]

IIRC from the comments, apparently it's a kind of holdover from traditional American insurance policies or somesuch, and also harms black people when claiming a variety of legal indemnities. I'll see if I can dig it up...

Reminds me of: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain

Half of white medical trainees believe such myths as black people have thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings than white people. An expert looks at how false notions and hidden biases fuel inadequate treatment of minorities' pain.

Yeah, it's this kind of subtle, deeply ingrained parts of racism that are not obvious to see but really screw people over, without them even realizing it. Also, redlining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining

I found the podcast, if somebody wants to listen to one hour and a half of 4 lawyers discussing the topic: https://www.alabseries.com/episodes/episode-21-baked-in

Apparently this "race norming" also makes black people receive lower damages in tort settlements as they're deemed to have lower employment opportunities, quality of life, life expectancy, etc.

[Sheilbh]

Note that this only applies to concussion claims. No change in assumptions when hiring coaches.

Although even there US sports are light years ahead of Europe. There's constant discussion of implementing some form of Rooney Rule in England but, generally, black coaches don't even get an interview.

I think in the entire football pyramid in England there have been less than ten black managers/head coaches.

[The Larch]

Note that this only applies to concussion claims. No change in assumptions when hiring coaches.

Although even there US sports are light years ahead of Europe. There's constant discussion of implementing some form of Rooney Rule in England but, generally, black coaches don't even get an interview.

I think in the entire football pyramid in England there have been less than ten black managers/head coaches.

It is my impression that English former football players are more eager to get media jobs than coaching jobs once their careers are over. Maybe this plays a role too? IIRC there are a few French black former football players that are in different stages of beginning their coaching careers, like Vieira and Henry.

[Sheilbh]

As Musa Okwonga put it "pace and power" as policy.

Do you follow him? I recently discovered him from a footie podcast he does and I must say he's quite interesting.

Yeah - big fan. Is that Stadio with Ryan Hunn? It's one of my favourites.

It is my impression that English former football players are more eager to get media jobs than coaching jobs once their careers are over. Maybe this plays a role too? IIRC there are a few French black former football players that are in different stages of beginning their coaching careers, like Vieira and Henry.

Maybe - from a quick Google I think there's only been 5-6 black managers in French football too. Although Vieira is from everything I've heard very highly rated within the City group of teams. But punditry and co-commentary are definitely equally plausible careers in English football for sure. It just feels weird given how many incredibly successful black players there have been across Europe that there have been so few managers.

It's very striking when white ex-players with relatively little coaching experience are given either big jobs or jobs that let them show and develop their skills - that there have been far fewer black ex-players in the same sort of roles. From what I understand they're often not even interviewed which is why there's been calls for a Rooney rule to be implemented.

But I think a large part of that is because of the discourse of commentators and pundits and the media which focus on black players' physical attributes ("pace and power") while they are more likely to praise white players' intelligence or ability to read the game. I think this feeds into a perception at board level in clubs that those white ex-players will make good coaches after doing their badges because of how smart they were as players, while black ex-players are seen as having had raw talent or physical abilities that is difficult to translate into being a good coach. I always wonder if this even impacts young black players being coached - I wonder if they're seen as fitting certain roles in a team more.

One positive thing is that there'd always been talk about this in the way players were talked about as being racially coded - and sometimes it is just accurate (Micah Richards was talking about this and said "my time at City I was all about pace and power! But that wasn't Yaya Toure's game" ). But there was a big academic study of English commentary and punditry which backed it up - there was a huge difference in the amount of time talking about black players physically v mentally. I have since then heard a number of commentators, co-commentators and pundits say they were surprised and they are consciously going to try and do better at it - and I think I have noticed a shift in the last year or two. Obviously ultimately that is just a start but I think because of the study and the empirical evidence it moved it from being sort of meta-discourse about the media to something you could really point to.