Retired footballers and the NFL reportedly reached a settlement of $1 billion that aims to put an end to race-based adjustments in dementia testing, according to a proposed deal presented in a federal court on Wednesday.

The agreement follows public outrage against “race norming”, a concept that was pointed out after a civil rights lawsuit was filed by two former NFL players nearly two years ago. According to reports from Associated Press citing critics, the practice has resulted in a large number of Black players suffering from dementia not winning awards that were at least worth $500,000. 

What is race norming?

According to a report from Scientific American, the practice had set the precedent to assume that White former players started their career off with a boosted cognitive functioning, when compared to black players. 

Due to this, “if a Black former player and a White former player receive the exact same raw scores on a battery of tests designed to measure their current cognitive functioning, the Black player is presumed to have suffered less impairment, and he is therefore less likely to qualify for compensation,” their lawsuit contended”, the publication said citing the lawsuit.

What are the possible changes?

The Black retired NFL players will now be eligible for getting their tests re-evaluated, or in some cases, claim a fresh round of cognitive testing. 

According to the proposal, which is yet to be cleared by a federal judge, clarified that “no race norms or race demographics” will be used in all future and current settlement programmes.

Brad Karp, the attorney for NFL, said in a statement, “We look forward to the court’s prompt approval of the agreement, which provides for a race-neutral evaluation process that will ensure diagnostic accuracy and fairness in the concussion settlement”, according to reports from Associated Press.

To date, the concussion fund has paid out $821 million for five types of brain injuries, including early and advanced dementia, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS.

Lawyers for the Black players suspect that white men were qualifying for awards at two or three times the rate of Blacks since the payouts began in 2017. It’s unclear whether a racial breakdown of payouts will ever be done or made public.

American football has been historically dominated by Black players. In the active player category, about 70% of the NFL is populated by Black sportsperson while 60% of the living retirees from the sport fall in the same bracket.

(With AP inputs)