Concussion settlement upheld by appeals court

More than two and a half years after the class-action concussion lawsuit was settled, it’s now finally resolved.

Via Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the approval of the deal. The three-judge panel wrote that those opposing the agreement “risk making perfect the enemy of the good.”

And that’s a very good point. If the litigation had proceeded, the players would have been required to overcome plenty of hurdles. For starters, a motion to throw out the entire action based on the requirement that all claims be pursued under the Collective Bargaining Agreement was pending at the time the case settled. Even if the players had won that round, they would have faced strong arguments regarding the involvement of the NFL Players Association in the controversial Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee — and ultimately regarding the question of whether and to what extent players would have behaved differently if they’d known the things the NFL allegedly kept from them.

Last month, a potential glitch emerged via statements made by NFL executive V.P. of player health and safety Jeff Miller at a Congressional roundtable. The opponents of the settlement made a big deal about Miller’s apparent concession of a link between football and Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy. The Third Circuit shrugged at the news, saying only that “the NFL is now conceding something already known.”

What isn’t known yet is whether the settlement can now proceed. The opponents may petition the Third Circuit for a rehearing before the entire court. The opponents also have appeal rights before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Either approach would inject further delay into the process, with an even slimmer chance of winning. At some point, the process needs to end; maybe now is the time for that to happen.