ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” Examines NFL Retirement Plan

Twenty-five federal lawsuits against the NFL Retirement Plan “have been filed in the past ten years alone, most over disability determinations,” according to ESPN’s Mark Schwarz in an “Outside The Lines” report on the NFL’s pension system. CCA Strategies Actuary Don Segal: “That would seem to be an unusually high number.” Schwarz cited a U.S. Department of Labor staffer as saying that there is an “active federal investigation into the NFL Retirement Plan.” NFL Retirement Plan Lead Counsel Douglas Ell “confirmed the plan was audited by the Department of Labor in 2005.” Schwarz: “Neither the league nor the (NFLPA) would make anyone available to speak with ESPN on-camera about the NFL Retirement Plan, although they did allow Ell to speak with us on the telephone.” Schwarz cited Ell as saying that “of the 20 federal lawsuits that have come to a conclusion, the NFL Retirement Plan has won all of the significant issues.”

THE PLAN: Schwarz said the NFL’s plan “currently pays $16[M] a year in disability benefits.” Ell called the plan the “most generous disability benefits in the world.” But Schwarz said players told him “these disability benefits are nearly impossible to qualify for and that disqualifications happen arbitrarily and with little explanation.” Former NFL Retirement Plan Physician Dr. Alfred Tria: “I do think the medical doctors should be an integral part of the decision-making process. ... Right now, he does not make the decision at all (in determining benefits).” Schwarz noted the decision is made “by the plan’s Disability Initial Claims Committee, composed of two people who work in benefits: one for the league, the other for the union. If they deadlock, the claim is denied. Claims can then be appealed to the six-member retirement board, composed of three management members appointed by the owners and three player members appointed by the union. The plan contends that since both the owners and players are equally represented there is no bias” (“Outside The Lines,” ESPN, 1/29).