Running Head: NFL Player Benefits NFL Player Benefits Ben LaCombe Finlandia University Abstract Section 1: Introduction Section 2: Law Suits The first law suit that should therefore be addressed is the recent 4th circuit court ruling regarding the Bert Bell Player Retirement Plan. As you may recall the purpose of this plan was to help older players receive better pension and disability plans. However, because this plan has to operate within a certain budget as laid forth in the collective bargaining agreement, there are still fine lines to walk. First of all, under the current plan: 2001, appeal to the Board was denied on August 2, 2001. However, this was not a stopping point for Marshall. The plan acknowledged and was paying Marshall permanent disability since his initial doctor’s visit. The new case brought to the 4th Circuit Court involved Marshall suing the Bert Bell Plan for the monetary value of $76,400. Marshall claimed that he had been permanently disabled since his last game with the Bears and that he should receive the money for that time period. Within the plan is the difficult decision of deciding when exactly a player became permanently disabled and unable to work. The NFLPA felt that Marshall was not permanently disabled until his first doctor visit and therefore denied him the money. During the litigation process the court ruled in favor of the NFLPA because Marshall was unable to present any medical evidence which would support his claim of permanent disability. As a result of his constant appeals and litigation efforts since the 1986 ruling, Washington ended up in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit Court sided in favor of Washington and awarded that the NFL pay him a lump sum of $400,000, as well as $1,500 monthly. The lump sum amount is equal to the amount that Washington was entitled to in the five year span since the NFL Disability Plan changed in 1993. At a first glance this seems like a win for Washington,...