Return to NFL Concussion Settlement

Letter From NFL Concussion Settlement Class Members to Judge Anita Brody

Honorable Senior Judge Anita Brody
James A Byrne U.S. Courthouse 601 Market Street
Room 7613, Courtroom 7-B
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1717

November 13, 2017

Dear Judge Brody:

The undersigned are members of the NFL Concussion Settlement Class. We are retired players, wives and family members who placed our trust in you and your Court. Most of us have pending claims that were filed in the spring. We have tried to be patient and understand that a backlog exists but instead of approvals we are facing deficiency notices, countless delays, and denials.

News coverage has become scant, but we have formed groups that watch your court docket and we are aware of all of the recent filings to secure proper administration of claims in accordance with the written Settlement Agreement and we have seen Co-Lead Class Counsel Christopher Seeger “arm in arm” with NFL Counsel in opposing any action that would provide us any relief. We have completely lost confidence in him and his firm and in view of his enormous fee request, while we continue to wait to see if our claims will even survive, have come to seriously doubt his motives and his commitment to fairly serving the Class he was appointed by your Court to represent.

He personally represents none of us but has shut out input from all other Counsel, including those who were appointed as Class Counsel and Steering Committee members. At the urging of Mr. Seeger, some of us have not retained an attorney and are completely lost as to how to navigate this endless obstacle course.

Often we try to contact his firm with no success. Those of us who are pro se have dealt with the Claims Administrator’s office with little in the way of guidance. We note in Orran Brown’s declaration that he is administering the Settlement in accordance with the wishes of Co-Lead Class Counsel and NFL Counsel. What about the rest of us? We are now part of a Settlement that seems intent on changing the rules that were agreed to in writing.

We are also aware of a November 7, change in criteria that will make it more difficult for our claims to survive.

Your Honor, many of our brethren have died during the time this Settlement was negotiated; some of us became widows during that time. When the Settlement was finally approved we began to feel a ray of hope but that is being extinguished more and more each day. Some of us are dying; we are sick, we are dealing with depression and anxiety that has spread to our families. Some of us have lost our homes; some of us will in the near future without relief. We do not wish to be a burden to our families and we trusted you with our security, please do not fail us.

We are deeply troubled by your scheduled in-chamber conference with only Mr. Seeger, NFL Counsel and Special Masters invited. This is not a transparent process. We need to know that our own attorneys are being heard; those of us who are pro se would also appreciate a chance to voice our concerns to ensure that a thorough discussion takes place. We also respectfully request that the hearing is recorded and made available on Pacer through the ECF system so that each of us will have a chance to hear the discussion. Likewise we request that our letter to you is filed through ECF as part of the court record.

This is your legacy, and our future. Please, show the concern for the Class that you did early on and restore our hope.

Sincerely,

Bobby Abrams

Benjamin Adams

Mary Lou Andrie

George Andrie

Darryl Ashmore

Dave Baran

Aaron Beasley

Umme Beasley

Sean Berton

Kenny Blair

Mary Beth Blair

Matt Blair

Mindi Blanchard

Darrius Blevins

Brent Boyd

Greg Boyd

John Brodie

Sue Brodie

Jay Brophy

Greg Brooks

Mary Brooks

Megan Brown

Reggie Brown

Robert Bubba

Hillary Butler

Leroy Butler

Vidal Carlin

Cathy Carpenter

Charles (Chip) Myrtle

Connie Carpenter-Myrtle

Dee Castile

Tim Castile

Bill Cesare

Sherman Colquit

Dan Cody

Sarah Cody

Rudolph Council, Jr.

Benjamin Davidson

Kathleen Davidson

Lorraine Dixon

Rickey Dixon

Kathy Doak

Jennifer Duggan

Debbie Fellows

Ron Fellows

Kaylie Fogle

Allison Foreman

Jamal Foreman

Amanda Gocong

Chris Gocong

Dena Hamilton

Ruffin Hamilton

Bernardo Harris

John Harris

Kellie Harris

Jim Hart

Mary Hart

Matthew Hatchette

Jelani Hawkins

Dawn Heimburger

Manny Hendrix

Penny Hilton

Doug Hollie

Charlotte Homan

Dennis Homan

Donald Horn

Darrell Irvin

Sandra Irvin

Honor Jackson

Travis Jervey

Emily Kelly

Rob Kelly

Claudia Keyworth

Margaret Lefko

Marc Logan

Lynne Long

Wade Manning

Leonard Marshall

Sammy Martin

Janet Dinsmore McCoy

Michael Merriweather

Brett K. Miller

Alvin Moore

Jamar Nesbit

Tara Nesbit

Dawn Neufeld

Ryan Neufeld

Edna E. Osborne

Susan Owens

David Palmer

Ed Pelot

Robert Pena

Christi Pilgrim

Christie Price

Garland Radloff

Wayne Radloff

Kinley Richardson

Slade Roberts

William Roberts

Julian Roland

Scott Shanle

Luis Sharpe

David Sims

Charlie Smith

Andrew Stewart

Sharon Stewart

Gerry Sullivan

Liz Nicholson-Sullivan

Dennis Swilley

Chuck Thomas

Jesse Tuggle

William Van Huesen

Lyle West

Kelly Wheatley

Karyn Williams

Darryl Williams

Bethany Wirgowski

Permanent link to this article: https://advocacyforfairnessinsports.org/nfl-concussion-settlement/letter-from-nfl-concussion-settlement-class-members-to-judge-anita-brody/