As discussed earlier, the National Football League (NFL) has officially ended its lockout and teams - including our own San Diego Chargers - have officially opened training camp. However, while the players' union and the owners were able to end the lockout by coming to an agreement on a variety of important issues, they failed to resolve lingering concerns regarding the payment of workers' compensation benefits.

Consequently, both state governments and NFL team owners will still have to cope with the issue of former players filing work comp claims for injuries that they purportedly suffered while playing/practicing in another state in order to take advantage of more generous work comp benefits.

While owners and players will undoubtedly revisit this issue in the future, it remains clear that there are former NFL players who sustained very serious injuries from their playing days, and who both need and deserve work comp benefits.

To illustrate, consider the recent case of Fred McNeill, a former star linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings from 1974 to 1985, who has recently been diagnosed with early-onset dementia.

McNeill, who is seeking work comp benefits primarily to cover future medical expenses, allegedly developed the debilitating neurological condition due to repeated blows to the head from his playing days.

"It's not like he's going after the Vikings per se. Believe me, Fred has no angst against the Vikings," said Tia McNeill, his wife. "There's no anger there. We're still Vikings fans."

Interestingly, McNeill actually became a work comp attorney after he retired from professional football. Unfortunately, his condition forced him to voluntarily forfeit his California law license.

For now, the McNeills are awaiting the results from a recent test at UCLA and hoping for the best.

Stay tuned for further updates from our San Diego workers' compensation firm ...

This post was for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Related Resources:

UPI "Former Viking files workers' comp suit" Aug. 9, 2011