For The New York Times | Ken Belson and Jenny Sales
The beginning of the end of Zeke Motta’s career as a football player occurred at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in December 2013, when he ran to cover an Atlanta Falcons punt. Two Packer jammers slammed him to the ground and he momentarily blacked out.
He suffered a fracture of the C1 vertebra, which is located at the base of the skull and holds the head up. After two operations, doctors told Motta, then 24, that it was too risky for him to continue playing.
At that point, his physical problem became a financial problem as well, a common story for hundreds of former NFL players who have been injured on the field, especially early in their careers. Because Motta was a rookie when he was injured, he was not eligible for a pension or post-career healthcare from him. And his applications for disability benefits, which are administered jointly by the league and union, have been repeatedly denied.
Now 32, Motta says: “I’m still trying to find my way.” He saved enough money from his brief professional career to buy a home, but the lingering physical effects of his injury have limited the types of work he can perform.
“I spent my whole life playing football and working towards a dream,” Motta said. “To later find out it’s just a business.”
This month, Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Buffalo Bills, went into cardiac arrest and was revived on the field during a prime-time NFL game. His collapse shocked national television audiences and highlighted the possibility of serious danger when playing football.
In just his sophomore year, Hamlin had not reached the three-year threshold for receiving a pension and other essential benefits. The attention his case has generated almost guarantees that the NFL and the Bills will deal with him if he doesn’t play again. However, Motta and hundreds of other players whose young careers were derailed by injury are often less fortunate. They leave the game with damaged bodies and unclear job prospects, and some struggle to get the help they need.
“The collective heart of the world goes out to Hamlin, but the bottom line is that there are a lot of veteran players who leave the league with serious problems,” said Michael LeRoy, a professor of sports employment law at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “People take it for granted that players get attention. But the NFL loves you until you get hurt and then you’re a different person.”
Belinda Lerner, the NFL’s director of Player Benefits and Retired Player Programs, said the league has expanded benefits and retroactively awarded pensions to former players who were previously ineligible.
‘Pain has just become a part of my life’
The NFL and the players union agree on the benefits to which players who are injured and leave the game are entitled. The league’s annual revenue is about $18 billion, and player salaries and benefits are funded by their fair share of that revenue, which the union and league decide how to divide. Whether or not Hamlin tries to return to soccer, his contract emphasizes how little young players earn compared to the stars of the league, even if they are one injury away from losing their job.
Hamlin, selected in the sixth round in 2021, signed a $3.6 million, four-year rookie contract that paid him $660,000 the first year and $825,000 the second, the minimum wages established in the collective agreement. The average NFL salary is over $2 million, and the league’s stars earn well over eight figures a season.
Hamlin’s contract included a standard clause that cut his salary in half if he went on injured reserve, but the union and league worked out an agreement that he would be paid the full amount. If Hamlin doesn’t return to the field next season, he can still get his full $940,000 salary back as part of an injury protection benefit that was expanded in the latest labor agreement.
There are several resources designed to help players who are not fully protected, such as the union’s hardship fund and a network of hospitals in cities where there are NFL teams and players can get annual medical checkups and other care without cost. However, in a sport where runs can be over in a single play and leave players with lasting scars, they are often not enough.
All injured players may request a Line of Duty benefit, a category of disability. Players who get approved receive at least $4,500 a month or $54,000 a year for 7 1/2 years.
“Essentially it’s compensation for injury,” explained Paul Scott, who worked on the NFL’s Players’ Disability Benefit Plan before starting Benefits Huddle, an organization that helps players file claims.
As plan administrator until 2016, Scott fielded calls from players requesting benefits, so he knew firsthand how difficult it was to get approved. Scott commented that only half of the applications for line-of-duty allowance were approved back then. The union declined to disclose what the current approval rate is.
This year, some $320 million will be paid to the nearly 3,200 former players who receive some form of disability benefit, according to the union. “We advocate for a fair process that ensures all players receive equal treatment when they request it,” the union said in a statement.
So far, Motta is one of the applicants who has been turned down by the disability board. Motta said his request for line-of-duty benefit based on the disability plan point system has been denied.
“Because not many players come in with a fractured C1 vertebra, they don’t really know how to assess the symptoms,” he said. “I have neuropathy, tingling, stiffness, headaches. The pain has just become a part of my life.”
Motta received workers’ compensation and sued members of the Falcons’ medical staff for their handling of the injury (the lawsuit was settled out of court). His pain was made worse by sitting at a desk in a customer service job, which is why he now teaches chi kung, a Chinese mind-body practice, and works as a freediving instructor. Next month he will meet with a doctor to present a final appeal to the disability board.
Even for the injured, benefits can be unattainable In 1981, Kenny Blair, who joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted rookie, was injured in training camp. As he jumped to catch a pass, a linebacker hit him in the chest with his helmet, breaking his sternum and sending him into cardiac arrest. Blair spent weeks in the hospital and had a metal plate attached to her chest.
Blair commented that, in order to cash his last check, he had to sign a letter that turned out to be his departure. He never played a game in the league.
Blair doesn’t recall anyone telling her how to apply for benefits and she didn’t qualify for a pension or other benefits for retired players. He became a high school football coach and continues to suffer from vertigo, neuropathy and vision problems.
“It was a dirty play that they sent me off with an injury like that,” he opined. “All I wanted was to play football.”
Cameron Clark, an offensive lineman drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of 2020, collided with a teammate while training in his second camp and collapsed. He lost feeling in his entire body, except for his right arm, for more than an hour. A specialist diagnosed him with a spinal cord injury and told him that if he kept playing football he risked being paralyzed forever.
Clark, who was forced to retire at 24, applied for disability benefits but says they have been denied.
“My career ended due to an injury that occurred at an NFL facility,” Clark said. “I’m not looking for handouts, but it’s a benefit I’ve earned as an NFL employee that I feel entitled to and was denied.”
Whether or not these players’ appeals are approved, the harsh reality evidenced by Hamlin’s injury is unlikely to change.
“Nobody wants this to happen again, both for humanitarian and commercial reasons,” said Nellie Drew, a sports law professor at the University at Buffalo. “It’s the symbol of what the NFL doesn’t want us to think, which is that the game is very, very dangerous.” Zeke Motta of the Atlanta Falcons, who was in his rookie season when he suffered a career-ending injury, trains Richard Critchfield in breathing techniques and chi kung in Vero Beach, Florida on January 24, 2023. (James Jackman/The New York Times). Zeke Motta of the Atlanta Falcons, who was in his rookie season when he suffered a career-ending injury, in Vero Beach, Fla., on Jan. 24, 2023. (James Jackman / The New York Times).
