Disabled Players Will Get Benefits Faster

Thanks to the efforts of Mike Ditka, Harry Carson and others, disabled NFL Players will get their benefits faster.

The NFL will speed up the process of getting benefits to disabled former players by using the Social Security Administration's standards for defining disability.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Assn. Executive Director Gene Upshaw agreed that any retired player who qualified for Social Security disability benefits will be automatically approved for NFL disability

Players previously had to wait for as long as two years before receiving benefits, and league records show 284 former players last year received disability payments, totaling less than $20 million, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law scheduled a Tuesday hearing to examine whether former NFL players are receiving adequate financial assistance from the league's benefits program.

Potential witnesses include former Oakland Raiders guard Curt Marsh, who had a foot amputated after his playing career ended; Hall of Fame player and coach Ditka; and Hall of Fame linebacker Carson.

Those two, along with Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure, have complained that the league's pension plan provides insufficient help to disabled former players.

They've also said Upshaw isn't doing enough to help retired players, charges that Upshaw denies.