The NFL has said it will stop settling concussion lawsuits using a race-based formula that assumes black players have lower cognitive function than whites.
America’s top-flight football league also pledged to review previous brain injury claims that have been settled via the practice known as race-norming.
Two black players filed a civil rights lawsuit over the practice.
Ken Jenkins, a retired black player who has been heavily involved in the litigation, told the Hill: “This is classic systemic racism. Just because I’m black, I wasn’t born with fewer brain cells.”
“Relied on widely accepted and long-established cognitive tests and scoring methodologies”.
NFL has defended its standards in the past.
Christopher Seeger, the lead lawyer representing former NFL players in settlement negotiations, has apologised for past comments that he had “not seen any evidence of racial bias”.
More than 2,000 former NFL players have lodged dementia claims, but fewer than 600 have received compensation.
