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Brain Damage and Statistical Racism in the NFL
Race-norming is blatant racism, and it’s being used to award Black players with less compensation for their brain injuries.
When Amon Gordon began his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns in 2004, he never thought it’d lead to dementia. After a prolific but short career playing for a handful of teams, Gordan, at the young age of 40, is unable to work and is now among more than 20,000 former football players seeking compensation from the league for brain injuries received while active. Unfortunately for Gordon and other Black players (the clear majority of both active and retired players), getting adequate compensation involves first proving you’re more intelligent than the NFL assumes.
Gordan’s dementia diagnosis qualifies him for compensation, yet his claims have been rejected twice for unspecified reasons. He and his wife Roxy suspect a bizarre practice called race-norming might be at play.
