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FILE - Former NFL players Ken Jenkins, right, and Clarence Vaughn III, center right, along with their wives, Amy Lewis, center, and Brooke Vaughn, left, carry tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, in this Friday, May 14, 2021, file photo. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
NFL judge: Lawyers for Black players can join mediation

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 03, 2021 06:09 PM EDT

FILE - This Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, file photo shows Pittsburgh Steelers' Najeh Davenport in Pittsburgh. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
NFL pledges to halt 'race-norming,' review Black claims

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 02, 2021 02:23 PM EDT

Former NFL player Clarence Vaughn III, center left, and his wife Brooke Vaughn kiss before delivering tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias

By Maryclaire Dale And Michelle R. Smith May. 14, 2021 01:09 PM EDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 12, 2017, file photo, New Orleans Saints super fan Jarrius "J.J." Robertson, right, accepts the Jimmy V perseverance award with his parents, from left, Patricia Hoyal and Jordy Robertson at the ESPYS at the Microsoft Theater on in Los Angeles. Jordy Robertson, whose seriously ill son Jarrius gained fame in New Orleans for his devotion to the Saints football team, was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday, May 11, 2021, for drug trafficking and for fraudulently capitalizing on his son's illness with a phony charity. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
8 years for dad of Saints 'super fan' in charity, drug case

By Kevin Mcgill May. 11, 2021 06:39 PM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2020, file photo, Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon (25) runs for his second touchdown against the Miami Dolphins during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver. Gordon will likely avoid NFL discipline after his drunken driving charge was dismissed and he pleaded guilty in Denver County Court on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, to lesser charges of excessive speeding and reckless driving. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
DUI charge dismissed against Broncos running back Gordon

Mar. 10, 2021 12:31 PM EST

FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport (44) sits on the bench during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Pittsburgh, in this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, file photo. A federal judge on Monday, March 8, 2021, dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. Davenport was denied an award but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Judge tosses suit over 'race-norming' in NFL dementia tests

By Maryclaire Dale Mar. 08, 2021 11:49 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith appears before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. Cardell Hayes, who fatally shot former NFL star Smith following a 2016 traffic collision, has a bond hearing scheduled Thursday, March 4, 2021, seeking freedom after his manslaughter conviction in Smith's death was overturned because his trial jury's vote was not unanimous. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Bond hearing for man who killed ex-Saints star Will Smith

Mar. 04, 2021 01:06 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith appears before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. A lawyer for the man who fatally shot former NFL star Will Smith in 2016 said Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 he'll seek the man's release on bond now that a Louisiana appeals court has officially vacated the manslaughter conviction by a non-unanimous jury. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Verdict vacated; bond request next for ex-NFL star's killer

Feb. 23, 2021 06:58 PM EST

Ex-NFL player Kellen Winslow II faces 14 years for assaults

Feb. 19, 2021 08:55 PM EST
VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II agreed Friday to accept a 14-year prison sentence for raping a homeless woman and assaulting two...

FILE - In this April 2, 1999, file photo, the late Harry Fujiwara, a former wrestler known as "Mr. Fuji," appears at a movie theater where he worked part time as an usher in Knoxville, Tenn. Fujiwara is among dozens of former pro wrestlers, named as plaintiffs in lawsuits charging that World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries, who are taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Byron E. Small/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, File)
Former WWE wrestlers take brain damage case to Supreme Court

By Dave Collins Feb. 18, 2021 04:16 PM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Jets running back Joe McKnight (25) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. The new trial for Ronald Gasser, convicted of manslaughter in 2018 by a jury vote of 10-2 in the 2016 shooting death of McKnight following a traffic dispute, cannot include a murder charge, a Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Louisiana law allowing convictions on 10-2 or 11-1 votes is unconstitutional, which resulted in Gasser being granted a new trial. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)
New trial in ex-football hero's killing can't be for murder

Feb. 11, 2021 01:07 PM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2020, file photo, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft walks on the field before the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Florida prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge against New England Patriots owner Kraft on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, saying they couldn't go forward after courts blocked their use of video that allegedly shows him paying for massage parlor sex. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
Judge: Destroy massage parlor video of Patriots owner

Jan. 25, 2021 07:37 PM EST

Split verdict conviction tossed for ex-NFL star's killer

By Kevin Mcgill Jan. 12, 2021 01:11 PM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the manslaughter conviction for the man who shot former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith to death in 2016. ...

FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, file photo, Curtis Flowers flanked by sister Priscilla Ward, right, exits the Winston Choctaw Regional Correctional Facility in Louisville, Miss. The NFL says it is honoring Flowers, a Black man from Mississippi who was imprisoned more than 22 years. He was freed in late 2019, months after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the last of his several convictions in a quadruple murder case. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
NFL honors Mississippi man freed after 22 years in prison

By Emily Wagster Pettus Dec. 24, 2020 03:06 PM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2019, file photo, a sign is posted outside of Orchids of Asia Day Spa, in Jupiter, Fla. A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when they secretly video recorded them paying for massage parlor sex acts, barring the tapes' use at trial and dealing a potentially deadly blow to their prosecution. (Hannah Morse/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)
Women plead guilty in sex sting involving Patriots owner

Dec. 01, 2020 05:57 PM EST

In this June 29, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Supreme Court allows antitrust suit against NFL to proceed

Nov. 02, 2020 10:04 AM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2015, file photo, former professional wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka leaves Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown, Pa. A federal appeals court on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, dismissed a lawsuit filed by 50 former professional wrestlers, including Snuka, who claimed World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head trauma including concussions that led to long-term brain damage. (Michael Kubel/The Morning Call via AP, File)
Former WWE wrestlers' lawsuit over brain damage is dismissed

By Dave Collins Sep. 09, 2020 12:59 PM EDT

File-Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Rick Mirer (3) is sacked for a seven-yard-loss by Kevin Henry (76) of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter of their NFL game in Seattle, Wash., Sunday, Dec. 26, 1993. Dementia tests in the NFL concussion litigation allow doctors to use different baseline standards for Black and white retired players, making it more difficult for Blacks to show injury and qualify for awards, lawyers for two ex-players argued in court filings Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Lawyers for ex-players Henry and Najeh Davenport said their clients were denied awards “based on a discriminatory testing regime" that weighs sociological factors including race. Both men would have qualified for awards had race not been considered, they said. (AP Photos/Gary Stewart, File)
Lawyers: NFL concussion awards discriminate against Blacks

By Maryclaire Dale Aug. 25, 2020 05:37 PM EDT

Bowlen family feud trial pushed back from September to 2021

By Arnie Stapleton Aug. 06, 2020 10:09 PM EDT
ENGLEWOOD, Colorado (AP) — The Denver Broncos ownership trial that was supposed to begin next month has been pushed back to next year because of the...

FILE- In this April 30, 2019, file pool photo, Karen Herzog, a Florida Department of Health inspector, shows a photo she took of beds in a room during her inspection of Orchids of Asia Day Spa, during a motion hearing in the Robert Kraft prostitution solicitation case in West Palm Beach, Fla. Florida prosecutors will try to save their prostitution solicitation case against New England Patriots owner Kraft when they argue before an appellate court Tuesday, June 30, 2020, that his rights weren't violated when police secretly video recorded him allegedly paying for sex at a massage parlor. (Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post via AP, Pool, File)
Patriots owner's prostitution case heads to appellate court

By Terry Spencer Jun. 29, 2020 01:33 AM EDT