Bears demand age cap for pro athlete’s worker’s comp

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Should injured pro athletes be allowed to earn worker compensation benefits until they are 67 years old, like other workers, even if their athletic careers normally would have ended more than 30 years earlier?

That issue is being debated between the Chicago Bears and the NFL Players Association in the Illinois Legislature as one unlikely element of a compromise proposal to end a nearly two-year-long fight over the state’s budget.

The Bears are leading other Chicago sports franchises in backing a measure that would reduce a former player’s ability to tap into workers compensation after a career-ending injury. They want to cap certain payments to athletes at no older than 35 or five years after their injury. Currently they can claim benefits up to age 67, like other workers.

Neither the teams nor players’ advocates will say how much money is at stake. They agree it is not a relatively big pot – while theoretically some could claim millions, most if not all athletes settle their claims for reduced sums up front, the players association says.

Only a handful of pro players filed for the benefit here in the past four years, although the association would not identify them or describe their individual cases.

But one example in the public record of an athlete who claimed this compensation is former Bears offensive lineman Ted Albrecht, a first-round draft choice whose career ended with a back injury in 1982. An arbitrator tried to deny his claim, but an appeals court ruled he was entitled to receive an award based on the difference between his $130,000 Bears salary and what he later earned as a travel agent and sportscaster, which ranged from $87,000 to $36,000 between 1983 and 1986.

The Bears say Illinois’ law regulating compensation is overly generous. They also argue the existing rules attract players from other states to file claims in Illinois.

“Will there be savings? Yes, there will be savings,” said Bears attorney Cliff Stein. But the Bears say the measure is really about being fair to other Illinois workers with longer careers in other fields.

NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah said the benefits provide a lifeline to players whose athletic careers end suddenly – especially lower paid athletes performing just on practice teams or in minor leagues, who may lack sufficient savings and education to fall back on.

“The savings to these (team) owners are negligible whereas the benefits to these players are everything,” Richard Gordon, an attorney who represents NFL players, told The Associated Press.

The change would not limit athletes whose injuries prevent them from holding any job from claiming benefits.