No Benefits for Ex-NFL Player With Head Trauma

Thursday, August 1, 2019 | 0

A former pro football defensive lineman is not due workers' compensation benefits for head injuries because the statute of limitations had passed, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

Al Noga
(Twitter image)

Alapati “Al” Noga, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1988 to 1992, also did not show that at the time he was tackling running backs, science had established a connection between concussions and long-term neurological disorders, the court held, according to the opinion and a news report.

The decision reverses a Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals ruling that Noga was due total permanent disability benefits.

“We conclude that, in this case, the Vikings’ provision of care for Noga’s head injuries did not constitute a proceeding that prospectively satisfied the statute of limitations,” Justice Natalie Hudson wrote.

The NFL at the time Noga played didn’t have a protocol for dealing with head injuries or possible concussions.

Noga, who later played for the Washington Redskins and Indianapolis Colts, filed a workers’ compensation claim in 2001 in Minnesota for orthopedic injuries. He was reviewed by a doctor who wrote that Noga’s orthopedic and neurological issues, including blackouts and headaches, could be attributed to injuries incurred while playing for the Vikings, a Minnesota news site reported.

Noga’s claim was settled and he received an award for the orthopedic injuries in 2004. Because Noga knew about his neurological symptoms in 2004 and because the Vikings became aware of them then, the six-year time frame to file a claim had started, a compensation judge determined.

But Noga also argued that because the Vikings and team physicians treated his headaches with pain relievers at the time he played for the team, they waived the statute of limitations because they acknowledged that he had a neurological health issue stemming from the injuries. The Vikings argued against that assessment.

By 2011, Noga was declared legally blind and was diagnosed with dementia. In 2015, he filed a workers’ compensation claim for the head trauma.

A compensation judge in 2016 ruled that Noga was entitled to permanent and total disability benefits, but the team and its insurance provider, Minnesota Assigned Risk Plan, administered by Berkley Risk Administrators, appealed to the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, arguing that the Vikings had provided adequate medical care at the time, and that Noga’s claim came after the statute of limitations.

The comp appeals court ultimately found in Noga's favor, but the team appealed to the high court.

Noga's attorneys said the decision could affect other football players.

“We are concerned about the lives and well-being of retired athletes in this state who have suffered Al Noga’s fate: slow, progressive dementia, caused by repeated work-related concussions that occurred decades ago,” Scott Wilson, Raymond Peterson and John Lorentz said in a statement. “The workers’ compensation system was adopted to provide compensation and care for injured workers. Under today’s decision, many professional athletes in this situation will not receive that compensation and care."