Although the football season is over, there is still much going on within the sport. With college stars and professional hopefuls gearing up for scouts to assess their talent at the NFL Combine, the upcoming draft, negotiations in stalemate between the League the Union, and a potential lockout looming, the world of professional football never seems to sit still.
Before sharing a recent bit of news dealing with pro football, South Carolina job accident attorneys want to bring a novel thought to attention. The notion that the word “professional” is often not thought of when players are injured, only that a player will be absent from a fantasy roster or that a player’s absence may affect a team’s chance of winning the next week’s game. Rarely does it come to mind that injuries on the field are on the job injuries, playing football is a profession and when injured while working has serious implications just was it would for a worker at the Port of Charleston.
Amidst all the turmoil between the NFL and the NFL Players Association comes another professional football dispute regarding former Miami Dolphin wide receiver, Kendall Newson. Representatives for the Dolphins are pressing for a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh to reject the workers’ compensation claim filed by Newson for a career-ending knee injury incurred in 2005 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The case was heard last week, but the presiding magistrate has yet to rule on the case.
The Dolphins are claiming the organization and team would face irreparable harm if ordered to pay benefits and medical expenses under Pennsylvania law. The team already has a standing agreement with the NFL Players’ Union to pay similar benefits to those awarded under Florida workers’ compensation laws once players go through arbitration. Dolphins’ representatives assert that the yet to be decided Pennsylvania claim must be stopped in order for arbitration in Florida to move forward.
From Newson’s perspective, the dispute between the League and Players’ Union, which could result in a player lockout, threatens to leave their workers’ compensation claim unresolved. Also, Legal representatives for Newson and the NFL Players Association say there is no precedent for a federal magistrate to halt a state workers’ compensation case. If Newson were to get to benefits in Pennsylvania, he would be entitled to $716 a week, plus his medical expenses.
