♪ from the heart in a world like this i've got you you got me ♪ ♪ wide open wide open yeah and now i'm free fallin' free fallin' ♪ ♪ in a world like this where some back down i know we're gonna make it in a time like this ♪

♪ when love comes round i know we gotta take it in a world like this where people fall apart ♪ ♪ in a time like this when nothing comes from the heart in a world like this ♪ ♪ i've got you [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: backstreet boys, and their new cd "in a world like this." it's out now. >> jimmy: i want to thank larry david, naya rivera. apologies to matt damon, we ran out of time. tomorrow night johnny knoxville, logan lerman and music from queens of the stone age. thank you for joining us, "nightline" is next. good night.

tonight on "nightline," dangerous games. hits like this, and this. and this. have helped to make the nfl a multi billion dollar entertainment brand. but tonight, a deal like this and players paying the ultimate price. the settlement may have saved the league, but at what cost to the players? she was married to a man hated by countless americans who they have never met. and tonight, a conversation with george zimmerman's wife to talk justice, marriage, and mistakes. >> i have made mistakes, and i want to own them right now.

and we're on the front lines of the fast food fight with workers striking and big chains competing in our ever-growing super size nation. keep it right here, america, super size nation. keep it right here, america, "nightline" is unbelievable. shhhhh! in our day, we didn't have u-verse high speed internet. yeah, our babysitter didn't have a million ways to serve mom up on a silver platter. we had to count sheep to fall asleep. and i always worried that i was creating an overcrowded sheep farm. in my head... never looked like that farmer took proper care of those sheep. too much? a little. [ male announcer ] connect all your wi-fi-enabled devices with u-verse high speed internet. rethink possible.

from new york city, this is "nightline," with bill weir. thank you for joining us tonight. you know, in my days covering sports, one of the most sobering moments came at an nfl hall of fame weekend entering a hall filled with retired legends in obvious pain. it is stunning to see these demigods shake hands with fingers and gimpy knees, but back then, many of them were behind these famous faces, with the nfl expected to pay out over

3 quarters of a billion dollars to brain-damaged players. but is it enough? and is the toll hidden by this deal? here is abc's dan harris. >> reporter: well, tonight, people are feverishly debating the settlement of a case that could have threatened the very existence of america's secular religion. people believe this is a win for the nfl owners. and arguing about whether attorneys for the former players made a big mistake by settling for "a pittance." let's set aside the analysis for a moment and get to the heart of the manner. remember jim mcman, the brash quarterback who took them to the super bowl? he had spiky hair, and even once mooned a news camera in a helicopter flying over practice. >> i was just scratching myself.

>> reporter: this is jim mcmann today. in the 50s, he has early stage dementia. >> guys will leave me messages, and i erase it, thinking i called them right back. i forget who just called me. >> reporter: mcmann is one of a series of players who sued the nfl saying they have on-field concussions. looking at this film, big blows could be the same as taking a sledge hammer to the head. also involved in this lawsuit, families of players like junior seau, who was alleged to have had a brain concussion. he changed dramatically, his family said, towards the end of his life. >> a lot of things in his life, patterns that we saw, it worried us. his decision-making, his ambition decreased. >> he would sometimes lose his

temper, get angry over very small things. kind of go off the grid for a couple of weeks. >> the man lived for family. that love was so important to him. so for him to take his own life. i can't imagine how severe his anguish was. >> reporter: attorneys for the former players argue the league, which markets its hard hits to avid fans, deliberately covered up the dangers to keep the players on the field and protect their image. a charge jim mcmann agrees with. >> they knew about it, and they didn't tell us. it is just like flat out lying to you, looking in the face and lying to you. >> reporter: and that allegation is a big reason why today's settlement is so controversial. the nfl, which is admitting no wrongdoing here, will not have to open its files and won't be forced to explain things like the so-called mild traumatic brain committee, which was led

not by a brain doctor, but by a rheumatoligist. >> it is a win for the league, because they don't have to face the prospect of really getting down and dirty in court and dealing with documents and what they knew and when they knew it. >> reporter: earlier, i sat down with the attorney who settled the case. in your document, you wrote they glorifi glorifed it, and by settling, did you think you let them off the hook? >> no, if somebody thinks that 60 million is letting them off the hook, the money will be used for the players, and to get medical testing and treatment for the large percentage of the group. so we think we did something pretty amazing. >> reporter: the size of the settlement is part of why it is so controversial. you're talking about $765 million, when you split that among the teams, you end up with

about $24 million a team. this is a $10 billion industry. would you have settled more, potentially? >> i don't think so i think we got all we could have had with the litigation. look, i sued ge, and i didn't get any of their profits. it is not always the case, we got the money we needed and are satisfied by it. >> reporter: here is how the settlement works, the league's 19,000 former players will all be eligible for a medical exam. those with cognitive impairment will get further testing and treatment. and those with serious illnesses will get up to $5 million, a godsend, says kevin turner, a 44-year-old hobbled by mls. >> you can go on with your treatment and not worry about the money. >> reporter: late today, we

caught up with jim mcmann, who agrees, saying getting the money now for the players is worth the trade off of not forcing the nfl to open their files. >> these guys have been suffering for a long time, both financially and mentally, and it is relief for their families. >> reporter: there is another important issue raised today. today, the nfl has not been forced to make changes, to make any new changes going forward, at a time when the players keep getting bigger and the hits keep getting harder. >> this is maybe a soul-searching moment for every man. >> i think it is a social issue. we like violence. that is the bottom line, we pay for violence. we like the ufc and boxing, we like really rough sports, football passed baseball and basketball because of the hitting. >> reporter: while some are declaring a clear win for the

nfl, experts we spoke to said the settlement raised awareness about a long-term issue that is not going away. for the nfl and for the group, they will pause a moment and reflect on the real price of the hits that so many of us love. for "nightline," this is dan harris, in new york. >> thank you, dan. and you who wins in this settlement? what do you think, tweet us your thoughts at "nightline" or @billweir. and now, we have a look at the candid shot with george zimmerman's wife. teen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know some owls aren't that wise? don't forget i'm having brunch with meghan tomorrow. who? meghan, my coworker. who?

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shelly zimmerman stood by her husband's side for the verdict after the explosive trial. but george zimmerman was absent when she was sentenced to a year's probation and community service to a judge about the couple's finances. as we learned later, the united front with the couple who spoke in code to hide theirçó assets w seems broken. >> reporter: shelly zimmerman sat quietly by as her husband was accused and tried for murder. today, she is finally speaking out about her husband, george zimmerman, and their relationship. >> i can't tell you how many nights i have gone -- or laid awake at night just thinking i wish to god these circumstancs s had been different. >> reporter: those

circumstances, shelly says, began even before the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. in an exclusive interview, shelly says she can't explain what was going through her husband's head the night he got into a fight with martin, because she was not home. >> i was staying at my father's house. we had gotten into an argument the night before. and i left. >> reporter: this 26-year-old sat down with kristi o'connor, an investigative reporter who is writing a book on the story. shelly still stands by george. >> do you think george is capable of having profiled trayvon martin and killed him on purpose? >> no. >> why not? >> that is just not his way. >> reporter: on february 26th, 2012, trayvon martin was walking back to a house in a gated community in sanford, florida, where he and his father were staying. trayvon caught the attention of the neighborhood watchman, who called police. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good, or is on drugs or

something. >> reporter: a fight broke out. >> that is when he tried to slam me down. >> reporter: zimmerman fired one gunsh gunshot, and trayvon martin was killed. zimmerman claimed he shot in self defense and was acquitted of manslaughter. after his acquittal, his attorney says he is now an outcast. >> unfortunately, even though he did nothing but protect himself that night, the way the things were visited on him, by the way the case was handled, made him a pariah. >> reporter: but shelly stood by him, even as death threats came. >> there had been so many scary ones, like if george gets acquitted, you will find him hanging in a tree. >> reporter: the couple was forced to run. >> we have been pretty much gypsies for the past year and a half. we lived in a 20-foot trailer in the woods. scared every night that a somebody was going to find us, and that we would be out in the woods alone.

and that it would be horrific. >> reporter: shelly says she felt like she was living in a fish bowl, ripple effects from martin's death extended far beyond the original trial. sparking massive protests across the country. >> justice, now! >> reporter: and shelly zimmerman found herself caught up in the ripples. she admits she lied for george at his bond hearing, hiding how much money they had from a judge. why did you lie? >> fear. >> reporter: of? >> many things. there was just the fear of people knowing how much money we had come into, and that was a lot of money for us. >> reporter: when george was arrested, the donations began to pour in, his lawyer said about $200,000, to help pay for his

mounting legal expenses. their reaction was captured in taped jail house calls. >> after that happened yesterday, he said like -- so many people, kept crashing. >> reporter: but also signs of a wife's growing ambivalence. >> after this is over, you're going to be able to have a great life. >> we will. >> yeah, we will. >> reporter: prosecutors say the couple used a code language to try to keep their conversations about their finances from authorities. for example, calling pay pal peter pan. >> ken is going to go from the peter pan. >> reporter: while keeping track of how much was in the account. >> totaling everything, how much we're looking at. >> like $155. >> reporter: prosecutors say that is code for $155,000.

but only days later, shelly was pleading poverty. >> you all have no money, is that correct? >> to my knowledge, that is correct. >> reporter: were you under any pressure from anyone, george, his team, to lie? >> i'm not going to go into that right now. >> reporter: wednesday, in the same courthouse where her husband was acquitted, shelly pled guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge. >> you know, i can rationalize a lot of reasons for why i was misleading. but the truth is that i knew that i was lying. >> reporter: she has been sentenced to one year probation and 100 hours of community service. >> i answer to a higher power. and i could not live with myself if i didn't just completely come clean. >> we, the jury, find george zimmerman not guilty. >> reporter: yet even though she was there as her husband's

verdict was read, george was not in court when she made her plea. now, we're getting a closer look into their relationship. a hint that the couple's marriage may be in trouble. >> reporter: did you want him to be in court to support you? >> i always want my husband's support. >> reporter: since the acquittal in july, george has been off the radar. but just last week, george visited a florida gun manufacturing plant. it is the same company that made the gun he used to shoot martin. >> do you think it was the right think to do? >> no, i just think that he is under -- or he has been kind of living in a pressure cooker. and he is doing or thinking some things that none of us can maybe understand right now. >> reporter: it is unclear how much time they're still spending together as a couple. are you together? >> i'm not going to answer that.

>> reporter: has this whole experience hurt your relationship? >> yes. >> reporter: do you want to have children? do you want to stay married? >> of course, i want to have children and stay married. >> reporter: with george? >> that is -- something i'm going to have to think about. >> reporter: whether it is with george or not, shelly says she is determined to move forward. >> i want people to realize that i am a human being who is full of flaws. >> reporter: part of that process, she says, delivering a message to trayvon's parents. >> if i could speak to them, i would say that i'm so deeply sorry for their loss. and i can't even begin to understand the grief that a parent experiences when they lose a child. >> reporter: for "nightline",".

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fast food is the theme of tonight's "feed frenzy" as minimum wage workers in kansas city join colleagues across the nation today in a strike for better compensation, there are

walkouts in about 60 cities's causing some restaurants to temporarily close. their goal? the right to unionize. and a living wage of about 15 bucks an hour, more than double the current minimum wage. meanwhile, the fast food chains themselves are competing fiercely to keep consumers consuming. big push for new cheaper items based on mcdonald's success with its dollar menu, taco bell is looking to break into the morning menu with a breakfast taco, filled with buwaffles and sausage, and also a burger, mcdonalds is upgrading the nugget, by throwing their hats into the chicken wing ring. meanwhile, after 30 years of rising obesity rates in america, the numbers remained level this year for the first time in every state but arkansas. and that is a good thing, because more than