thank you for watching. and until tomorrow, i wish you a very good night. tonight, stunning allegations. former nfl players accusing the league of discriminating against black players seeking compensation through its concussion settlement program. >> i'm looked at differently, and it pisses me off. >> losing a formula where black players start at a lower cognitive level than white players. >> that's literally the definition of systematic racism. >> now the abc news investigation, the two players accusing the league of using a double standard. >> it was no white or black thing. we lost together, we won together. >> and what the league is saying tonight. this special edition of "nightline," "blind-sided," will be right back.

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good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, just days away from football's biggest night, the abc news investigation shining a different light on the nfl. two black former players suing the league, accusing it of racial discrimination in concussion-related settlements and revealing stunning allegations in their first tv

interview. here's abc's ryan smith. >> stop! >> you heard that? >> yes, we all did. >> reporter: this is the morning routine for former nfl defensive lineman kevin henry, crippled with pain from his time playing in the league. >> my wife usually wakes me up. i wake up usually throbbing. she'll massage me for about an hour. sometimes i stumble, i may even fall. >> reporter: henry and pam say life has become a constant struggle, marked by depression, memory loss, bouts of anger, all associated with dementia-related illnesses which henry believes stem from repeated blows to the head. >> football doesn't give you an expiration date, you just expire. both ankles, both knees, both

elbows, both wrists, all fingers broken, 10 concussions or more, i've had at least 17 surgeries. 17. and i'm still getting them. >> did you feel like you had some sort of impairment from playing football? >> yeah. i'm not myself, ryan, i'm not myself. >> reporter: henry was further devastated after his claim for compensation through the nfl's concussion settlement program was denied. now, for the first time on camera, with abc news, henry and another former player, naze davenpo davenport, are talking about the lawsuit, accusing the nfl of avoiding claims by using a formula discriminating by race, using a formula with black layers starting at a different level than white players, making it harder for black players to

qualify for compensation. the league calls the lawsuit entirely misguided. >> i want to be looked at the same way as a white guy. we bust chops together, bro. it wasn't no white or black thing. we lost together, we won together. >> reporter: for henry, growing up in small-town mississippi, the nfl was his ticket to success. after attending mississippi state university, he was drafted in 1993 by the pittsburgh steelers. what was it like to play in the nfl? >> it was hard, man. i ain't going to even lie. it was easier to get there than to stay there. you have to do whatever it takes to stay up there, stay on that field. >> kevin henry in there -- >> reporter: henry played for eight seasons, making 14 career sacks, even going on to play in super bowl xxx. but at the age of 33, the bright lights of the stadium and the roar of the crowds came to an end. and like many other former players, henry struggled in

retirement, battling what he suspected were the long-term effects of the concussions he sustained on the field. >> i get a lot of headaches. every morning, i have a headache. it's just a number of things, man, that a player goes through, man. after football, life after football is not fun. it's not fun. >> who wants to live like that? it's horrible. it's just sad to see. it just breaks my heart, it really does. >> rep un ncne aut hlfuenry and wife turned to the landmark 2013 nfl concussion settlement program. which paid eligible former nfl players suffering from the lingering effects of multiple head injuries. in 2017, henry went in to get a battery of tests to measure his cognitive functioning, assessing language, learning, and memory. >> this doctor said that he believes that there is something

going on, and he was going to turn the report in. he was saying in so many words, like his -- like there is something wrong. >> reporter: a doctor determined that henry was suffering from a cognitive decline consistent with mild dementia, and as part of the process submitted a claim to a settlement administrator. what was the result of the claim you filed? >> i was denied. >> reporter: the administrator rejected henry's claim, questioning whether his performance on the tests were valid and asserting that the doctor, quote, used inappropriate norms. henry's doctor did not use that race-norming adjustment. >> we're asked to function in our daily lives like normal human beings without any disruption. and not be compensated for it. >> reporter: two years later, henry says with his health worsening, he went in for another evaluation with a neuropsychologist.

this clinician used that nfl-recommended formula that took into account, among other things, henry's race. and this time, the neuropsychologist found that henry didn't qualify at all. >> every time the ball is snapped, it's a car crash for me. and there's no white, black thing in that. they don't hit me less because i'm -- i'm black, or harder because i'm black. it's the same thing. >> reporter: the nfl's confidential manual on the concussion settlement program recommends clinicians adjust test scores for factors like age, gender, education, and race. the so-called full demographic correction. it's a controversial practice known as race norming. in medicine, it's supposed to help doctors make better diagnoses by using race to make assumptions about a patient's background. >> race is just a bad proxy to use. it's too crude, it's too ill

defined, and it also has this history of being used for very abominable ends. i think we're in a period today where everyone is being called to take account of racism and to turn their practices into anti-racist practices. and so there's a reckoning in all professions, i think, and disciplines. >> reporter: the nfl defends using the practice, saying it helps clinicians estimate how much damage has been done to a player's brain during their careers. the league says these adjustments, quote, were developed to correct rather than perpetrate racial bias in neuropsychological tests. how did you react when you learned that there was a different standard being used for black players to get benefits as compared to white players? >> i felt so betrayed, and i still feel that way. two different systems? how can that be okay?

white people should be upset too. not just me. not just black people. because if the shoe was on the other foot, you wouldn't like it. >> reporter: the nfl points out the settlement was, quote, agreed to by all parties with the assistance of expert neuropsychological clinicians, and it relies on "widely accepted and long-established testing and scoring methods." critics say the use of race norming in the nfl establishment is neither necessary nor fair. >> i did think that this was an especially egregious form of race correction, because it plays on the idea that black people are naturally less intelligent than other people. >> do you think that you suffered cognitive impairment or cognitive decline as a result of playing football? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: naze davenport is a coplaintiff with henry. have convenient port, a former

nfl running back, played seven seasons, mostly for the green bay packers, before retiring in 2008. >> after the nfl you were experiencing memory loss, had some anger issues. how had you changed from playing in the nfl to after? >> i was never a quick fighter, i was more a happy go lucky guy. i was getting in trouble, getting in fights, getting in confrontations. >> reporter: when davenport learned there might be money available for treatment, he sought the help of dr. charles golden, another neuropsychologist working with the nfl. dr. golden says he did not use the race-based demographic correction. >> was your understanding that the correction was required? or that it was recommended? >> no, it was -- at least when they talked to me, it was clearly just recommended. when i was hired to do this, i asked them. i said, do i have to use a certain set of norms? and they said, basically, no,

you have a choice, and it's up to your clinical decision. >> in your expert opinion, does najhe suffer from cognitive impairment? >> yes, he does. he qualified at level 1.5. it impairs his ability to concentrate, to think. it impairs his social ability to interact with other people. that has the secondary effect of leading to things like irritability and anger and depression. >> reporter: the settlement administrator approved dr. golden's conclusions. but the league appealed. >> they said, why didn't you use the black norms? and i wrote back, basically, i didn't use the black norms because i felt it was unfair to apply one set of norms to one of the player groups and another set of norms to another group of players. >> reporter: in response to questions from abc news, the nfl said that it does not play a role in independent clinicians' examinations and the league does

not require clinicians to adjust for race, and any corrections are left up to the sound discretion of the clinicians. golden says he did use his professional discretion, but was rejected anyway. still, he believes he did the right thing. >> i wouldn't cheat on the criteria that they had. we followed them. >> reporter: the nfl said in its appeal, quote, davenport's functional impairment may be as a result of factors other than cognitive loss and claimed dr. golden calculated test scores with improper demographic norm adjustments. >> that's clearly the definition of systematic racism, with this race norming stuff. >> you know if it was intentional, but i think there were people who were aware, likely, that if you use the black norms, black players would be less likely to qualify. i think they would justify that, in their defense, that they would argue that those were more

accurate scores. in my view, the brain functions the same in all of us. >> reporter: in raising his concerns about use of race forming, dr. golden is not alone. coming up next, the emails abc news obtained from clinicians who evaluate nfl players, regretting what one calls their culpability in a racially discriminatory system. >> i'm looked at differently. and it pisses me off. new neutro® skin balancing! 3 made-for-you formulas with 2% pha exfoliate and condition for soft, balanced skin. find the one. neutrogena® start your day with crest 3d white and from mochaccinos to merlot, your smile will always be brilliant. crest 3d white brilliance. 100% stain removal, 24 hour stain resistance to lock in your whitest smile. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,...

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♪ i'm beat up. and the part that you don't see is up here. you don't see how my brain is

beat up, up there. >> i want them to pay. i feel that you disrespected the shield. something you put so much value on. i feel you should pay. >> henry and davenport have filed a lawsuit alleging the nfl's concussion settlement program discriminates against black players. they're taking aim at a formula that could determine which football players have enough evidence of brain damage to receive compensation. >> a lot of people didn't know that this so-called demographic correction, this use of separate scales for black and white players, was being applied. they didn't know that it artificially altered the scores of the black players so that they couldn't qualify for benefits. >> reporter: attorney sy smith represents both henry and davenport. >> whenever a clinician, a neuropsychologist, tries to use something other than black norms for black players, white norms for white players, the nfl has consistently attacked those clinicians because they haven't

used those black norms for black players. >> reporter: emails obtained by abc news appear to show multiple clinicians agreeing with that assessment. several neuropsychologists who work with the nfl privately discussing the lawsuit say they felt factoring for race was all but required under the program. one saying if they didn't use the racial norms, there would be multiple inquiries levied at them. another writing about their required reliance on racial norms that, quote, bottom line, do discriminate against black players. a third even expressing regret at, quote, their culpability in this inadvertent systemic racism issue and saying, as a group, we could have been better advocates. >> the two named plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleging discrimination got results based on a test that didn't include race that showed that they were owed damages for their injuries. and that's what should have

stuck. >> reporter: in the case of najeh davenport? >> why, nfl, did you then appeal that decision in order to discriminate against them? >> reporter: with their lawsuit, henry and davenport are seeking damages and asking the court for a declaration that requiring race norming in the settlement would be illegal. >> i'm not an ignorant guy, i'm not stupid. so why are you judging me like that? when it comes to compensation on this concussion lawsuit, i'm looked at differently. and it pisses me off. so let's change the system, man. if you -- if we change the system, then everybody would be compensated. make it a fair system. >> reporter: the nfl has received around 3,000 claims for compensation from former players, and already paid out more than $800 million, about 1 in 3 claims are approved. but the nfl has repeatedly

denied requests to release demographic data on program payouts, making it impossible to determine whether this formula has skewed awards because of race. >> we've asked the nfl, we've asked class counsel who represents the settlement class for that information, and they haven't told us. >> reporter: abc news was able to obtain a data analysis that suggests the impact of the practice could be significant. an nfl affiliated clinician recently analyzed cognitive tests from a group of 94 black former players. when the clinician interpreted the scores as if the players were white, 34 qualified for compensation. but when the clinician applied the nfl's recommended demographic adjustments, only 10 qualified. >> the effect of using this race norm for the nfl is that it drastically limits the amount of damages they're going to have to pay out. it's almost the classic definition of racial discrimination. using race as a basis of denying

benefits to a disadvantaged or subordinated group because of race. >> reporter: the league says it continues to be fully committed to paying all legitimate claims and defended their protocol, saying cognitive tests without adjustments were misdiagnosing black test-takers as cognitively impaired up to three times the rate as white test takers. >> the takes everything in me to keep from crying, man. >> reporter: henry says he'll continue fighting, not just for himself, but for the players who continue to suit up every sunday. >> when you hear the nfl say, we stand against social injustice, we stand against racism, black lives matter, what do you think? >> liars. they're liars, man. it sounds great, don't it? we stand with you! boy, that sounds good. that's going to be a group of

guys going to come behind me. i'm coming out for them. they don't think they need me, but they need me now. you need me. you need me speaking out, because you're going to need me later. they're going to do you just like they're doing me. >> our thanks to ryan. we'll be right back with the final note. it's a beautiful reflection of every single thing you've been through in life. ♪ which is why dove body wash renews your skin's ceramides and strengthens it against dryness. ♪ for instantly softer smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. renew the love for your skin with dove body wash. ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so dad bought puffs plus lotion, renew the love for your skin and rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion puffs bring soothing softness and relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed.

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you can find the full abc news investigation into the nfl concussion settlement program at abcnews.com. that's "nightline" for this evening. we'll see you right back here, same time tomorrow. thanks for the compapapa, ameri. good night.