‘This has been a long fight.’ Terry Beasley’s wife reacts to NFL concussion settlement

Monday afternoon, Marlene Beasley went into her husband’s room in their Moody, Ala., home and told him that years of litigation and frustration were close to being over.

Terry Beasley, one of the greatest football players in Auburn University history, was among the former NFL players who filed a lawsuit against the league over head injuries suffered while playing.

“He just closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow,” Marlene Beasley told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer by phone from her Alabama home. “This has been a long fight and it has been frustrating. To think that it is over now is almost surreal.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected challenges to the estimated $1 billion plan by the NFL to settle thousands of concussion lawsuits filed by former players. After years of litigation, that high court decision paves the way for former players like Beasley to get relief, said Beasley’s attorney, Michael L. McGlamry of Pope McGlamry which is based in Columbus and Atlanta.

For families like Beasley’s, it also provides a measure of justice.

“We were hoping to hold the NFL responsible for the things they did to these men and didn’t have any remorse,” Marlene Beasley said. “They had no remorse.”

Beasley played in 29 NFL games from 1972-75, all with the San Francisco 49ers. He started playing football when he was 5 years old. After he finished his career that spanned two decades, he had suffered more than 40 concussions, Marlene Beasley said. Today, he is 66 years old, bed bound and requires constant care, she said.

“He is an example of why we were pushing to go ahead and get something finalized,” McGlamry said. “There are many guys, not unlike Terry’s situation, where their condition is worsening and the compensatory rewards will really be helpful. Marlene is to the point where she is taking care of him. The strains that puts on everything is considerable.”

The compensation Beasley will receive is crucial, Marlene Beasley said.

“He won’t have to worry about his final years,” she said. “And it will allow me to get someone to come in here and stay with him if I need to go somewhere and my son is not available. I can get somebody to come in and do things in house I don’t have time to do because I want to stay with him. ... He is dependent on me and does not like me to be out of the room.”

Beasley’s headaches and pain have been constant since he was in his early 40s, Marlene Beasley said. She compares her husband’s condition to the 2015 movie “Concussion,” which told the tragic story of former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Mike Webster.

“Have you watched the movie ‘Concussion?’” Marlene Beasley asked. “That could have been written about Terry. The headaches are so severe that he has had to be hospitalized many, many, many times — and the seizures.”

Today, Beasley rarely watches football, though he is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. The wide receiver, who was Auburn Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Pat Sullivan’s favorite target, is a shadow of the football star, his wife said.

“I think Terry is about as far removed from that young man that played football at Auburn and with the 49ers as anybody can be and still be alive,” she said.

Beasley suffered multiple concussions before he reached the NFL. The terms of this settlement mean Beasley’s pre-NFL concussion history will not matter, McGlamry said.

“One of the good things about this settlement, and particularly for Terry is, when we ended up settling, we did not have to prove causation,” McGlamry said. “The settlement presumes causation; so, the fact that Terry played three years he will get the recovery.”

Pope McGlamry started five years ago with three former NFL players as clients before multiple federal and state court cases were consolidated into one federal court in Philadelphia. The firm’s first three clients were Ryan Stewart, a former Georgia Tech defensive back who played five seasons for the Lions; running back Jamal Lewis, who played 10 seasons for the Ravens and Cleveland Browns; and linebacker Fulton Kuykendall, who played 10 seasons with the Falcons.

Attorneys for Pope McGlamry have served on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee, the Communications Committee and are co-lead on the Discovery Committee in the coordinated mult-district litigation. There were multiple law firms from across the country who were involved in the litigation. The settlement includes all former NFL players and will remain open in the coming years to cover additional players suffering from head trauma.

Pope McGlamry now represents more than 500 former players in the complex litigation. They include: Quincy Carter, Jets; Lindsay Scott, Saints; Dorsey Levens, Packers, Eagles and Giants; Jamie Dukes, Falcons, Packers and Cardinals; Brent Fulwood, Packers and Browns; Randall Godfrey, Cowboys, Titans, Seahawks, Chargers and Redskins; Alfred Jenkins, Falcons; Reggie Lowe, Jaguars; Shane Dronett, Broncos and Falcons; Chuck Muncie, Chargers and Saints; Stan Rome, Chiefs; Lucius Sanford, Bills and Browns; Lawyer Tillman, Browns and Panthers; Jessie Tuggle, Falcons; Lionel James, Chargers; Aundray Bruce, Falcons and Raiders; Bill Ard, Giants; Terry Peters, Cowboys; Joe Bostic, Cardinals; and Jeff Bostic, Redskins.

McGlamry, a former Hardaway standout, played quarterback at Wake Forest. He was teammates with Ard and played against Joe Bostic and Jeff Bostic at Clemson and Terry Peters at Oklahoma.

“Not everybody retired like Peyton Manning with enough money like to last no matter what happens,” McGlamry said. “ ... Until this litigation was about halfway through, that was the first time this was recognized as something really serious and really happened. ... This is real.”

There are other benefits to the settlement with the NFL in addition to the compensation for former players, McGlamry said.

“What it has done is it has increased the research in these areas; you see rule changes,” McGlamry said. “... But for a lot of guys the hardest thing was to realize this was real and it was happening to them.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "‘This has been a long fight.’ Terry Beasley’s wife reacts to NFL concussion settlement."