Denver-based national sportswriter Eddie Pells was tipped by a source to the names of a handful of former NFL players struggling to get treatment for injuries sustained while playing. One was former Saints tight end Boo Williams. When Pells contacted Williams, it led to a wide-ranging discussion of his chronic pain and frustration in dealing with the league’s disability program for retirees. Williams shared medical reports, brain scans, neurological exams and rejection letters from his applications for benefits. After several weeks of going back and forth, Pells was able to determine that Williams had finally been approved for benefits earlier this year, but the $5,000 a month he was receiving was potentially less than half of what he should be receiving. And there was a compelling case that he really should have been receiving benefits dating to 2009. The story, accompanied by video by New Orleans-based video journalist Stephen Smith and photos by freelancer Christiana Botic and presentation on APNews.com Kii Sato, scored well with customers, with 39,000 views of APNews, among the highest-ranked NFL stories of the week.
NFL disability program leaves retired Saints tight end hurting and angry
Former NFL player Boo Williams poses for a portrait outside of his home in Picayune, Miss., Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Williams needs surgery, medicine and doctors to make the pain subside from injuries he endured during his football career. But he can't afford any of it. The 44-year-old was recently awarded $5,000 a month by the NFL's disability benefit plan. But Williams said the plan and the league have repeatedly mishandled his claims and should really have paid him $500,000 or more over the past 14 years.
AP PHOTO / CHRISTIANA BOTIC