The National Football League has agreed to pay $765 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 players and their families, largely closing the legal front in the league's battle against accusations that it concealed what it knew about the dangers of repeated hits to the head.
The settlement, announced Thursday, will be seen as a victory for the league, which has nearly $10 billion in annual revenue and faced the possibility of billions of dollars in liability payments and a discovery phase that could have proved damaging if the case had moved forward.
The league has changed its rules to make the game safer and modified its medical protocols for concussions as mounting scientific evidence in recent years linked head trauma sustained on the field to long-term cognitive damage. Among the terms of the agreement is that the settlement is not to be regarded as an admission of guilt by the league.
"The settlement seems low considering the number of claimants and the severity of their conditions, but it also shows the uphill climb in proving the league was responsible for the players' injuries," said Michael LeRoy, who teaches labor law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The league is keenly sensitive to its public image. It changes the conversation and really lets the air out of the publicity balloon."
The case was widely considered a possible reckoning for the N.F.L., which has been criticized in recent years after dozens of former players were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease similar to Alzheimer's disease. It is believed to be caused only by repeated head trauma. While the settlement closes a legal case for the league, brain trauma among current and former players may continue to vex a sport that embraces violent collisions.
"Settlement on concussions not gonna make up for early death, forgetting kids name and rest of stuff that come w/ brain trauma," the former N.F.L. player Aaron Curry, who was not part of the suit, said on Twitter.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs were eager to reach a settlement because many of their clients have debilitating neurological problems that need attention. Without a deal, a legal remedy might have taken years, with no guarantee that the courts would rule in favor of the players.
"The big picture was we got immediate care to the retired players, and I think we accomplished that," Christopher Seeger, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said.
A court-appointed mediator helped the two sides reach the settlement; it now needs approval from Judge Anita B. Brody of United States District Court in Philadelphia.
The money would be used for medical exams, concussion-related compensation and a program of medical research for retired players and their families. The money, which may not be distributed for many months, will be available to all retired players with neurological problems, not just the plaintiffs. The N.F.L. also agreed to pay legal fees for the plaintiffs' lawyers, a sum that could reach tens of millions of dollars.
The pool of beneficiaries could be smaller or larger than the number of plaintiffs in the case, depending on how many retired players with neurological problems come forward. The settlement does not cover current players.
"Rather than litigate literally thousands of complex individual claims over many years, the parties have reached an agreement that, if approved, will provide relief and support where it is needed at a time when it is most needed," Layn Phillips, the mediator, said in a statement.
The settlement will include $675 million for players or the families of players who sustained cognitive injury. As much as $75 million will be set aside for baseline medical exams. A $10 million research fund will be established. Assuming Judge Brody signs off, the deal could take about 180 days for the players to start receiving compensation, Mr. Seeger said.
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