So far, so good, right? America’s favorite league, it seems, takes care of its own. Are you ready for some football? Not quite. While federal judge Anita Brody has given the deal a preliminary go-ahead, a group of seven former players including Super Bowl winners Alan Faneca and Sean Morey is attempting to appeal the settlement before it can receive final approval from Brody later this year. Essentially, they’re arguing that many retirees were inadequately represented during settlement negotiations.

A closer look at their objections and at the proposed settlement reveals the league trying to shirk full responsibility for the public health crisis it caused, maintaining a murky status quo of public equivocation and half-denial.

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It sounds like a lot of money: Under the terms of the deal, former players will receive up to $3 million for a dementia diagnosis; $3.5 million for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease; $4 million for death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE); and $5 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

But those amounts are maximums. The actual awards are subject to a series of reductions and offsets. Former players with fewer than five credited years of NFL experience will see their awards reduced, some by more than half. The same holds true for retirees over age 45—the older players are when diagnosed with one of the above diseases, the less money they'll receive. And all of that comes before legal fees. Earlier this year, ESPN’s Lester Munson calculated that a player who faced dementia after age 60 might end up collecting around $375,000 after costs.

Other loopholes and reductions verge on absurd. While the settlement forbids former NFL Europe players from suing the league, it does not credit their overseas seasons toward award calculations—never mind that getting hit in the head wearing a London Monarchs helmet is biologically the same as getting hit in the head while playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Similarly, retirees who have suffered a single non-football-related traumatic brain injury or stroke will have their awards reduced by 75 percent, even though there’s no scientific reason to assume that a concussion sustained in a post-career car crash would account for three-quarters of a former player’s cognitive or neurobehavioral impairment, and even though NFL team doctors may have increased many former players’ risk of stroke by administering the painkilling drug Toradol in a manner contrary to Food and Drug Administration warning label guidelines for roughly two decades.

Also note: Current and future NFL players are not eligible for cash awards, regardless of their neurological afflictions. The same holds true for players who have retired since the settlement received preliminary approval on July 7—including 27-year-old Seattle Seahawks receiver Syndey Rice, who walked away from football on July 23 due to concussions.