Nfl Ordered To Pay Addicted Ex-Player

Motivated by “an incredible pressure to win,” the NFL pushed drugs on former San Diego guard Walt Sweeney and must pay for his lost wages and rehabilitation, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The Bert Bell-Pete Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan was ordered by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster to pay Sweeney a lump sum of at least $550,000 in retro-active pay to 1976, except for six years when he worked, and $4,000 a month the rest of his life. Brewster also ordered the fund to pay Sweeney’s legal fees.

Sweeney, 54, said he thought the decision would prompt other former pro football players to seek compensation for drug habits instigated by the NFL.

“I wasn’t the Lone Ranger in this,” Sweeney told KFMB radio about an hour after the decision was released.

“Every team passed out drugs and there were a lot of guys out there that are as disabled as I am. These guys (NFL officials) spend millions of dollars on lawyers to keep from passing out the billions they have to guys that need it, like me.”

Since January, Sweeney has been staying at the Rancho L’Abri drug rehabilitation center outside San Diego, where he has been battling a drug and alcohol addiction he says was fueled by overzealous coaches and doctors for the San Diego Chargers and the Washington Redskins.

The former All-Pro guard played in the NFL from 1963 to 1976.