WAUKESHA — A Waukesha woman is speaking out about what she believes are unfair barriers preventing some of the NFL's oldest retired players from receiving concussion settlement funds.
Ahdea Jarvis contacted TMJ4's Lighthouse team to share her husband Ray's story, hoping to draw attention to challenges facing players from the 1960s and 70s era.
Ray Jarvis, 76, played for the Detroit Lions in the 1970s — during a time when helmets offered less protection from concussions.
"Just to show you the inside of the helmet, there's no padding on this helmet. None. So there's no protection from concussions," Ahdea Jarvis said.
Ahdea believes the concussions Ray sustained on the field led to health problems that began manifesting when Ray was in his 50s. She says it started with cluster headaches and progressed to what appeared to be a significant cognitive decline.
"It looked like a man who lost his way, totally," she said.
Now living in a Waukesha hospice home, Ahdea says Ray struggles with daily activities. She provided documentation that a doctor diagnosed Ray with dementia last year, which studies show can be a symptom of CTE.
"You can tell I'm struggling," Ray Jarvis said. "It's hard to talk about because you talk about yourself and how it affects you. How it's going to affect you forever."
Watch: Waukesha woman fights for husband's NFL concussion settlement funds
CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by repetitive head trauma such as concussions. While CTE can only be definitively diagnosed through a brain autopsy after death, Ahdea Jarvis believes her husband has the condition.
"With all my heart. He has every symptom, and I believe it with all my heart," she said.
A recent Boston University study of nearly 400 deceased NFL players found more than 90% had CTE. However, researchers noted in the study that the findings shouldn't be interpreted to suggest that the percentage applies to all current and former NFL players due to selection biases in brain bank samples.
Ahdea says Ray applied for the NFL's concussion settlement funds when they became available a decade ago. Ahdea says his application was denied.
"They can say you drank too much or you didn't live your life the way you should have, or it wasn't playing football,” Ahdea said.
Ray’s attorney, Lisa Reppert, says he's eligible to reapply but faces new obstacles.
"He's in hospice right now, so we can't drag him out for a monetary award fund exam. He's just not physically able to do that, and that's one of the requirements under the program," Reppert said.
Reppert represents dozens of retired NFL players and says many struggle to receive settlement funds.
"I think part of the problem is you have almost for every claim submitted you probably have one that's denied or delayed indefinitely," Reppert said.
The NFL declined an interview request but provided a statement saying nearly $1.6 billion has been paid to more than 2,000 former players and their families. The league emphasized that claim decisions are made by independent administrators and medical evaluations are performed by independent doctors, according to the statement.
"It's a billion-dollar industry, over a billion-dollar industry. I mean, come on," Ahdea Jarvis said.
Beyond the healthcare coverage and pension they already receive, Ahdea Jarvis believes her family deserves concussion compensation for their suffering and hopes the NFL will make the process easier for others in Ray's situation.
"I can't tell you how much this hurts me and our entire families," she said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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