Brumm v. Bert Bell NFL Retirement Plan

Former NFL player Brumm (plaintiff) developed a pre-existing football-related back condition that, combined with a later trucking accident, left him totally disabled; the Bert Bell NFL Retirement Plan (defendant) paid the lower Level 2 benefit rather than the higher Level 1 rate, applying an arbitrator's rule (from a different case) that Level 1 required a single identifiable football injury causing disability shortly after leaving the sport, rather than a cumulative, career-long injury pattern. Brumm sued challenging that interpretation; the district court dismissed his suit, and he appealed.