Over the weekend the NFL Players Association drew a line in the sand over a bill currently being debated in the Illinois State Senate that would sharply reduce eligibility for workers compensation benefits for professional athletes. The bill, reportedly backed by the Bears-owning McCaskey Family as well as Chicago’s four biggest professional sports teams, would reduce the maximum eligibility age from 67 to 35.
The rationale behind the bill stems from arguments that very few professional athletes play past 35 anyway— Tom Brady, who just won the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, is 39— and also that professional athletes make enough money anyway.