Former Melbourne and North Melbourne high-flyer Shaun Smith is set to receive a $1.4 million pay day.
According to the Herald Sun, Smith, 51, is set to earn the payout due to the severity of brain injuries that he suffered during the course of his 109 career games.
As a result of the brain injuries, it was mentioned by MLC (his insurance company) that he has โtotal and permanent disablementโ, and was able to receive the payment.
โThis just proves that concussion is real โ that we are not just making this stuff up." Smith said.
โIโm only the tip of the iceberg.โ
Player agent Peter Jess, who worked with Smith, says most past and present day players wouldn't have been paid out due to the AFL being insured by AMP, and they do not recognise the CTE symptoms.
โThis should be the game changer,โ said Jess.
โIt means you have independent medical experts who say that you can be totally and permanently disabled as a result of multiple concussions suffered while playing AFL football.
โBut if Shaun was insured with AMP he would not have been paid a cent.โ
With recent news that late greats Graham โPollyโ Farmer and Danny Frawley both suffered from CTE symptoms dating back from their playing days, this has become a bigger and much needed talking point.
The 'mark of the century' and some ๐ฑ
Former @melbournefc high-flyer Shaun Smith sure knew how to take a grab. pic.twitter.com/t7iS4nbc93
โ AFL (@AFL) February 8, 2019
