Bills waive Everett, freeing him to seek NFL disability benefits
ESPN.com news services
Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who is walking again after suffering a life-threatening spinal cord injury last season, was placed on the team's waived/failed physical list Tuesday, freeing him to pursue long-term disability benefits from the NFL.
Now that he has been officially waived, Everett may apply for a long-term disability payment of $224,000 per year over the life span of his injury, according to The Buffalo News, which first reported the roster move. An injured player is not eligible for that benefit while still on a team's active roster.
Everett received his full pay of $435,000 last season, his third in the NFL, qualifying him for a full NFL pension. Based on his number of years in the league, he is eligible to receive monthly payments of $1,410, the newspaper reported.
Everett may also apply for a one-time payment of $75,000 as part of the Player Health Reimbursement Plan, according to the report.
In a statement, the team said Everett's progress since the injury "is nothing short of a miracle and is a tremendous example of faith, family and hard work.
"Today we are faced with the difficult decision to place Kevin on the waived/failed physical list, making him eligible to apply for any benefits due him," the team said. "We had numerous discussions with the league in dealing with this process to assist him in the best way possible. Kevin will always remain a Buffalo Bill in the same way that Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and so many others before him are held in the highest regard by our franchise."
Everett was initially paralyzed from the neck down while attempting to make a tackle in the Bills' season opener last Sept. 9. He is now walking on his own since being released from a Houston rehabilitation facility in November.
He visited the Bills' locker room before their final regular-season game and sat with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at Super Bowl XLII.
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