Do no harm: Who should bear the costs of retired NFL players’ medical bills?
Once again, that's not possible without a law change. The easiest way to change the law would be to include football players with entertainers/stage performers, like strippers, and make them ineligible for comp.
If they're not eligible, then you could consider avenues like a players union fund etc, but as is, if they're workers, which they are, then the comp system trumps those courts regardlessly.
If you have insurance for example, your insurance claim will be denied if your medical report reads the injury occurred at work. They can't pay it, the insurances don't lapse and comp has to make its decision before anything else happens.
If denied by comp, then you can pay with your insurance given your claim was found not eligible, like a heart attack at work - it's commonly denied by comp but has to go through the channels before regular health ins can pick it up.
It would be the same with any players union fund unless the law changes to remove NFL players from the status of workers to entertainers, like filthy strippers