Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Here are two things you can count on in professional sports - careers on average are very short, and within that small window of time athletes get hurt. Those two realities have collided in the Illinois legislature on the issue of workmen's compensation. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would reduce workers' comp benefits for pro athletes in the state. NPR's Tom Goldman reports. TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Illinois is a place of distinction. It has the most nuclear power plants of any state. Twinkies were invented in Illinois. And it's the only state in the union where professional athletes can claim a workers' compensation wage differential until the age of 67. OK, about that last one. Here's what it means. In Illinois, if you get injured on the job and you're forced to take a lower-paying job, workers' comp law says you can collect about two thirds of the difference between what you made before the injury and after. That's the
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