NFP: Former Players Suing League Over Concussions

[cowboyjoe]

July 20, 2011, 07:31 AM EST.

1 Comment
.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Former-players-suing-league-over-concussions.html

A group of 75 retired players are suing the NFL, making an accusation that the league intentionally held back information about the long-term effects of concussions.

TMZ.com reported that the group of plaintiffs that includes former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mark Duper, former New York Giants running backs Ottis Anderson and Rodney Hampton and many others claim that, "The NFL knew as early as the 1920's of the harmful effects on a player's brain of concussions; however, until June of 2010 they concealed these facts from coaches, trainers, players and the public."

 

[burmafrd]

I really doubt that they can prove anything. Its only been in the last 10 years or so that even the AMA has started talking about it. Claiming they knew something from the 20's is just flat out dumb.

 

[THUMPER]

I really doubt that they can prove anything. Its only been in the last 10 years or so that even the AMA has started talking about it. Claiming they knew something from the 20's is just flat out dumb.

I agree, I don't see how they can make a serious claim that the league knew anything about this in the 20s when it didn't appear anyone else knew squat about the long term effects of concussions.

About the closest it came was in boxing where you had guys who were "punchy" after several years of taking shots to the head but even then it was just an observable phenomenon and not based on actual research.

It wouldn't surprise me to find that the league did know something earlier than it started to do anything about it but I don't believe it was part of a "coverup" or anything like that. Usually the players were the ones (myself included) that wanted to go back into the game despite being "punchy" after a concussion. I remember Staubach getting knocked out twice in a game against the Rams and still wanting to go back in against the trainer's advice.

I will say that the league needs to step up and do more to take care of those former players with issues due to concussions but this lawsuit is not the way to get it done.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Give them another one!

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

I find this pretty offensive

 

[jobberone]

Not that long ago if you weren't knocked completely out then you weren't considered to have had a concussion. Well it's been 20-30 years but not back to 1920. And we have taken an interest in this problem for awhile. It is just now becoming apparent how much damage can be done and how serious of a matter this is.

Don't underestimate the sympathy value to a jury though.

 

[ZeroClub]

Concussions come from collisions and football is a collision sport.

This is a tough one.

 

[Hostile]

So if they win it means that all of us who ever suffered a concussion on any level of football can sue that school.

Wonderful. I had 9 of them.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

So if they win it means that all of us who ever suffered a concussion on any level of football can sue that school.

Wonderful. I had 9 of them.

Yeah baby! I'll be suing my High School. And then I will be suing my Middle School. And then I will be suing Pop Warner. I had concussions at all three levels.

 

[TNCowboy]

Injuries cause complications in the long-term? Wow. That's some earthshattering news.

What genius didn't know that getting repeated concussions had to be bad for their long-term helath? It's as dumb as people claiming they had no knowledge of the long-term detrimental effect of smoking. Inhaling smoke into my lungs is bad for me? Really?

Morons.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I really doubt that they can prove anything. Its only been in the last 10 years or so that even the AMA has started talking about it. Claiming they knew something from the 20's is just flat out dumb.

The military starting talking about (actually the veterans) about PTSD
in the 1970s and it now has all sorts of of VA benefits to those who saw war and can't quite function in society because of their horrible experiences.

Snipers, infantry, military barbers, pilots, sailors, cooks, supply sergeants -- ever one who even wore fatigues can claim it and, who are we, the pitiful civilians, to claim these claims are not valid? Well, some have, but they have disappeared and sleep with the fish.

I say the average NFL player will sustain more body injuries than those in the military who sustained no visible combatant injuries but nonetheless are walking around traumatized.

I say treat the ex-players as well as we treat the military veterans.
I have stress disorder syndrome because I half to live in Farmers Branch but the idiots at SS do not believe me.

 

[Hostile]

Wouldn't this also open a door for baseball teams to be sued for Tommy John surgery?

 

[CCBoy]

Former players file explosive concussion lawsuit against NFL
By Chris Chase


http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...e-potentially-explosive-concus?urn=nfl-wp3575



On the day that the NFL may get itself out of one court room, the league learned it may be forced to enter another.

Seventy-five former NFL players filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court this week, alleging that the league has covered up the harmful effects of concussions since the 1920s. Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mark Duper and former New York Giants running backs Otis Anderson and Rodney Hampton were among the litigants in the potentially explosive suit.

TMZ was the first to obtain a copy of the lawsuit. It writes:

The suit claims the NFL commissioned a study in 1994, titled "NFL Committee on MIld Traumatic Brain Injury" and published a report in 2004, concluding there was "no evidence of worsening injury or chronic cumulative effects" from multiple concussions.

And, the suit alleges, it was not until June, 2010, that the NFL acknowledged concussions can lead to dementia, memory loss, CTE and related symptoms. All of the players are claiming they suffered injuries as a result of multiple concussions.

It's too early to tell whether this will be a blip in the NFL's legal history or signal the start of a monumental shift in the game. If the lawsuit gains any traction, it could very well be the latter.

The Big Tobacco lawsuits are one obvious parallel. To be successful, former players would need to show that the league knew about the dangers of concussions and subsequently covered it up...

 

[Stautner]

If anyone thought the NFL was headed toward being a touch football league before, wait and see what happens if these players win their suit.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

'Former players' are really starting to annoy me. The NFL is giving $100m a year for ten years on top of what they already get to get players the medical care that they need.

This punitive nonsense needs to go.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The military starting talking about (actually the veterans) about PTSD
in the 1970s and it now has all sorts of of VA benefits to those who saw war and can't quite function in society because of their horrible experiences.

Snipers, infantry, military barbers, pilots, sailors, cooks, supply sergeants -- ever one who even wore fatigues can claim it and, who are we, the pitiful civilians, to claim these claims are not valid? Well, some have, but they have disappeared and sleep with the fish.

I say the average NFL player will sustain more body injuries than those in the military who sustained no visible combatant injuries but nonetheless are walking around traumatized.

I say treat the ex-players as well as we treat the military veterans.
I have stress disorder syndrome because I half to live in Farmers Branch but the idiots at SS do not believe me.

Is not military disability determined by a military doctor? Yeah you the pitiful civilian are not in a position to review these cases better than they. Or are you now trying to question the integrity of those military officers?

 

[THUMPER]

To be successful, former players would need to show that the league knew about the dangers of concussions and subsequently covered it up...

This is the key and one that I do not believe they can prove.

The league may have conducted a study with bogus results but that does not imply a coverup, at least not legally anyway. The players need to drop this one because they won't win it.

 

[burmafrd]

Is not military disability determined by a military doctor? Yeah you the pitiful civilian are not in a position to review these cases better than they. Or are you now trying to question the integrity of those military officers?

military doctors that stay in more than long enough to satisfy the requirements are there because they are not good enough to practice outside.

And they have every reason in the world to deny benefits since their next promotion will be dependent on their evaluation from their superiors; who have a vested interest in seeing benefits denied.


As regards the lawsuit, it is very unlikely to have much of an effect. They can easily say that nothing in the sample they used showed anything significant. Considering how recently the concusion situation was recognized by the medical world, they have very little chance of winning by claiming the NFL knew this 90 years ago. Or even 10 years ago- how could they when the doctors did not know?

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

military doctors that stay in more than long enough to satisfy the requirements are there because they are not good enough to practice outside.

My father was in the Army Medical Corp for 30 years. I have met many men who you claim 'are not good enough to practice outside.' I am just going to say that this is plain wrong.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Is not military disability determined by a military doctor? Yeah you the pitiful civilian are not in a position to review these cases better than they. Or are you now trying to question the integrity of those military officers?

Me question any authority. Certainly not!
I think all them PTS cases in the military are without question, valid.

That is why war (what is it good for, absolutely nothing!) is so costly in terms of health. Why, one more war and we'll be overwhelmed with such cases. 1 of ever 4 ex military will be walking zombies.

I say support the claims of all PTS and all NFL cases of ex veterans.
I still want my case hear for living in this town, though. It's stressful. Sort of like reading your posts.