Author Topic: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries  (Read 2485 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Online mystery-ak

  • Owner
  • Administrator
  • ******
  • Posts: 381,871
  • Gender: Female
  • Let's Go Brandon!
2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« on: June 08, 2012, 01:01:37 am »


Newsmax
2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
Thursday, June 7, 2012 11:27 AM


More than 2,000 former NFL players have joined forces in a lawsuit due to be filed on Thursday alleging the league deliberately and fraudulently concealed from players the risk of brain injury from playing professional football.

The master complaint joins together more than 80 lawsuits previously filed by former players on a topic that has generated increasing concern following the suicides of former players such as Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau on May 2.

The 86-page lawsuit was due to be filed at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

"The NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. Any allegation that the NFL sought to mislead players has no merit," the National Football League said in a statement.

Former players complain precautions against brain injury have only been implemented in recent years, and that players from decades past were exposed to long-term neurological injuries as a result of repeated impacts, often returning to play prematurely after suffering concussions.

Joining the lawsuits "will allow the thousands of former NFL players and their families to finally hold the league accountable for its misconduct," the plaintiffs said in a news release.

Among those suing the league is Mary Ann Easterling, widow of Ray Easterling, 62, a former Atlanta Falcons safety who committed suicide in April after suffering from what she suspected was dementia in addition to depression and insomnia.

Also part of the suit is Kevin Turner, 42, a former Philadelphia Eagles running back who says he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which he believes was caused by injuries sustained while playing in the NFL.
Proud Supporter of Tunnel to Towers
Support the USO
Democrat Party...the Party of Infanticide

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:34

Offline Atomic Cow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,221
  • Gender: Male
  • High Yield Minion
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2012, 01:04:38 am »
The lawsuit has no merit.  Injury and the potential for lingering problems has never been a secret in any contact sport.
"...And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange, even to the men who used them."  H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914

"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections." -Lord Acton

Offline Chieftain

  • AMF, YOYO
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,621
  • Gender: Male
  • Your what hurts??
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2012, 01:24:14 am »
The lawsuit has no merit.  Injury and the potential for lingering problems has never been a secret in any contact sport.

I would not go jumping to conclusions on that just yet.  The NFL has plenty of responsibility in both encouraging and enabling injured players to keep on playing while some teams are out paying bounties for dirty disabling hits on players.  The NFL and football for years have systematically ignored a long track record of head injuries and long term damage.  A lawsuit is the only way this can be resolved.


Offline DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,802
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2012, 01:33:13 am »
I would not go jumping to conclusions on that just yet.  The NFL has plenty of responsibility in both encouraging and enabling injured players to keep on playing while some teams are out paying bounties for dirty disabling hits on players.  The NFL and football for years have systematically ignored a long track record of head injuries and long term damage.  A lawsuit is the only way this can be resolved.



I would have to see actuary tables and statistics on what percentage of  cases of dementia and other head trauma accidents occur in the general population.  
Then a breakdown compared to age/race........  In case it could be proven to be genetic predisposition.

There's no doubt years of head banging may have an effect.....but how do you explain the majority who are retired and not suffering these effects?  Luck?

They get paid as professional gladiators in a physical contact sport.  

Maybe if they took away their shoulder pads we'd see less head hunting?
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline jmyrlefuller

  • J. Myrle Fuller
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,326
  • Gender: Male
  • Realistic nihilist
    • Fullervision
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2012, 01:44:15 am »
I would have to see actuary tables and statistics on what percentage of  cases of dementia and other head trauma accidents occur in the general population.  
Then a breakdown compared to age/race........  In case it could be proven to be genetic predisposition.

There's no doubt years of head banging may have an effect.....but how do you explain the majority who are retired and not suffering these effects?  Luck?

They get paid as professional gladiators in a physical contact sport.  

Maybe if they took away their shoulder pads we'd see less head hunting?
Lack of diagnosis may be a factor. One of the big ones, "chronic traumatic encephalopathy," is only diagnosed posthumously, even though its symptoms can show up well before death.

As far as removing shoulder pads and helmets, it's an idea that's been bandied about. Helmets are highly helpful in hockey, where you're playing on a solid surface, but in other sports it doesn't really have much of an effect. Every other code of football, including rugby (the closest analog to American football outside North America), bans hard-plastic helmets, which weren't built for safety but as a quick way in post-WWII America to build equipment that lasted longer. Yet their rate of concussions and other severe injuries is generally lower. Artificial turf is softer now. Gladiator armor is of little help and perhaps greater harm-- perhaps if players are obliged to put more of their body up to the rigors of play it will reduce the speed, just out of the instinct of self-preservation alone.

Another idea that has been bandied about is the one-platoon system (that is, the same players play all three phases of the game-- offense, defense, special teams). It increases emphasis on endurance and reduces the speed of the game. It hasn't, however, been seen since the 1950s.
New profile picture in honor of Public Domain Day 2024

Offline Atomic Cow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,221
  • Gender: Male
  • High Yield Minion
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2012, 01:45:45 am »
I would have to see actuary tables and statistics on what percentage of  cases of dementia and other head trauma accidents occur in the general population.  
Then a breakdown compared to age/race........  In case it could be proven to be genetic predisposition.

There's no doubt years of head banging may have an effect.....but how do you explain the majority who are retired and not suffering these effects?  Luck?

They want to blame every single physical problem on the game.  Now I could fully believe that bad joints, arthritis, and similar aliments are the result of the years of playing, but that is to be expected and I doubt anyone could say the players don't know this.

As for the hits causing long term brain damage; it requires years of study of players, a control group of average people from a cross section of society, and some other group that can be prone to taking a physical pounding such a soldiers who have been injured in combat and/or boxers.

Right now they're saying everything from headaches to ALS is caused by playing football.  While headaches might be, ALS strikes people across all segments of society and there is absolutely no idea what causes it, although for some there is clearly a genetic component as it can run in families.
"...And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange, even to the men who used them."  H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914

"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections." -Lord Acton

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2012, 01:45:54 am »
The lawsuit has no merit.  Injury and the potential for lingering problems has never been a secret in any contact sport.

Exactly.  This is nothing but a money grab on the part of retired players who see all the cash being thrown around in the NFL with huge TV contracts and they want some of it.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Offline sinkspur

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 28,567
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2012, 01:49:47 am »
I would not go jumping to conclusions on that just yet.  The NFL has plenty of responsibility in both encouraging and enabling injured players to keep on playing while some teams are out paying bounties for dirty disabling hits on players.  The NFL and football for years have systematically ignored a long track record of head injuries and long term damage.  A lawsuit is the only way this can be resolved.



Nonsense.  These guys know the NFL can outlast them in court.  What they're likely to get are a few crumbs to get them to go away.

20/20 hindsight is always perfect.  To play a violent game and think it would have no effect is the height of ignorance.

I look at guys like Staubach and Aikman, who suffered numerous concussions, and both have successful careers with no lingering after effects.  Many of these guys suing are simply jumping on what they perceive to be a gravy train.
Roy Moore's "spiritual warfare" is driving past a junior high without stopping.

Online mountaineer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 78,132
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2012, 08:37:18 am »
From the "Too Much Time on Their Hands, or, Don't Legislators Have More Pressing Problems to Deal With? Department":
Quote
Pols want to investigate if Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gehrig’s disease
By Martin Rogers | Big League Stew

More than 70 years after Lou Gehrig's death, a group of legislators have launched a bid to investigate whether the baseball icon really died of the disease that carries his name.

Gehrig passed away in 1941 at the age of 37, following a Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees which saw him play 2,130 consecutive games and win the American League Triple Crown in 1934. It has always been assumed his cause of death was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or what became known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

However, some Minnesota lawmakers are aiming to free up access to Gehrig's medical records in the interests of developing further scientific knowledge about a disease that has recently sparked contentious debate in the medical and sports communities.

A 2010 study suggested head trauma may be a significant factor contributing to symptoms similar to those found in ALS sufferers. Even though experts are adamant that unlocking Gehrig's records would not provide enough evidence to be a real value, a group of politicians led by Minnesota Democratic Rep. Phyllis Kahn are determined to press ahead.

"It is ridiculous not to look at them," Kahn told the Associated Press.

The issue hinges on Minnesota law, which protects the privacy of a patient's records. Kahn believes once a patient has been dead for more than 50 years, the records should be made public unless there is opposition from a surviving relative or a provision made in the person's will.

Kahn believes that because Gehrig suffered from several concussions during his career and was on the Columbia University football team, doctors should have the opportunity to look at whether head trauma played any role in his physical decline.

However, her attempts are being thwarted by the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, which holds Gehrig's records and is refusing to release them, claiming a patient's information should remain private even after death. Gehrig has no surviving relatives who could authorize the release of his records.

While the Mayo Clinic is holding its ground, both Kahn and Gehrig's biographer, Jonathan Eig, claim the Hall of Famer would be in favor of anything that may have a chance of leading to improved knowledge and research on a medical condition.

"My hunch is that he would be all in favor of public disclosure," said Eig, who attempted but failed to access the records for his biography of Gehrig. Eig also told the AP the baseball star submitted himself to various tests to further research into ALS.

Given that Kahn's track record in seeking new legislation shows she is a fan of long shots — she once attempted to lower the Minnesota voting age to 12 — the chances of Gehrig's records being revealed anytime soon may be slim.

Until then, the question remains: Did Lou Gehrig really die of Lou Gehrig's Disease?
Support Israel's emergency medical service. afmda.org

Offline SevenofNine

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 113
  • Gender: Female
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2012, 12:34:51 am »
I did see original report on Real sports on Brynat Gumbel dude making issue on it I think maybe on certain head injuries could lead to Alzehermir and Demteria remmeber former Chicago Bears QB Jim McMahon he came out recently with demteria and there another report remember Mongoo from Blazing Saddle Webster adoptive dad Alex Karras he came out with demertia now they sahying dude has alzehmier

Oceander

  • Guest
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2012, 12:47:43 am »
So let's simply ban all sports where a participant might conceivably receive a head injury.

Online mountaineer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 78,132
Re: 2,000 Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Head Injuries
« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2012, 02:48:34 pm »
So let's simply ban all sports where a participant might conceivably receive a head injury.
There you go. In fact, let's ban life itself, because some day, somewhere, someone might whack his head on something - and it's a matter for the federal gubmint!!
Support Israel's emergency medical service. afmda.org