A unified lawsuit on behalf of more than 2,000 National Football League players has been filed against the league in federal court, alleging that the NFL failed to acknowledge and address neurological risks associated with the sport and then deliberately failed to tell players about the risks they faced, according to attorneys representing former players.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, unites the more than 80 pending lawsuits filed against the NFL.
“I firmly believe the NFL could have and should have done more to protect Ray. That’s why I am seeking to hold the NFL accountable,” Mary Ann Easterling, widow of former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, who committed suicide in April after suffering for years from dementia, said in a press release. “Having lived through Ray’s struggle, I desperately hope and pray others can be spared the pain and suffering we have endured – and still endure every day.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy acknowledged the filing, but added that there was nothing new to the claim other than that it merges them all in one place.
"Our legal team will review today's filing that is intended to consolidate plaintiffs' existing claims into one "master" complaint," he said. "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. It stands in contrast to the league's many actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions."
However, many NFL players have claimed they suffer from a variety of injuries because of concussions without really knowing the severity of how badly they could be hurt playing the game.
“The NFL must open its eyes to the consequences of its actions,” Kevin Turner, a former running back for the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles who has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, said in a press release. “The NFL has the power not only to give former players the care they deserve, but also to ensure that future generations of football players do not suffer the way that many in my generation have.”
Lawyers representing the NFL players cited "dementia, depression, reduced cognitive ability, sleeplessness, early-onset Alzheimer’s, and a debilitating and latent disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy" as some of the specific injuries caused by head trauma in the NFL.
“Instead of protecting the health of its players, the NFL’s response to this epidemic of brain injuries was to engage in a campaign of deceit and deception, actively concealing the risks players faced from repetitive impacts,” Christopher Seeger and Sol Weiss, co-lead counsels for the former NFL players, said in a press release. “This case is about providing security and care to former NFL players who have suffered these devastating neurologic injuries, and making the game safer for generations to come.”
Read more about the NFL's concussion problem:
NFL to require sideline test after head blows
Former NFL players: League concealed concussion risks
Film aims to show football's culture of playing despite concussions
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
what a joke!!!!!!! if they did not know there was a chance of ijury in a VIOLENT sport, thne they should have e vidently stayed in college!! Anybody see the inteview with Lester Hayes, one of the hardest hitting players EVER, and he is 100% against this lawsuit.... Football players should get their own insurance policies, and quit trying to blame someone for getting hurt. Leave the NFL alone, it is struggling as it is!!!
So being tackled to the ground by other dudes isn't good for you?
To me, this is like smokers who sue the tobacco companies because they ended up getting lung cancer
Give me a break. More garbage to bog down the courts. Don't they make enough money?
What a heaping crock this is. The NFL is supposed to pay for all of this? WHOSE CHOICE WAS IT TO PLAY FOOTBALL? Were these men FORCED to play football? It has been regarded as a dangerous sport FOR YEARS. What a precedent this would create; everyone in the WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS will sue for every injury that occurs. If you CHOOSE to play sports and/or engage in other thrill-seeking or potentially dangerous behaviors, it's your CHOICE and YOU are ultimately responsible for the consequences. What a pithy, whiny NATION OF VICTIMS we have created and THE MEDIA continues to ENABLE.
You guys who defend the game should be ashamed of yourselves...what you are defending are actions of parents who buys the football for the little boy then tell him to learn to ignore the pain and play through it (be a man)...tell me what child of 8 or 9 years old have you ever seen or met that has never touched a football picked up one and was will to be hit by two or more people just for holding the ball....the players that are sick are sick because of years of lies...what insurance company will insure a high school if the truth was truly known....and for smoking excuse me have you seen the ads, yes those people carry a lot of the responsibility....i got one for you, lets start running ads that say being hit repeatedly on the head will cause you a deadly illness and lets see how long your f ing sport last.
This is almost as stupid as smokers suing tobacco companies when they got cancer.
The problem is that brain-dead juries will give the players a win.
It's a sad game with a sad result.
I always heard that football players were dumber than a bag of hammers. This proves it.
If they didn't know the risk of potential head injury then why is the game played with a helmet?
Cry me a river, football is a contact sport, did these tools think they wouldn't get a bell run once in a while? This country is way too sue happy for its own good. I guess these former players validated their d-bag status. Give me a ton of money to play a game and I will be grateful not a loser.
Boxing is next...pathetic
Thats why they are called dumb jocks......anyone that thinks banging their heads together and being at the the bottom of a dog pile of 250 pounders is good for your health........you already have problems with in your brain buckets ! Reminds me of people that jump off tall buildings then sue the city for putting a sidewalk there to hit at the bottom ! Why are these people are allowed to breed ?
Just a bunch of washed up broke players trying to make some cash off the N F L. Uh duh you think bashing heads so much can cause brain damage. You opted to play morons!
They knew the risks, but wanted the paychecks and/or famae and fortune. Now they want money?
I don't know of any players who first started playing when they joined the NFL. All started as young children, played in high school and college before being recruited. Were there no head trauma risks then? Why state that the NFL was the point in which they should have been warned: I appreciate that the hits are harder in the NFL, but these risks existed throughout their football careers. Apparently they can't get enough money suing their parents, high schools and/or colleges.
Good point. How can the players as plaintiffs establish that their head injuries weren't caused during their childhood, during Pee Wee football, junior high football, highschool football, college football, etc., etc.