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.
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Really the amount of money these pro athletes get paid is ridiculous. US service members giving their life for their country get paid chump change. Suck it up or don’t play. Payton Manning 90 Million really.
Please please please put me on that jury...... Men who are paid way too much to play a game that they know is dangerous and they want to sue ! Please put me on that jury....
Within 2 years, there will be no more football.
Most Jocks are idiots to begin with - how did they diagnose dementia as opposed to stupidity ????
And they live longer and have a lower suicide rate than the overall male population in North America. I want to be on the jury too!
They got big money to play and knew they could get hurt playing football, now they want to cash in a second time. Typical of just how low our society has sunk. Who do you think will end up paying the settlement in the long run. Clue...it won't be the owners
I wonder what the players thought would happen to their noggins when they went out to play football?
I thought it was understood that is why they wear helmets and get paid millions of dollars. Frivolous lawsuit.
Really? Like they did not know this was an effect of playing football? Suing for anything and everything is a HUGE problem in our country...wake up!!
Totally rediculous. They should have learned how to hit proprly. Bunch of pansies. At any time these loser could have stopped playing. Every player who signed on to this suit just lost my respect.
I can't believe people are bashing these players. They are treated like cattle to perform for the league. A lot of these guys did make a ton of money. The majority didn't. The league hid the effects of long term head damage and they want to get away scott free. And ignorant morons like the people posting these comments are the reason they might. How dare you side with the NFL in this case. If you are a football fan, you should be supporting your players they same way you did when they were bashing each others skulls in. I'm simply gobsmacked. You people are stupid.
If getting paid millions to play a kid's game, private doctors and therapists, fame and glory, and celebrity status is "being treated like cattle", I wish I were a cow too....
If they didn't know football was dangerous they either were already stupid when they started playing, in probably grade school, or they've suffered brain damage already and can't remember past a few days.
Remember, when you go to a sports event, you don't go to see the owners....you go to see the guys who give you the thrills you get from watching the event. You should definitely be siding with the guys who give you those thrills.
What's next? All the kids that played football should sue their elementary, middle, high schools and colleges? This is an absolutely stupid lawsuit. They were given helmets for a reason. As if you're too dumb to figure out why you were told to put one on before you went out on the field.. COME ON!
Here is the start of the end of NFL franchise.... Quickly...get all those NFL products before they are all gone...
What a bunch of lying cry-babies. Reminds me of baseball players.
Folks do not fully understand the issue, first, the older players played at a time when the consequences of concussions were not known. Mike Ditka and the older retired players just wanted the NFL to pay for their medical expenses. The NFL found out about the effects of head trauma in the 1990s and hired doctors and scientists to show that playing football did not affect the players lives in an attempt to not pay for the retiree's medical. So, orginially like any lawsuit, it started out over a despute over paying medical claims. The NFL allowed this to get out of control, not the retired players.
I guess they were playing against their will.
They made millions, they were warned of the dangers, and once they blew all their money, they come back and sue so they can get more. It doesn't take a rocket science to watch NFL football to realize there are dangers associated with the game. Why do they think they were being paid the big bucks in the first place? Duh!
The NFL is headed toward being the NFFL (National Flag Football League)
It's time to ban the entertainment sport known as "football"