……However, as the debate about player safety and injuries burned white- hot the past few years, current players almost uniformly maintained that it was a tough game, they all knew the risks going in, and they understood that the violent nature of the game was essential to it’s appeal…..

Perhaps current players just don’t want to appear “soft” by showing concern for potential injury…..It will be interesting to see if the current generation of players will change their tune when their careers are over…..

You would have to be the most gullible person on the planet if you believe class action lawsuits like this one are about “affecting change.” This is about lining the pockets of the lawyers, and you are exactly the person that plaintiff’s attorneys want on the jury. The attorneys stand to make many millions of dollars on contingency fees and expenses. The lawyers have everything to gain by throwing blood into the water and creating a feeding frenzy. It far less expensive to file a suit like this than it is to defend it. They know that full well, and the plaintiff’s attorneys are more than happy to accept an out of court settlement that still nets them huge profits with even less effort.

The civil justice in this country is spiraling out of control and adds costs to everyone in the at every level. Our system is out of balance. There is no risk to the plaintiff himself and relatively little risk to the attorney. It is sad to say that lawsuits in this country have evolved into a system of institutionalized extortion. Countries with “loser pays” rules and administrative systems to settle civil disputes (also known as nearly all of the rest of the civilized world) still have plenty of justice for those who were truly wronged or injured.

Have no doubt that the former players were volunteers, not victims. They knew that there were risks involved, and they gladly accepted them for the huge paydays and the glory of being a professional athlete.

It is also no news flash that you can get hurt severely when you get hit in the head. A big problem is the fact that football helmets were “weaponized” when the hard outer shell was added. The helmets enable players to hit harder and lead with their head with less risk of injury to themselves. Back when the helmets were leather and there were no face masks, players were less inclined to hit others head first, and they relied on good tackling technique. It has been demonstrated as well that adding padding to the outside of the helmet reduces the risk of concussion and makes headgear less of a weapon. However, the players object to the outer padding on the helmets on purely aesthetic grounds.

I am truly sorry to hear that you have suffered such serious effects from concussions from your football days–it makes me all the more appreciative of how luck I have been.

While I understand your frustration with the way the concussion lawsuits have lined up, I am honestly a bit more suprised that you have not taken the players side on this. As I am sure you are well aware, the NFL is probably the most visible example of football leadership on the planet (The NCAA governs a large number of other sports with a million other issues, and there is no way you can hold a straight face and tell me that USA Football is a visible leader in the sport). By working to further change the way that concussions are handled by the NFL, don’t you think players are working to look out for the interest of others, such as yourself? If the NFL takes the extreme measures necessary to reduce head injuries in their league, what are the odds that those changes trickle down to the lower levels of the sport?

I don’t believe that players are trying to convince anyone that their concussion issues only ever started in the NFL–that would be beyond idiotic. I have to believe that these lawsuits are aimed exposing how long the leader in football innovation, and thus the safety of players at all levels, simply for a few (billion) dollars.

Roger Goodell at a recent player meeting

The fact of the matter is that class action lawsuits often have minimal returns for the plaintiffs involved. As I’m sure Florio, Esq. can detail further, a large chunk of any settlement money that is rewarded goes to lawyers in fees, with the rest split up among the plaintiffs. If these lawsuits do end up netting any settlement, the money awarded to many players will most likely go to covering the high medical bills that many have accrued over the years (When I had only a concussion after a car wreck, I ended up paying approx. $1k in bill AFTER insurance kicked in). There are a staggering number of guys like the late John Mackey who require a large amount of care, and, even with programs like the 88 plan, still have to pay out of pocket.

The main goal of many class action lawsuits is to affect change that otherwise would not occur without monetary penalties to the defendants. The largest tobacco producers in the US didn’t start admitting that smoking was detrimental to health until after they were fined $205 billion in ’98. I’m not naive enough to say that all 1,600 players have joined the lawsuits with progressive reforms to the game as their main focus, but at the end of the day, that will be the biggest result of a settlement in their favor.

We all must take the concussion/CTE issue seriously, as more evidence mounts that the issue is not solely a football issue, but a public health issue (Many soldiers who return from Iraq/Afghanistan and commit suicide are showing signs of CTE, but that’s a discussion/rant for another time). While the NFL is beginning to take steps to reduce concussions, if the drastic measures needed to all but eliminate them from the game (no more kickoffs, no more helmets to reduce reckless play, etc.) are only taken as a result of a class action lawsuit, I am all for it. I know it is heresy to say so, but I would much rather see a safer version of football being played for a long time, than the game end because we weren’t smart enough to make the correct, responsible changes.

Whatever Jamal Anderson, you will have problems down the road because you like to sniff coke off the back of toilets

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Yup-Jamal put up a good year or two then hurt his knee a few times and was gone. I doubt he was ever the brightest bulb in the box on his best day.

Regarding your coke comment from his incident in Buckhead (if I remember correctly), I agree that these guys better be ready to answer some really embarrassing questions about their past because everything in their past should be (and most likley will be) fair game.

My prediction is that this is all settled out of court and the fans end up paying even higher ticket prices to pay off the settlement. Maybe the NFL will just declare bankruptcy to get out of it and re-open shop as the IFL (International Football League) as that is where they are going anyway. Sell franchises in the new league to current owners for $1 or something. Most of the guys in this lawsuit were never big time stars-where is Ronnie Lott, Singletary, etc on the list. These guys blew their money from playing and now want another payday. If they get it, most of the money will be blown in 6 months anyway.

The future of the game is bleak. Between the concussion lawsuits and the other lawsuits former players are putting on the NFL for other medical needs/dysfunctions, the NFL could very well go belly up.

A lot of younger kids don’t play at a young age for a number of reasons, parents can’t afford it, parents rather kids not play, etc., and this brings a smaller pool of potential players up through the ranks.

With all of the lawsuits hitting the NFL, who says this cannot happen at the collegiate level too? Could you imagine public universities that are taking state budget cuts now getting sued for health issues of former student athletes? Hell it could even trickle down to the high school level, who would stop it?

I honestly think that this is the beginning of a slow process that will eventually end the NFL.

This this will be litigated to death and the lawyers will be the only winners. As with all class action suits, the plaintiffs will all get about $875 each when all is said and done.

Nest sport lawyers will be salivating over? Boxing!

As Soon As They Retire: “I cant believe the NFL let me get hit!! Give me money!”

There simply is no conspiracy to “hide information” from the players. They knew that playing professional football came with the inherent risk of many sorts of injuries, including concussions. The potential long term effects of concussions has been public knowledge for decades.

This is a blatant money grab from a bunch of dudes who wasted the fortunes they were paid to play the game and opportunistic attorneys. I haven’t read about any of the plaintiffs being former players who invested wisely and found long term success after football.