Portis, Culpepper among 83 players suing NFL over concussions

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 14, 2013, 2:11 PM EDT
AP

The latest lawsuit against the NFL over concussions includes former Pro Bowlers Clinton Portis and Daunte Culpepper as plaintiffs.

The Washington Times reports that Portis is the lead plaintiff in an 83-player lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Portis recently said he played through concussions “all the time” during his nine-year career with Denver and Washington.

Culpepper, who played for the Vikings, Dolphins, Raiders and Lions, and former NFL running back Cadillac Williams are among the 82 co-plaintiffs.

The NFL is now facing dozens of lawsuits, with a total of more than 4,500 plaintiffs, from former players who say their lives have been adversely affected by brain injuries suffered on the field.

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34 responses to “Portis, Culpepper among 83 players suing NFL over concussions”

  4. And this ladies and gents, is why all the tackling rules are being turned into abominations and why football is dying a slow death. If the NFL would have manned up years ago to up the pensions for these guys who have brain issues for the entertainment of the masses, there would be no lawsuits. Blame the owners for their greed. But also blame the two-faced players who signed up for a dangerous sport for the money, and are now surprised there were consequences.

  5. In some cases, the headline should read “…among broke players suing the NFL by using a lame excuse”.

  6. Just another way to collect some money. And then we wonder why NFL is becoming a flag football league

  7. Im usually for the players, but not in this instance. They knew what they were signing up for, and most lies when they did have concussions. Now they see a chance at more money and are jumping at it. Greedy

  9. These plaintiffs can be described as the following:

    Players who used to be rich, then blew all their money and realized they will need to work the rest of their lives to survive because they didnt manage their money properly, see one last ditch opportunity for a money grab that may potentially spare them a life of working or facing poverty.

  10. Unless they were forced to play football when they had head injuries, they should have NO claim at all.

  11. Was the first time you suited up when you became a Pro player or did you start in a pee wee league? Want to REALLY know what this is. This lawsuit is a “I’ve spent all my millions like a fool, and now I’m broke so let me go after my former employer cause I needs money.” Since they cant control their own spending, the NFL ought to pay these guys like an annuity does, so much a year for 20-30 years! THEN they would have something and wouldn’t be broke! Oh wait, Drew Rosenhaus wouldn’t be a mega millionaire then would he.

  13. Didn’t Culpepper sign a deal for like 100mill? Both were rich and squandered their money , now they want more because they were irresponsible . You have got to be kidding me.#whatajoke#

  17. I just don’t get why everyone assumes they’re broke. I think the point of suing is that the NFL intentionally underrepresented the long-term health ramifications of concussions (or made too little effort to identify their existence), leading players to believe that little or no concern need be given to them (shake it off, wuss). Had the NFL identified these risks and helped players qualify the risks, they would have no right. That said, some of these players do not need the money. But they have the right to help future players by forcing the NFL to seek or and acknowledge them.

  18. Washed up has beens looking for more money. Move along and go die some sort of dishonorable death cause these fools and lawyers are ruining our sport.

    If we could just ban all lawyers from this country.

  19. I thought the NFL had 50,000 pages of evidence showing the Saints intentionally caused every injury for 2009-2011. They couldn’t name a single player that got hurt or a single player that got paid or a record of a single payoff for causing an injury, but they were guilty nonetheless, because Roger said so.

  20. Hard to understand as a fan that any player can be suing when they know the risks and want the risks. Players aren’t concerned one bit when receive the pay day in their careers . No ne twisted their arms to continue to play when they received the first concussion. Judge should shake his or her head and throw these out of the courts.

  21. These clowns waste all there money, now they want to Sue somebody. No one told these clowns to make it Rain at a strip club. Smdh.

  23. Can we link this article to the previous article of Portis saying how he used to NOT tell the coaches when he got a concussion?

  24. A friend of mine has problems with his knees now that he has been laying carpet for the past 25 years. Can he go and sue the companies he worked for now?

  25. Hypocrites. If they knew then what they know now, they still wouldn’t have given up the game. Especially the money they were making. That definitely would’ve adversely affected their lives.

  26. My mental state has “been adversely affected” by sitting in a cube all day. I think I have some lower back pain from my chair. My eyes kinda hurt from the monitor. Now this would be all fine had I been paid millions to do my job.

  27. As someone who watched the hilariously incoherent Cadillac Williams interview from the 2005 NFL draft, I can pretty safely say that he suffered quite a bit of head trauma before he ever touched a football in the NFL.

  32. Rule changes to eliminate contact are not going to solve the issues related to long-term damage to player health.

    The NFL (league office, team owners, and NFLPA) needs to annually invest money into engineering R&D that is something along the lines of what they expect taxpayers to spend on stadiums. They need to do this to protect the long term health of their business, in addition to the health of the players.

    And … considering how good our nation’s people and our nation’s public universities have been to the NFL, this kind of investment in engineering programs, scholarships, and research would be a nice way for the NFL to say thank you to America.

  34. Missing the point:

    Are there broke players looking for a pay day? yes. Are there guys that knew the physical (non brain) impact of playing football?Yes. Are there guys, that didn’t know, that when you “see stars” after a play, it’s considered a grade one concussion? Not many players, even today realize that. How many times do you think any FB player see’s stars? Once a week? Cumulatively, how many does that add up to, over an NFL career?

    Back when the majority of these players played, and when they did receive a grade 2 concussion. There was never a neurologist on the sideline, like they have today, they saw the sideline orthopedic! And most of the time, they had to play the following weekend, so not to lose their job. Now they have players sitting out months, before returning.

    The issue they are suing for, is related to the NFL’s disclosure of concussion data, all the while promoting more violent hits. (When did they know?)

    Remember the NFL Crunch Course video’s in the 80’s, which glorified the most violent hits? If they knew the the long term effect of violent hits, but failed to inform the players…all the while promoting/profiting from bigger hits. Do you think there is a slight conflict of interest to say the least?

    Like the smoking industry was in the 50’s/60’s. Tobacco knew the long term health impact of smoking, but chose to keep it under hat, so they could profit from it’s usage. How many years did the smoking industry keep their data to themselves? How many people died before they were sued to disclose their findings?

    More questions:
    How do you think the NFL determines the shoe brand, the player must wear? Do you think that the NFL awards the shoe contract because they are the safest or best shoe available? Or is it based upon who strokes them the biggest check? Same goes for understanding the NFL’s decision process in choosing Riddell. (preferred helmets used) I personally want to know…were they the safest available, to help protect the players? Or was the decision based upon which company could write the biggest check? If the NFL’s decision was based upon money and not Riddell being safest helmet available… but still required all teams to use them. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s worth a lawsuit to find out.

    A lot of comments are right on target, regarding, the rags to riches to rags, ego driven NFL players. But on this particular lawsuit, like the cigarette or asbestos industry lawsuits. I want to know if they knew and when. And what steps they took, after they had the data.

    I believe this suit will get settled soon. If the NFL has to open up its kimono, the public will get to see the good, bad and ugly. Because they have such a great product. The NFL will try to avoid the exposing any more of its ugly.

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