21 former players sue NFL over concussions

[Middle Buffalo]

Complaint says the NFL concealed information regarding the effects of concussions on players. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-n...ncussions-miami Yet, current and former players consistently complain when the NFL enacts rules to protect players. Look at James Harrison and his reaction, the reaction of teammates, and ex-jocks in the media when players are fined for headshots. I say, give them nothing. They all say they know the risks of playing when they are active. They probably just realize now that they'll never be able to make six figure incomes outside of football and want another big payday.

 

Remember, it's a business. We hear it all the time from all sides depending on the issue. Unfortunately for the players, they are just an expendable commodity.

[bmags]

I doubt they really did know the long lasting effects of concussions. And all the protections now are not retroactive. You still have players from the 70s and 80s blowing their heads off because they can't take the pain anymore. That's not "just business".

[Kyyle23]

I have a feeling 10 years after Harrison retires, he will realize what he did to his own brain.

[Milkman delivers]

I'm not sure it matters whether or not they knew the exact repercussions of concussions. For a living (and a damn good paycheck), they played a sport that required them to beat the living s*** out of themselves and others. They had to know that there would be long-lasting effects. That obviously won't hold up in a court of law, but in my mind these guys took a risk they understood.

[Balta1701]

I'm not sure it matters whether or not they knew the exact repercussions of concussions. For a living (and a damn good paycheck), they played a sport that required them to beat the living s*** out of themselves and others. They had to know that there would be long-lasting effects. That obviously won't hold up in a court of law, but in my mind these guys took a risk they understood.

You might well be able to get away with that argument starting in about 20 years, when the people who are just starting right now wind up having their bodies collapse under them. The ones who retired 10 years ago though, I can believe that a lot of them really didn't understand the kind of long term damage they were doing mentally.

[StrangeSox]

You might well be able to get away with that argument starting in about 20 years, when the people who are just starting right now wind up having their bodies collapse under them. The ones who retired 10 years ago though, I can believe that a lot of them really didn't understand the kind of long term damage they were doing mentally.

It's a problem that has gotten worse over time as players bulked up, right?

[Milkman delivers]

You might well be able to get away with that argument starting in about 20 years, when the people who are just starting right now wind up having their bodies collapse under them. The ones who retired 10 years ago though, I can believe that a lot of them really didn't understand the kind of long term damage they were doing mentally.

 

I'm just saying that they knew it'd have negative effects on their bodies later in life. Understanding that they could be paralyzed and accepting that, but then getting angry about brain damage because they didn't expect it. Sorry, I'm not feeling sorry for them. As I said, they'll probably win their case. It's like me deciding to smoke knowing full well that I could get lung cancer. But then I find out that smoking gave me testicular cancer and being pissed. I knew there were risks to my body and I took it anyway.

[Balta1701]

It's a problem that has gotten worse over time as players bulked up, right?

Really hard to know that, because the equipment and medical response has changed over time also. Helmet designs have at least slowly changed over the years, but that has also allowed some guys to hit harder. Also, for players like QB's and RB's, the quality of turf/playing surface has probably had a big impact, since a lot of concussions for those guys are from their helmets hitting the ground.

 

Some of the hardest hitters I can remember were guys like safeties or LB, who weren't you know, 340 lb behemoth linemen. Steve Atwater vs. Christian Okoye comes to mind.

[StrangeSox]

I'm just saying that they knew it'd have negative effects on their bodies later in life. Understanding that they could be paralyzed and accepting that, but then getting angry about brain damage because they didn't expect it. Sorry, I'm not feeling sorry for them. As I said, they'll probably win their case. It's like me deciding to smoke knowing full well that I could get lung cancer. But then I find out that smoking gave me testicular cancer and being pissed. I knew there were risks to my body and I took it anyway.

But you may not have been aware of the actual risk levels. Sure, there is always the very remote freak injury, but these head injurious are becoming common-place, life-long debilitating conditions.

[witesoxfan]

It's more like working in a mine, where cave-ins could happen at any moment and kill you or leave isolated for god knows how long, only to find out that working in a mine has been the cause of dementia and migraines.

[iamshack]

It's more like working in a mine, where cave-ins could happen at any moment and kill you or leave isolated for god knows how long, only to find out that working in a mine has been the cause of dementia and migraines.

I agree....these guys didn't sign up to have crazy mental problems when they were in their 40's and 50's, well after they had finished playing the game. They assumed the risk of injury, absolutely, but usually when you're talking about a dangerous line of work, you're talking about only forseeable injuries, as to Wite's point.

 

Just because you agree to participate in a dangerous line of work doesn't mean your employer is then relieved of all form of responsibility and can just say "he should have known better!"

[Middle Buffalo]

Just because you agree to participate in a dangerous line of work doesn't mean your employer is then relieved of all form of responsibility and can just say "he should have known better!"

I agree that the NFL should do more for ex-players medically and financially, but when the contract is up to be collectively bargained, the current players never make their post-NFL careers a major issue. It's a side issue that's easily and readily discarded. The retired players have little to no say in the NFL contract. Is that just managements fault, or should the NFLPA demand that retired players be represented and cared for?