College and school athletes could follow the litigation by former NFL players who have a proposed $765m settlement over head injuries
There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief in Football Nation when the NFL and the thousands of players suing the league for concussion damage reached a settlement, as if fans would no longer be burdened by the pain and suffering caused by the game they love.
They hoped the $765 million deal between the league and the former players who claimed the NFL withheld information about the long-term effects of concussions would buy silence from the daily drumbeat of depressing stories of damage suffered by players. Fans perhaps hoped the guilt they may feel every time they hear of another former deceased gridiron hero's brain being sliced open looking for answers to the end of a short and tortured life would now disappear.
The NFL lawsuit settlement, though, doesn't mean the game of football has survived the concussion crisis. In fact, some observers believe it is just the beginning of a continued wave of stories, lawsuits and calls for a fundamental cultural change in the way the game is played, from Pop Warner to the NFL, as the long-term effects of the damage from blows to the head comes into focus.
"This will be a major issue for years to come," said prominent sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who has represented players such as Steve Young, whose NFL career was cut short by concussions, has been studying concussion and football safety since the early 1990s and is starting a foundation called Athletes Speak to encourage football safety and awareness:
"This has been a ticking time bomb, and we've just seen the tip of the iceberg.
"There will be more books, articles, documentaries and television shows in the months to come focusing on concussions and brain damage. It will keep this issue front and center not only for everyone in football, but for every mother or father that has a child who is contemplating playing the game. And the lawsuits will continue and grow exponentially as more damage is revealed in athletes at every level. Someone will wind up suing Pop Warner (youth football organization)."
Three former college football players filed suit several weeks ago, charging the NCAA failed to tell them of the risks of concussions and didn't do enough to prevent and treat brain injuries. Ben Martin and Chris Walker, who played at Tennessee from 2007-2011, and Dan Ahern, a guard at North Carolina State from 1972-1976, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court.
The lawsuit charges the players are "suffering the dramatic consequences" of the NCAA's negligence in failing to inform and protect players. A similar lawsuit was filed in 2011 in Illinois against the NCAA.
If anything, the NFL concussion lawsuit settlement may prove as an incentive for more concussion litigation.
"The door is still open for lots of future lawsuits," said Fritz Romeus, director of the Seeing Stars Foundation, founded by a group of neurologists seeking to improve the quality of life for athletes.
"We could see even more lawsuits than before because people are more aware of it now. The movement never had much direction until the NFL players filed their lawsuits. A lot has surfaced about concussions and sports over the past four or five years. Parents and players are more aware of their health and the consequences. This isn't going to be stopped because the NFL reached an agreement with a group of players."
Among that group of former players, some of the more than 4,500 who were involved in those combined NFL lawsuits may opt not to be part of the settlement and continue to pursue their own court battle. Just after the settlement was reached, four former NFL players filed suit in federal court in New Orleans claiming they suffered brain damage from football injuries, and the league withheld information about the effects of long-term damage from concussions. They also named Riddell, the helmet manufacturer, in the lawsuit.
Last month the family of a Frostburg, Maryland, State University football player who died two years ago from head injuries during practice filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County, Md., against the school football coaches, trainer and the NCAA, charging that "reckless disregard for player health and safety led to (Derek Sheely's) tragic death."
Steinberg said the NFL concussion lawsuits and the debate over football safety "has not escaped the attention of American mothers. "They start understanding the nature of the risks involved…where there is damage and perceived liability, the lawsuits will continue."
The Sheely lawsuit also named the helmet manufacturer, Schutt Sports, as a defendant. In April, a Colorado family was awarded $11.5 million lawsuit as a result of the damage a high school player suffered in 2008 from a concussion – severe brain damage and paralysis on one side of his body. Riddell was also named in the lawsuit and ordered to pay $3.1 million of the judgement.
The repercussions are being felt beyond the courtroom. It has become a public policy issue. Last month, the New York state attorney general issued a consumer alert stating that marketing claims by helmet manufacturers about "concussion-proof" helmets are misleading and warned parents that no helmet can fully prevent a concussion.
"Concussion is not an NFL issue," said Dr. Vernon Williams of the Sports Concussion Institute. "It is an issue associated with participation in most any high velocity sport. Policy makers, legislators, the health care industry, sports leagues, basic scientists, clinical practitioners, reporters, parents, athletes and a host of others will continue to follow and focus on the issue of concussion, and all for good reason."
The continued concussion fallout, though, may also result in a race to find ways to make football safer, from more instruction and rule changes to equipment research. Steinberg thinks the NFL concussion settlement will speed up that work.
"I actually think the NFL was frozen for some time due to litigation fears, and unable to do everything they might have wanted to for fear that if certain reforms were instituted, it would be used against them with the question raised as to why they didn't make these changes before," Steinberg said. "I think now you may see more dramatic research and reform in a variety of areas."
But the NFL also wants to expand its regular season to 18 games, from the current schedule of 16, doing away with two preseason games. Critics argue that is hardly a signal that the league is making player safety and concussion awareness a priority. Still, fines are being levied every week against players for committing the helmet-to-helmet blows that cause so many head injuries.
Change, though, must happen at the grassroots level. Says Romeus:
"It has to start with youth sports. If you want to change the culture of the game, you don't do it at the NFL level. Those players already grew up with a different way of playing the game, a gladiator mentality. You have to show a new generation how to play the game safer."
NFL
College football
US sports
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Thom Loverro
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