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Courts are beginning to weigh in on the debate over concussions and traumatic brain injuries sustained by National Football League players, according to an article in The New York Times.
Players who sustained injuries during their careers today are describing long-term cognitive problems, which they blame on the sport, according to the article, published on Dec. 30.
Personal injury lawyers representing the players have already assisted in filing lawsuits on behalf of retired players. Questions are being raised about what the NFL knew about neurological effects resulting from repeated hits to the head. The brain injury lawsuits allege that the NFL, and in some cases the makers of helmets, deliberately concealed information about the debilitating effects of repeated hits to the head, according to the Times article.
Some of the football player lawsuits claim that the NFL, if it was unaware of the hazard should have known about the potential impact of brain trauma sustained during the game, the article states.
Personal injury lawyers say the cases may be worth pursuing, but will be difficult to prove and will require experienced attorneys well-versed in the law. Attorneys for the football league may argue that players knew about the risks of the sport. However, the lawyers for the players will argue their employers knew or should have known how dangerous repeated concussions are. They may argue that the NFL looked the other way and put profits over the safety of the players.
Millions of dollars in damages is at stake, according to the Times article. Furthermore, the NFL may suffer due to bad publicity related to the testimony of retired NFL stars like Jim McMahon and Jamal Lewis. Some retired players argue they have suffered from dementia, memory loss, anger control problems and other cognitive disabilities related to brain and head injury.
According to the New York Times, the NFL distributed a pamphlet to players in 2007 stating “current research with professional athletes has not shown that having more than one or two concussions leads to permanent problems if each injury is treated properly.”
Retired players say that the NFL began alerting current players to the long-term effects of concussions, according to the article.
Matthew J. Mitten, the director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University, told the New York Times that “the NFL will try to convince the court that the game is inherently risky. This is the warrior mentality in the NFL where you play through pain.”
Another legal expert told the Times that proof problems may arise. , Paul Haagen, the co-director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke University told the New York Times, that some players may have sustained concussions or head injuries while playing in college or other lower levels.
