NFL Lawsuits over Concussions

[Hyfi]

Just curious what everyone thinks.

I don't think it's right that these guys choose to play a contact sport, basically run into walls with their heads, and then turn around and sue their employer who made it possible for dropouts and criminals to become millionaires.

Like they did not know when they were young that repeated shots to any part of the body could be harmful?
Why are the lawsuits not targeting Little League where they started, High Schools, College? Oh, because the NFL has deeper pockets I guess.

Isn't this as bad as drinking alcohol until you get kidney failure and then suing the distillery?
What about smoking cigarettes, with a death warning on the pack, until you get cancer and then suing the tobacco company?

Here is a novel idea. How about people start taking responsibility for their own actions and stupidity?

I played Soccer from 5 years old until High School. I almost never Headed the ball because A- it hurt and B- if it hurts, maybe you should not keep doing it. I didn't need a lawsuit or anything / anyone else to tell me it was stupid to keep doing it.

[Feanor]

As I hear it, the NFL told players not to worry and encouraged them to ignore having their "bell rung" and get back out on the field, etc. This when the League knew better. Nah!! Sue the living crap out of the NFL. The argument, "They should have known better", just doesn't cut it. If the players should have known better, so should the NFL. Nobody employer be allowed to deliberately expose workers to danger while denying there is any.

[Hyfi]

But it's a contact sport. Legs get broken, ACLs get torn, shoulders get dislocated. They are told the pads they wear will keep them safe. Why are they not suing for all those injuries?

Seems like if you are stupid enough to believe that getting hit in the head daily, no matter what you are wearing and no matter what anyone tells you, gets you the results they now have.

I guess Boxing and Hockey and Soccer will be next. All Soccer coaches encourage heading the ball. Are we all stupid enough to keep doing it?

[JohnMichael]

For this thread to continue I think it needs more facts and less supposition. The initial post is insulting and inflammatory to athletes. Medicine is discovering long term brain damage that resembles Alzheimer's disease. More fact please.

[Hyfi]

For this thread to continue I think it needs more facts and less supposition. The initial post is insulting and inflammatory to athletes. Medicine is discovering long term brain damage the resembles Alzheimer's disease. More fact please.

Just lock and delete the thread then.

[JohnMichael]

I asked for facts from the OP and I decided to reopen and supply my own facts.

The players were not well informed about head injuries and long term effects.

The NFL is accused of hiding what it knew about players' head injuries. The players' union is getting second-guessed for not taking safety more seriously. And another judge is getting familiar with all the legal arguments.
Concussions in Forefront as NFL Season Opens - ABC News

A player understanding and accepting the risks.

Ask Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew whether he would try to play through a concussion or yank himself from a game, and he'll provide a straightforward answer.

"Hide it," the NFL's leading rusher said.

"The bottom line is: You have to be able to put food on the table. No one's going to sign or want a guy who can't stay healthy. I know there will be a day when I'm going to have trouble walking. I realize that," Jones-Drew said. "But this is what I signed up for. Injuries are part of the game. If you don't want to get hit, then you shouldn't be playing."
NFL players say hiding concussions still an option - ESPN

Junior Seau shot himself in the chest so his brain could be studied.

Junior Seau, the former National Football League linebacker who committed suicide in May, was suffering from a brain disease caused by repeated head injuries associated with contact sports.

Brain-tissue samples showed Seau had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive disease diagnosed after death, according to a statement today from the National Institutes of Health, which funds medical research. Seau’s family sent his brain tissue to researchers in July 2012, two months after he shot himself in the chest at his home in Oceanside, California.
Ex-NFL Player Seau Had Brain Disease From Head Injuries - Bloomberg

[JohnMichael]

Just lock and delete the thread then.

"I asked you where you found your information. Was there any facts or just opinion. I was curious about some of the statements you made."

sue their employer who made it possible for dropouts and criminals to become millionaires.

Like they did not know when they were young that repeated shots to any part of the body could be harmful?

What about smoking cigarettes, with a death warning on the pack, until you get cancer and then suing the tobacco company?

"Actually people have sued the tobacco companies because they withheld information from their customers and added chemicals to make them more addicting"

[Hyfi]

For this thread to continue I think it needs more facts and less supposition. The initial post is insulting and inflammatory to athletes. Medicine is discovering long term brain damage that resembles Alzheimer's disease. More fact please.

I like how you also edited this response so it is not your original.

[JohnMichael]

I like how you also edited this response so it is not your original.

I made a spelling error and grammar correction. I typed the when I meant to type that.