The last few years have been awareness time for concussions in the NFL. There is no doubt they are a problem in football and the NFL has taken several steps to try and insure that they don't become an issue. Steps like protecting the quarterback, the wide receivers, harassing defenders, basically help the offense score more while limiting the defense. But the one thing the NFL wanted to avoid is a potential lawsuit over concussions. Too bad.
75 ex-NFL players are suing the NFL saying that the league intentionally withheld information about the effects of concussions for 90 years. Among the names included in the lawsuit are Otis Anderson, Rodney Hampton, and Mark Duper. A main issue in the lawsuit is that the ex-players are claiming that the league did not admit that concussions can effect memory, cause dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE until 2010. CTE has been linked to Chris Henry, a former Bengals WR who died over a year ago, and Dave Duerson, who used to play for most notably for the Bears and died earlier this year.
As the CBA agreement seems to be coming to a close, the NFL legal troubles are seemingly not over. The issue of concussions in football now gets presented in the courts. I doubt this kind of thing will hold up the CBA talks but it should make the players and owners think about how to address the issue. I'm not sure that anything can be added to the CBA to address the issue or if it's even a good idea at this point but the NFL will likely take further precautions to make sure that future lawsuits can be avoided.
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