RichNhansom":352u2k31 said:
Have to agree but I really don't understand why the NFL wasn't more proactive and honest from the beginning or at least when the head injuries came to light.
Seems they could have openly acknowledged this is a dangerous and violant sport. Make it commonly known it is a play at your own risk league.
Ice truckers and fisherman aren't suing for bad weather.
This is a game that players play for free. How many law suits are the college ranks fighting?
Have every player sign a contract acknowledging the danger of the game. Hold the players accountable. If you really feel you need to sue then sue the opponent that injured you.
The league IMO has screwed up by taking the approach they have. Reducing the quality of game and at the same time taking responsibility as if the players didn't know they could get hurt.
The point is that the players knew they could get hurt, however, the scale of those injuries was never made clear to them.
Fred Taylor's rant a few weeks ago is an example, he knew he could get hurt, but he had broken bones and fractures that doctors never told him about, players get sent to particular doctors for a review of their injuries because if they saw an independent doctor they might say to them "hey actually, if you keep this up you might never be able to walk again, your body is already shot".
Kenny Easley suffered kidney failure because doctors over-prescribed painkillers to him. Do you really think team doctors were saying "here, if you take this painkiller it will make you feel better but be careful because if you take too many your kidneys might fail"? Or do you think he said "boy, my shoulders and back hurt" and they said "here, take this you'll be fine".
The issue with concussions is not that players didn't know they could and would occur, but they were lied to about the long-term effects of suffering them. They created a committee with the goal of "Investigating impact of concussions", then appointed a chairman with no neurology experience, they understated the incidence of concussions in players, then drew conclusions of the impact of these concussions which were in direct contradiction to the findings of independent neurology studies.
It's all good and well when players know the actual risks of playing football, but they rarely do.