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Jim McMahon, 6 others sue NFL over concussions
CBS News ^ | 8/20/2011 | Staff

Posted on 08/20/2011 3:24:33 PM PDT by Scanian

(CBS/AP) PHILADELPHIA - Six former players and one current player have sued the NFL in Philadelphia over the league's handling of concussion-related injuries, the first potential class-action lawsuit of its kind.

The players accuse the league of training players to hit with their heads, failing to properly treat them for concussions and trying to conceal for decades any links between football and brain injuries.

The plaintiffs include two-time Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon, who has said he played through five concussions but now frequently walks around "in a daze" and forgets why he entered a room.

The suit accuses the NFL of negligence and intentional misconduct in its response to the headaches, dizziness and dementia that former players have reported. The suit, filed Wednesday, seeks medical monitoring along with funds to pay for the care of injured players.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league had not yet seen the lawsuit but would vigorously contest any such claims.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Sports
KEYWORDS: concussions; headinjury; lawsuits; misconduct; negligence
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To: gorush
I’m happy if I can still remember what I’m looking for after I find my glasses.

LOL! Been there, done that. I'm glad to hear that it's normal.

21 posted on 08/20/2011 3:41:11 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Americans need to wean their government off of its dependence on foreign money.)
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To: Perdogg

From my reading the suits are predicated on the league publishing a report that lied about the concussion risks, both the risks of getting them at all and the risk of permanent damage once you have one. Everybody knew there was some level of risk, but if the league actually did lie to them about that level of risk they’ve got a case.


22 posted on 08/20/2011 3:44:15 PM PDT by discostu (keep on keeping on)
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To: HereInTheHeartland
"One persons solution was to go back to leather helmets! His reasoning is that heads would not be used as weapons any more, and less injuries would happen as a result."

Well there are two ways the can go. Eliminate helments entirely to deter head use, or wrap their heads in foam rubber about the size of bean bag. (Like Jack from Jack in the Box.)

23 posted on 08/20/2011 3:45:43 PM PDT by Dem Guard (Obama's 57 States = The Organization of The Islamic Conference (OIC).)
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To: Cheburashka
54 years young here, Boomer Class of 1957.

Can still run though. I'm blessed. 28th wedding anniversary today.

24 posted on 08/20/2011 3:48:41 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Scanian

Be a man Jim, walk it off


25 posted on 08/20/2011 3:50:06 PM PDT by Figment ("A communist is someone who reads Marx.An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx" R Reagan)
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To: Travis McGee

Interesting book on the subject by Gay Culverhouse, former President of the Tampa Bay Bucs. It’s called Throwaway Players: Concussion Crisis From Pee Wee Football to the NFL. Pretty appropriate title.


26 posted on 08/20/2011 3:55:44 PM PDT by RGF
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To: Perdogg

<<>>> “Isn’t a voluntary assumption of a known risk?” >>>

Absolutely! McMahon knew it was an extremely violent game. He made millions off that violence.

All of sudden, he says, why didn’t the league tell me it was violent?


27 posted on 08/20/2011 4:05:07 PM PDT by heye2monn
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To: gorush

In the rare event you find yourself on the floor do you look around for things you need to do while you’re down there?


28 posted on 08/20/2011 4:05:25 PM PDT by tal hajus ("Thank you sir. May I have another?" GOP)
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To: tal hajus

If I’m on the floor I’m doing my back exercises. :{(


29 posted on 08/20/2011 4:07:56 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

So you’re saying it’s the modern helmet that’s at fault.

Why aren’t they suing the helmet manufactures?

We all know the answer to that, they don’t have near the money the NFL does.


30 posted on 08/20/2011 4:22:31 PM PDT by Leavemealone
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To: Scanian
Maybe Obama can appoint a commission to shut down the NFL.

Obama will also appoint a czar to prevent people running with scissors.

31 posted on 08/20/2011 4:29:02 PM PDT by dancusa (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. W. Churchill)
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To: hinckley buzzard

The sad fact about this is that the lawyers running this lawsuit will make more than the players will.

Get rid of the helmet and the shoulder pads. Rugby can do it, so can the NFL.

....and yes, I played Rugby for eight years. years. years. years.


32 posted on 08/20/2011 4:29:17 PM PDT by Loud Mime (Democrats: debt, dependence and derision)
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To: RichInOC

McMahon’s problem is going to be proving he wasn’t messed up in the head before he entered the NFL.


Darn, where was it that he went to college? I forget.... ;^)


33 posted on 08/20/2011 4:32:50 PM PDT by Loud Mime (Democrats: debt, dependence and derision)
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To: Travis McGee

Happy anniversary!


34 posted on 08/20/2011 4:48:58 PM PDT by hattend (The SEALs got Osama. The only thing Obama killed was our childrens future - NoLibZone)
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To: nuconvert
“forgets why he entered a room”

Hell... I've been doing that for years. At least he knows he entered a room.

35 posted on 08/20/2011 5:08:25 PM PDT by Northern Yankee (Where Liberty dwells, there is my Country. - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Loud Mime

BYU. I have no idea how that happened. Did they know what they were getting?


36 posted on 08/20/2011 5:13:59 PM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: Leavemealone
The helmets aren't a problem at all. Helmets are designed primarily to prevent head injuries such as skull fractures. A concussion is more of a "whiplash" injury that results from the brain moving inside the skull due to the sudden movement (or change in movement) of the head. There isn't a helmet in the world that can ever prevent that.

I can sympathize with players who have legitimate complaints about the treatment they received when they were injured in the NFL, but the long-term impacts of a lot of these head injuries weren't always well understood in sports. Things are changing now, but I'm not sure players like McMahon have a strong legal case here.

37 posted on 08/20/2011 5:27:15 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested.")
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To: Scanian

Outrageousness!


38 posted on 08/20/2011 5:34:01 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (Rick Perry: Looks like Joe Isuzu, acts like Grant Woods [AZ joke])
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To: dancusa

When scissors are outlawed, only outlaws will have scissors.


39 posted on 08/20/2011 6:03:32 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: heye2monn

Troy Aikman had several concussions, IIRC.


40 posted on 08/20/2011 6:11:58 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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