Dermontti Dawson & Bubby Brister among latest to join concussion lawsuits against NFL

[RuthlessBurgher]

Concussion lawsuits don’t take a Fourth of July break
Posted by Mike Florio on July 6, 2012, 6:20 PM EDT

The NFL has slowed down (relatively speaking) over the last week, but the burgeoning NFL concussion lawsuit industry hasn’t.

According to the folks at NFLConcussionLitigation.com (actually, it’s just one “folk,” and he’s now studying for the bar exam so there will be no updates until the end of the month), another 170 or so former players have joined the parade this week, pushing the total number of players suing the league north of 2,600.

The names include Bubby Brister, Bill Maas, Christian Okoye (who perhaps should have specifically named Steve Atwater as a defendant), soon-to-be-Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson, and Stephen Davis (who perhaps should have specifically named Michael Westbrook as a defendant).

Soon, it will indeed be easier to simply name the former players who haven’t sued the league for concussions.

[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/06/concussion-lawsuits-dont-take-a-fourth-of-july-break/[/URL]

[flippy]

I heard somewhere that Peyton Manning intentionally faked a baseline concussion test so that he wouldn't have a real concussion and not be able to pass the test and get held out of a game.

So that tells me, players are willing to trade immediate gratification for their long term health. Peyton has all the info about concussions. And he's still willing to take the risks.

I suspect of these 2600 players, they all would have taken the same risks if they knew all the info.

This is a bogus lawsuit. And likely a bunch of players just trying to make a quick buck in a bad economy because their careers are done and they didn't learn other skills to support themselves after football.

I'm sure there may be some guys that have a legit claim. But I suspect most don't.

[D Rock]

I've had concussions. I'm going to sue myself, my parents, my highschool, and the state of Pennsylvania.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I've had concussions.

That explains a lot.

[Crash]

I'd like to know how many of these guys have squandered their money away?

[BURGH86STEEL]

Players could win this lawsuit based on the fact that the league did very little or nothing when players suffered concussions. This could get very interesting.

[Vis]

Players could win this lawsuit based on the fact that the league did very little or nothing when players suffered concussions. This could get very interesting.

The allegation is the league paid for a bogus brain injury study run by the league doctor who was just an internist, not a neurologist or neuropsychologist. That allegation is true. The endgame isn't a payoff for those in the suit, it's a pension plan for all past, present and future players. Remember that the league denied Mike Webster help. The cynical tort reform bs above is uninformed.

Hi, I'n new here. Any old friends from other forums?

[Oviedo]

Dawson blew his money on bad real estate investments. Brister porbably just blew his. This is all about guys trying to milk the "golden goose" for all it is worth. You don't see John Stallworth suing do you? He successfully created and led a multi-million dolar business. Strange how he has no concussion symptoms. This is nothing but a money grab by guys who got use to living high on the hog and now they have to live and work like everyone else and they don't like it.

[Vis]

Dawson blew his money on bad real estate investments. Brister porbably just blew his. This is all about guys trying to milk the "golden goose" for all it is worth. You don't see John Stallworth suing do you? He successfully created and led a multi-million dolar business. Strange how he has no concussion symptoms. This is nothing but a money grab by guys who got use to living high on the hog and now they have to live and work like everyone else and they don't like it.

Wrong. Read the actual pleadings. Read about the NFL's stance on the issue in the 80's and 90's. The info is out there is you care enough to look. Or stick to the knee jerk character assassination of every player who is part of the suit without any effort at all.

Look at your signature. You are being the fantasy football player of legal and medical issues.

[Jooser]

Bubby rules. If he got a concussion it was because he slammed the ball to hard and it ricocheted back and hit him. JK

[Vis]

[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2636795[/url]

[url]http://www.braininjuryresearchinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/About-Brain-Injuries.pdf[/url]

[url]http://www.brainline.org/landing_pages/categories/abouttbi.html?utm_source=googlecpcnetwork&utm_medi um=displaynetwork&utm_campaign=displaynetwork[/url]

[url]http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/4/134/134ra60[/url]

[hawaiiansteel]

Dawson's Hall call on court detour

July 12, 2012
By Dan Gigler / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame just a few weeks away, former Steelers center Dermontti Dawson is among the latest former NFL players to file suit against the league for head injuries sustained while playing professional football.

According to a suit filed July 3 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Dawson and three other ex-Steelers -- running back Stephen Avery, wide receiver Jeff Graham and safety Jonathan Staggers -- are among 47 former players being represented by attorneys John D. Giddens and Phillip Thomas in Jackson, Miss.

The suit alleges that the league "was aware of the evidence and the risks associated with repetitive traumatic brain injuries and concussions for decades, but deliberately ignored and actively concealed the information from the Plaintiffs and all others who participated in organized football at all levels" and that the repeated injuries can lead to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease associated with a history of concussions and head traumas. Researchers say it can lead to depression, erratic behaviors, memory loss and ultimately early onset dementia.

The suit cites the cases of Steelers Hall of Fame center Mike Webster and guard Terry Long -- both teammates of Dawson -- among several other NFL players who have been disabled or died by their own hand, with CTE as a culprit.

Webster died of heart failure in 2002 at the age of 50, after being mentally disabled from repeated head injuries, the suit said. Long committed suicide in '05 after battling depression which may have been brought on by CTE.

The suit does not specify injuries to Dawson nor any of the other players involved.

More than 2,600 former players and their spouses have filed suit against the NFL to date, including dozens who played all or part of their careers with the Steelers.

Dawson, 47, was a second-round draft pick of the Steelers in 1988 and he played his entire career in Pittsburgh. He started in five games at right guard as a rookie before taking over starting center duties from Webster in '89. At one point he played 170 consecutive games. A seven-time Pro Bowl and six-time first-team All-Pro selection, nagging hamstring injuries ultimately ended his career. He was released after the 2000 season and then retired.

He will be enshrined into the Hall Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.

Avery was with the Steelers from 1993-95, the final three seasons of his five-season NFL career.

Graham was a second-round draft for the Steelers in '91 and was with the team through the '93 season.

He played eight more seasons with the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers.

Staggers was a fifth-round draft pick for the Steelers in '70 and played that season and the '71 season for the team before playing four more seasons with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.

The plaintiffs' attorneys could not be reached for comment, nor could a spokesperson for the NFL.

In response to previous lawsuits, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy has said that "the NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit.

"It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions."

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/dawsons-hall-call-on-court-detour-644493/#ixzz20TcYxUpx[/URL]

[Oviedo]

Wrong. Read the actual pleadings. Read about the NFL's stance on the issue in the 80's and 90's. The info is out there is you care enough to look. Or stick to the knee jerk character assassination of every player who is part of the suit without any effort at all.

Look at your signature. You are being the fantasy football player of legal and medical issues.

These players knew what the risks are. They knew they were playing a physical game. They were not mislead or mistreated. They did it for the money. When you willingly choose to do something for material gain you can't get a do over. Thats not character assassination that is the real world.

You can sign up to the poor exploited workers angle for these players but that is total BS. BTW I am very well informed about concussions since I come from a family of doctors and nurses and have dealt with a concussion with my own daughter playing soccer and several of her friends as a coach on their team. I have done quite a bit of research on the topic.

[Vis]

These players knew what the risks are. They knew they were playing a physical game. They were not mislead or mistreated. They did it for the money. When you willingly choose to do something for material gain you can't get a do over. Thats not character assassination that is the real world.

You can sign up to the poor exploited workers angle for these players but that is total BS. BTW I am very well informed about concussions since I come from a family of doctors and nurses and have dealt with a concussion with my own daughter playing soccer and several of her friends as a coach on their team. I have done quite a bit of research on the topic.

They didn't know the risks. That's the point. The NFL had a study done that hid the truth. If fact it lied. They followed big tobacco's plan. And in following the plan and the lie, they put people back on the field in the same game they were concussed.

In your research you should have learned how dangerous and stupid that was. The NFL knew and still did it. That is actionable. The doctors who told players they were fine to go back on thew field weren't getting true informed consent from the player unless they explained the true risks which they did not. In that way the players were very much misled.

[NorthCoast]

Sorry Vis, no matter how hard you try to argue it you will find few sympathesizers that think the lawsuits are altruistic. This is about money, billable hours, and years of litigation that could lead to a golden goose for the law firms involved.
In the interest of fairness I am attaching the following for reaching your own judgements:



THE CONCUSSION DISCUSSION

THE BEGINNING

2002: Dr. Bennet Omalu makes news when he examines the 50-year-old brain of deceased Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame center Mike Webster. In the first examination of its kind on an NFL player, Omalu found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disorder associated with repeated head trauma. Today, according to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, the brains of 18 of 19 dead ex-NFL players have shown evidence of CTE.
LOWLIGHTS

Nov. 20, 2006: Former Eagles and Cardinals safety Andre Waters commits suicide with a gunshot to the head. Omalu examines samples of Waters' 44-year-old brain and determines that it had degenerated to that of an 85-year-old man.
Feb. 17, 2011: Former Bears safety Dave Duerson, who was experiencing cognitive complications when he wrote a note that said, "Please, see that my brain is given to the NFL's brain bank." Then he killed himself with a gunshot to the chest.
April 19, 2012: Former Falcons safety Ray Easterling, who in 2011 was the first lead plaintiff to file a federal class-action concussion lawsuit against the league, commits suicide as his dementia worsens at age 62.
May 2, 2012: Future Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau kills himself with a gunshot to the chest. He was 43.
LEAGUE REACTION

The NFL, which was slow to recognize and accept the potential long-term effects of repeated head trauma, argues that it couldn't possibly have known the effects considering medical science only started to begin understanding it just 10 years ago. "Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a recent statement. "It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions."
GOODELL FACTOR

Named NFL Commissioner in 2006, Roger Goodell has made it a point of emphasis to change the culture by cracking down on illegal hits. A turning point in his crusade came following the third week of the 2010 season, which was marked by several violent helmet-to-helmet hits. On Oct. 19 of that year, he fined Steelers linebacker James Harrison, Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson and Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather for their controversial hits the previous weekend. Goodell also released a memo to all teams that said, "It is clear to me that further action is required to emphasize the importance of teaching safe and controlled techniques, and playing within the rules." Goodell promised not only incremental fines, but suspensions for repeat offenders. This year, Goodell punished the Saints particularly hard for their bounty program

[URL]http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/157365285.html[/URL]