Reverend Gooner wrote:I read recently it has been scientifically proven that a career in American Football increases the chances of all sorts of brain damage to as much as 1 in 3. Also that the average life expectancy of a player up until the late 80's was 20 years shorter than the average. Apparently 4000 ex players are suing the sport for covering up the bad effects of long term play and 2 ex players have committed suicide because of the effects of their brain damage.
How much of a deal is this in America? Does it threaten the sport? Will it change the sport or will it be a story for a while and then swept under the carpet?
There have been some suicides, Junior Seau's most recently, where the players have choosen instead of a gunshot wound to the head, to shoot themselves in the chest so their brains can be analyzed. They found in Seaus brain that he had brain disease consistent with that of boxers who take repeated shots to the head.
where the nfl went wrong was they denied there was a correlation between players taking repeated shots to the head and brain problems later in life. Medicine has proven this to be wrong now.
The NFL is the richest most powerful league in North America, so even if the former players get a judge who's agrees with them, the NFL can afford to pay out.
Personally I think the NFL won't have to pay out based on them claiming they didn't have the technology to accurately assess the correlation between hard hits and brain damage. Plus the NFL took steps to limit hits that have potential to seriously injury players, showing that once proof was available they took steps to stop the hits. The game has changed a lot since I played and while most people don't like it, I think there will be further steps taken to protect players better.
Pudpop wrote:How do you sue a sport?
They're not suing the sport, they're suing the league. I think where they'll run into trouble is that they have to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the NFL was intentionally negligent to the risks of head trauma and attempted to keep that information hidden from the players.
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:44 pm