I certainly do have some sympathy for anyone who has ever had a concussion having had one in my teen years. However, concerning the legal struggles between the NFL and former players over the concussions going on now leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Having heard the report recently on ESPN I was not that impressed by the arguments brought about by some of the players in question.
Some of the players I saw on television do clearly have issues with memory, etc. but that being said they were also paid quite well for their efforts while in the league, which I believe, was done due to the physical risks involved. As Deacon Jones said last week on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" on ESPN, "They really don't know when their concussions started could have been in college or high school."
He is right exactly why they are only suing the NFL other than about the amount of money the league is worth. They should be suing every league they ever played in at all levels as well as any coaches who showed them how to duck their heads to avoid a tackle.
They were paid more than most people make in a lifetime to play a kids game where the risks involved are broken fingers, legs, arms for life. Men who worked unknowingly on Navy ships near asbestos took more risks unknowingly and for football players many of which claimed they were intelligent people to now claim that the league misled them with regards to the risks due to concussions are not fooling me at all. Many of the former players have college degrees of some kind and now we are supposed to believe that they did not have a grasp of the risks on their own.
They were in a big hurry to get into the league for the "big payday" so many other players got and were not worried about any issues past that point for so long now they want more money to cover their own mistakes financially. Failure to plan for their own life after football is their own mistakes and choices in life come with consequences or at least that's what I keep being told for my choices why should this be any different for former athletes who now have health issues?
My concussion may have left me with issues myself but I find it hard to blame anyone else for my decision to get on the wrestling mat and take that chance. Just as these players to include, the likes of Jim McMahon (Chicago Bears QB) who often played with reckless abandon are now having serious mental issues in their later years of life. That does not mean we all need to pay more than we do now for tickets, stadiums (let's face it they are worth millions that in most cases are paid for by public funds), jerseys and the like. More than likely the only thing that will come from a lawsuit in favor of the plaintiffs will result in the bankruptcy of the league and nothing else.
The league in my opinion is clearly holding back as they have been studying the use of impact measuring devices in helmets since I believe 2010 with no further action taken in the matter thus far. Clearly, their recent talk is nothing more than a PR action to test the waters and avoid the public reaction to their lack of better quality testing for the helmet companies who provide their helmets to keep costs down. For all we know they are reusing the NFL helmets at schools that receive donated athletic gear in the inner cities.
I believe that I have covered both sides and my reasons for disliking the lawsuits involving concussions and former NFL players. The risks they take to play a kid's game are theirs to choose to do or not regardless of their impact of those choices later in life with no one else to blame.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7536645...http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81...http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sto...