Seau family files wrongful death suit vs. NFL

[Reg]

AP

The family of Junior Seau has sued the NFL, claiming the former linebacker's suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its "acts or omissions" that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. It says Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from those hits, and accuses the NFL of deliberately ignoring and concealing evidence of the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries.

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Helmet manufacturer Riddell Inc., also is being sued by the Seaus, who say Riddell was "negligent in their design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering of the helmets" used by NFL players. The suit says the helmets were unreasonably dangerous and unsafe.

[SoonerChuck]

Seau's death is tragic, but these lawsuits are ridiculous.

[Troy]

Emotional idiots will be emotional idiots.

My insensitive comments are valid, even if they lack the slightest semblance contrition.

Junior Seau’s suicide was truly awful, but the NFL shouldn’t be held accountable for one man’s solitary action to take his own life. That’s asinine. Becoming a professional football player is a choice (granted that you wield the abilities to play at such a preeminent level) and the ‘risk factors’ have been laid out over the years for these folks to see as they waltz into the profession. Are they suspecting sunshine and roses, no? Go into the ol' bowels of the topic of player safety and all that jazz, another topic for another time.

[G-men]

Yeah Seau's death was awful and tragic but the players bitch and complain about the game being soft, earn millions of dollars playing the game and then when they retire and start to face the consequences that they knew were going to come they turn around and sue the league. It's ridiculous

[LMD]

Originally Posted by Troy

Junior Seau’s suicide was truly awful, but the NFL shouldn’t be held accountable for one man’s solitary action to take his own life. That’s asinine. Becoming a professional football player is a choice (granted that you wield the abilities to play at such a preeminent level) and the ‘risk factors’ have been laid out over the years for these folks to see as they waltz into the profession.

Not that I disagree with the quoted in its entirety, but I think the basis of the lawsuit is that the risks weren't laid out for everyone. The NFL had results of some tests showing the damage of football and concussions and they hid it from the public and the players. That's why you're seeing this major influx of cases against the NFL. Its not just that now we know how dangerous concussions can be, but that the NFL apparently had knowledge of the link between football and head injuries, but instead of disclosing it, lied and hid it to pretend there was no issue. The suits we're seeing now aren't just alleging that the NFL is dangerous, they're alleging that the NFL execs knew it was dangerous and misled the players which led to unwarranted injuries. (Whether the NFL actually knew, whether their knowledge would be enough to constitute a wrongful death action or whether the players would have retired earlier if the knowledge was public are all questions that would best be answered by a trial by jury, in my opinion. Just before anyone starts tossing any of those arguments around. I can't say what the answer to any of those questions are with the limited information we have available. )

The NFL’s retirement board awarded disability payments to at least three former players after concluding that football caused their crippling brain injuries — even as the league’s top medical experts for years consistently denied any link between the sport and long-term brain damage.

The board paid at least $2 million in disability benefits to the players in the late 1990s and 2000s, documents obtained in a joint investigation by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and FRONTLINE show.

Source (And much more information about the NFL's apparent hiding of facts related to the NFL and head injuries): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ncussion-link/

I think once this current generation of players (The ones who played while the NFL "had" knowledge of the injuries and the link (Granted the NFL ever did have the knowledge, which is why this issue will probably go to trial, whether in Seau's wrongful death suit or the giant consolidated suit. A settlement doesn't close the NFL off from future suits. They could open the floodgates for every former player to sue them if a court decides they did have knowledge and hid it from the players and are thus liable... But, that would probably lead to a class-action suit or an impleader action to limit the damages the NFL could owe. I have to assume the benefit of having a court rule they didn't hide any knowledge would be more beneficial than a settlement as that would close the NFL off from further suits. But, then again, I don't know exact litigation strategies, so, this is all just a guess.) and tried to hide it.) have their suits settled we'll see a dropoff in how many cases are brought. You'll probably still have people suing here and there, but I imagine the cases will probably be dismissed fairly quickly as the evidence either wasn't there for the NFL to know (For guys who played before the NFL had actual knowledge) or the knowledge was public and they assumed the risk (For guys who played since the studies have been made public).

Its an interesting case. Because I'm a morbid fuck, I'm pretty excited to see this issue make its way to court and see how a jury rules. I could go either way based on the limited evidence we have of the NFL's official knowledge. A subpoena of their records would be highly intriguing though.