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ABC: Players Charge NFL With Concealing Risk Of Brain Injuries

ABC News reports that more than "2,000 former NFL players plan to file a lawsuit this morning in Philadelphia, accusing the league of concealing information linking football-related injuries to long-term brain damage."

In the biggest sports lawsuit ever, the former players allege that the "NFL exacerbated the health risk by promoting the game's violence" and "deliberately and fraudulently" misled players about the link between concussions and long-term brain injuries.

The NFL denies the claims, saying, "Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit."

But with some of the sport's household names now revealing the human price paid for all those on-field heroics, this lawsuit could change football forever.

"It's America's favorite sport and its favorite athletes and now we're hearing about the dark side," USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan said. "It really hits like a ton of bricks."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q82EcGWi8l0

There is, of course, also a psychological dark side related to these health risks.

Following the recent suicide of Junior Seau, 43-year-old former NFL player who shot himself in the chest last month, CommonHealth wrote about the deep loss than can occur when players of all kinds lose their sport. When players stop playing, how do they deal with the psychological and emotional stress of that loss, which can quickly slip into a loss of self, depression and worse?

Carey wrote:

This program aired on June 7, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Rachel Zimmerman

Rachel Zimmerman Reporter
Rachel Zimmerman previously reported on health and the intersection of health and business for WBUR. She is working on a memoir about rebuilding her family after her husband’s suicide. 

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