Long term effects of playing football lead to lawsuit

For many years football equipment manufacturers have been making improvements in their gear such as shoulder pads and helmets in an effort to reduce injuries.

It’s no secret that the hits a football player endures during an average game can be brutal. In fact it is these same hits that fans want to see and even cheer for.

Think about it, during a play if you are rooting for the defense, you want to see them sack the quarterback, or tackle the reciever. Now you may not be hoping that the quarterback also sustains a concussion from that sack, but it is clearly one of the possible scenarios from that play.

In fact the NFL acknowledged that there could be long term effects of concussions suffered by players and that they would support further research into it. The Center 4 Research has some study information here in this article.

Just this week, Jim McMahon, formerly of the Chicago Bears has stated he would likely have played baseball instead of football had he known more about the long term effects of being hit so hard and so many times over his carreer.

McMahon has come forward publicly since he wants to raise more awareness about the problem. He has recently admitted to suffering from eary-stage dimentia and what led to his comment about wishing he had played baseball instead.

Some players are fighting things such as dementia, memory loss and other effects. In fact a number of NFL players have recently joined in a lawsuit against the league. The lawsuit has made a number of claims, one of which is that the league hid the dangers and long term effects of injuries.

Now I am not saying that the NFL knew about it or that they hid this from the players, but it certainly does raise more questions.

More than 2400 former players are reported to be plaintiffs in the suit and whether it will turn out to have a policy changing effect remains to be seen. Clearly this will raise more awareness on the risks of injuries and possibly give both players and their parents more information and research into helping them decide whether their own children will persue such a career.