Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteWhale
"The NFL has denied those claims"
Except the NFL also misled the public. They denied that concussions had any long term effects throughout the 90's when it was well known in the neurological community that repeated concussions did tend to snowball into brain damage. They didn't do this in secret. It's not something they can honestly deny. It was obvious they were lying in the mid 90's to ANYONE willing to do the research. I figured it out in 1996 and I was only 15 years old. Denying this would be like Vanilla Ice denying he made bad rap music.
Now I'll be the first to say that the players, at some point, should acknowledge they were WILLFULLY ignorant of these issues. I don't believe that a grown man in 1992 didn't realize that hitting your head really hard on things was bad for your brain. I'm all for holding the league accountable, as they did openly lie and mislead players in a way that was horribly detrimental to their health. At the same time I'd like to see some players be accountable for something a 15 year old high school student discovered in less than 2 days of research involving only newspaper clippings. |
I totally agree with you. The problem is that it has actually been argued that the concussions altered the players reasoning abilities, leaving doubt as to what they could comprehend regarding the potential damage they might suffer.
Personally, I think its a bunch of BS and most guys knew the risks and, as you said, WILLFULLY participated and CHOSE to live in the moment and damn the consequences in return for more $$$$ and fame and other benefits than they otherwise would not have received if they had "regular" jobs. Sure, some claims are legit but some guys, (and their lawyers) are just lining up for a pay-day because of how successful the league has become.