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(EMAILWIRE.COM, August 10, 2011 ) Los Angeles, CA -- Seventy-five former football players are suing the National Football League claiming that it knew about the harmful effects of concussions on players' brains as early as the 1920s but failed to inform players, coaches, trainers and others until June 2010.
According to the lawsuit, the players were not aware of the long-term effects concussions have on brain health and relied on the NFL to protect them.
The brain injury lawsuit also names Riddell Inc., the football equipment maker, as a defendant. Riddell has been the official equipment supplier supplier for the NFL since 1989.
Greg Aiello, NFL spokesman said that he has not seen a copy of the lawsuit, but would contest any claims.
Riddell also commented on the suit saying that they, too, had not seen the complaint, but it is company policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The 75 former players accuse the NFL of engaging in a scheme of fraud and deceit by having members of the NFL Brain Injury Committee deny knowledge of a link between concussions and cognitive decline.
The concussion lawsuit alleges that while the NFL Brain Injury Committee properly published studies relating to the issue, the organization produced contradictory results, although false, distorted and deceiving, in order to mislead Congress, the players and the public at large.
The lawsuit noted that in 1994, the NFL researched the link between concussions and a brain injury. When the results were published in 2004, the NFL claimed that there was no evidence of worsening injury and repeated blows to the head. The NFL also claimed that players could safely play in a game the same day they suffered a concussion if they are without symptoms and are cleared by a doctor.
However, it wasn't until June 2010 that the NFL acknowledged that concussions can lead to long-term health problems, including dementia, memory loss, CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and related symptoms by publishing a warning to every player and team, outlined in the lawsuit.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative, dementia-like brain disease that is caused by repeated brain trauma. The Boston University School of Medicine Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy has found CTE in the brains of 14 out of 15 former NFL players studied.
One of them includes former Chicago Bears safety David Duerson, 50, who shot himself in the chest in February, leaving behind a note requesting that his brain be donated for study.
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