dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
356

captokita
Premium Member
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC

1 recommendation

captokita

Premium Member

[NFL] NFL Set to Pay More Than $750M in settlements

I was surprised to not see this being discussed in here yet. I'm torn on this decision. When you think about how much money the LAWYERS made on this, ugh.

Are the players REALLY surprised that smashing into each other might result in negative aftereffects?

The players that sued took their millions of dollars in pay throughout their careers with no problem, and no one FORCED them to play at all. Again, shouldn't take a rocket scientist to tell you butting heads with someone could be detrimental to your wellbeing.

I don't want to belittle the ones with serious injuries, but it's just not something one should be surprised at, and no one FORCED them to play football. They all chose that career.

Will this hurt the NFL? Not in the least, as that money is a drop in the bucket. But I don't see where the NFL is responsible at all. What I CAN see as happening is that any player on the field TODAY should be required to sign a release that says "I understand that playing this game could be extremely dangerous, and could result in serious, lifelong injury, or death. The NFL, team owners, etc are not responsible for anything that happens to me while on the field playing the game."

Thoughts?

»abcnews.go.com/Sports/wi ··· 20107371

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Spread over 4500 players and potentially 20,000 claimants(includes surviving spouses, children of dead players), the money isn't going very far. Out of that $765 million comes $100 million for the lawyers and $85 million for medical tests and research.

But I do agree that they had to know repeated head injuries was damaging. They shouldn't need the teams to tell them that.

rolfp
no-shill zone
Premium Member
join:2011-03-27
Oakland, CA

rolfp to captokita

Premium Member

to captokita
A couple citations are two years old, still relevant.

(KCBS) – A proposal to extend the NFL season by two games is a key issue in negotiations between the owners and players. But would that lead to more injuries, including concussions? John Madden says the concussion issue has long been “swept under the rug,” and may still not be taken seriously enough at all levels of football.

»sanfrancisco.cbslocal.co ··· -factor/

Madden does a podcast on KCBS and has talked many times about how player health, including brain injury, has been handled by the NFL, or not. The portion of that particular podcast that discusses concussions is here:
madden-conc1.mp3
2551789 bytes
said by »profootballtalk.nbcsport ··· players/ :

Mike Ditka, the Hall of Fame tight end and former Bears and Saints head coach, has become one of the most vocal supporters of helping out retired players who have physical and financial problems, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The 71-year-old Ditka appeared on Friday at an event for the Michigan chapter of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, and he said that he’s trying to fight the mindset that NFL players made enough money during their careers and shouldn’t need any more assistance in retirement.

“I made $12,000 my first year,” Ditka said, per the Detroit Free Press. “You figure it out. Some of them didn’t end up in a good situation. Some of them took their pension early.”

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· seVl0XEo

Mike Ditka: NFL’s concussion money must get to needy players
»www.suntimes.com/sports/ ··· ers.html

It’s a great gesture on behalf of the National Football League. If this money gets to the players who really need it, then they did the right thing. There’s no question about that.

They had to do something. Over the years, they have ignored the situation too long. There was a problem here. And, you can say it was because of this, or that. Well, concussions had a lot to do with it.

Now, if you go back 40 or 50 years ago when I played, I don’t think anybody really understood head injuries. I don’t think anybody was trying to hide anything back then. And, I don’t think anybody was trying to hide anything lately. They just didn’t understand what the ramifications could be.

You know, football is a dangerous sport. If you play it long enough, you have a good chance of getting hurt. In saying that, if you legislate hitting out of football, you don’t have football anymore. I understand what the league is doing, but it’s hard.
I think they have a problem. People watch it because it is a physical sport. And, when you take that physicality out of the sport, you don’t have football anymore. You have something else.

The game of football is a little different than everyday jobs. There’s a lot of money being made. That’s why they can make a settlement of $765 million. That’s a lot of money. Is it enough money? I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that. But it is what it is.
It bothers me that there have been a lot of guys out there who have needed help for years and didn’t get it. Now, there were guys who needed help and got it. Was it enough? It probably wasn’t, but we gave them help.

Football doesn’t owe me anything. I owe my whole life to football. I have no regrets, and I don’t feel like I’ve been cheated by anybody. I’ve been fortunate enough to play the game, be involved with the game for more than 50 years. I’ve enjoyed every doggone moment.

When things happen like this, everybody looks for a simple solution. There is NO simple solution!

Now that they have put the money out there, you have to ask “will this money get in the hands of the people who really deserve it?” That’s the big question. And who’s going to administrate it.

Our Gridiron Greats have done this for years, and we’ve done a good job. But we don’t have the money. It’s hard to raise the money. It really is. It’s a constant thing.
Now, the money is there from this settlement. Let’s see if it gets in the hands of the people who really need it. That’s all.

My opinion of Ditka was better-informed when I learned about his work for retired, disabled NFL players. I don't see this as a money grab by millionaires. I see it as an attempt to help out the players who provided entertainment with hard-earned physical skills at not always high salaries, then were forgotten by the industry who profited most, when the inevitable injuries ended their careers

The Dv8or
Just call me Dong Suck Oh, M.D.
Premium Member
join:2001-08-09
Denver, CO
ARRIS TG862
Cisco 2811
TP-Link Archer AX10

The Dv8or to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

Spread over 4500 players and potentially 20,000 claimants(includes surviving spouses, children of dead players), the money isn't going very far. Out of that $765 million comes $100 million for the lawyers and $85 million for medical tests and research.

But I do agree that they had to know repeated head injuries was damaging. They shouldn't need the teams to tell them that.

I believe the attorney fees are not part of the 765 mil.