when did the nfl concussion lawsuit start

Describing the moment when the NFL concussion lawsuit started brings up a flood of emotions. I remember how it all started – it was a seemingly innocuous lawsuit filed by former San Diego Chargers player Junior Seau. In 2012, the pendulum of awareness and indignation swung into motion on a national scale when Seau’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the league and helmet maker Riddell. That lawsuit served as the so-called domino effect to the overriding national discussion about the dangers of brain injuries inherent in football.

It seemed that almost overnight, the voices of the players and their families were finally being heard. This lawsuit was certainly NOT the first of its kind, as multiple former players had been filing suits against the NFL since at least 1994. And with this case, that sentiment was ramped up tenfold. As the high-profile attorney Mark Geragos said, “”Football is following the script we’ve seen repeatedly. This is how structural change unfolds.””

The lawsuit alleged that the NFL had been tucking away evidence regarding the long-term effects of concussions. For years, cheap nfl jerseys from china the league had been either denying or downplaying the dangers posed by these debilitating head injuries. As one of the lead attorneys in the case, cheap nfl jerseys from china Columbia University professor wholesale nfl jerseys of neurology, Christopher Nowinski, argued, “”The NFL has known for decades that multiple blows to the head can lead to long-term problems, and yet the league has done nothing to warn or cheap jerseys protect players who are actively playing, cheap nfl jerseys and nothing to help the men who have already retired.””

The Seau suit was the tipping point. As a result, cheap nfl jerseys the National Football League finally had to concede and cheap nfl jerseys accept that it was time to create a $765 million class-action settlement, providing financial compensation for an estimated 20,000 former players who had suffered from concussion-related illnesses. The legal victory led to the decision of some high-profile ex-players to call it quits, cheap nfl jerseys from china and wholesale nfl jerseys from china the breakthrough of others into the hallowed hall of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But the league’s silence regarding the risks of concussion goes further, all the way back to the first NFL-sanctioned game in 1920. In the intervening years, wholesale nfl jerseys despite an athlete’s level of physical prowess, the league’s culture of machismo kept players from coming forward about the truth of their physical ailments. Then, during the 1950s, a team of physicians created the ubiquitous concussion protocol that is still used today- but until recently, hardly enforced. This protocol requires a player who exhibits any signs of head injury to be removed cheap jerseys from china the game until further evaluation.

This is a sobering reminder that American sport now exists alongside increased awareness and concern about the very players it trades on. The victory of Seau’s case is indicative of a larger cultural shift; a shift that is slowly redefining football and the people who play it. With the emergence of increased regulation and increased compensation reaching retired players, wholesale jerseys the game is at last taking a long-overdue step forward to protect its biggest asset: the players.