Law and Lawyers Inside

Los Angeles Brain Injury Lawyers | NFL to compensate former players with brain injuries

The National Football League has finally admitted that traumatic brain injuries suffered on the playing field lead to dementia, drug abuse, emotional disorders and other problems. The league has resisted equipment and rule changes to protect players on the field, but is now working with the Players Union to help former players who now suffer from mental illnesses as a result of their injuries, according to an editorial in the New Jersey Star-Ledger. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. More than 700 former players are seeking lump-sum payouts through workers compensation in California, a cost that is shared by the NFL. The league has lobbied against these payouts, according the Star-Ledger, and wants each claim to be decided individually.

Yet brain injury lawyers point to scientific evidence that an NFL player’s life expectancy could be shortened by at least 10 years or more, with professional
football players 19 times more likely than the average male to suffer dementia. Editors of the Star-Ledger believe the NFL should review the game and make both equipment and rule changes to decrease the risk of traumatic brain injury for players. Meanwhile, they say, former players who can prove the link between football injuries and their disabilities—mental and physical—should be compensated to the full extent the law allows.