Professional Documents
Culture Documents
7/31/12 1:55 PM
suntimes
Print Story
7/31/12 1:55 PM
One of the programs, the 88 Plan, named after Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, provides funding to treat dementia, Alzheimers disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Players do not need to demonstrate that the condition was caused by their participation in the NFL. Overall, the NFL, in partnership with the NFLPA, has spent more than a billion dollars on pensions, medical and disability benefits for retired players. Mary Ann Easterling will remain a plaintiff despite the April suicide of her husband, former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, who had been a named plaintiff in a suit filed last year. Easterling, 62, suffered from undiagnosed dementia for many years that left him angry and volatile, his widow said. He acted out of character, behaving oddly at family parties and making risky business decisions that eventually cost them their home. They were married 36 years and had one daughter. She believes the NFL has no idea what families go through. I wish I could sit down with (NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell) and share with him the pain. Its not just the spouses, its the kids, too, Easterling, 59, told The Associated Press from her home in Richmond, Va. Kids dont understand why Dad is angry all the time. Ray Easterling played for the Falcons from 1972 to 1979, helping to lead the teams Gritz Blitz defense in 1977 that set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a season. He never earned more than $75,000 from the sport, his widow said. After his football career, he started a financial services company, but had to abandon the career in about 1990, plagued by insomnia and depression, she said. I think the thing that was so discouraging was just the denial by the NFL, Mary Ann Easterling said. His sentiment toward the end was that if he had a choice to do it all over again, he wouldnt (play). ... He was realizing how fast he was going downhill. The list of notable former players connected to concussion lawsuits is extensive and includes the family of Dave Duerson, who shot himself last year. Ex-quarterback Jim McMahon, Duersons teammate on Super Bowl-winning 1985 Chicago Bears, has been a plaintiff. The cases are being consolidated for pretrial issues and discovery before Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody in Philadelphia. The players accuse the NFL of negligence and intentional misconduct in its response to the headaches, dizziness and dementia that former players have reported, even after forming the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee to study the issue in 1994. After voluntarily assuming a duty to investigate, study, and truthfully report to the public and NFL players, including the Plaintiffs, the medical risks associated with MTBI in football, the NFL instead produced industry-funded, biased, and falsified research that falsely claimed that concussive and sub-concussive head impacts in football do not present serious, life-altering risks, the complaint says. The problem of concussions in the NFL has moved steadily into the litigation phase for about a year. According to an AP review of 81 lawsuits filed through May 25, the plaintiffs include 2,138 players who say the NFL did not do enough to inform them about the dangers of head injuries. The total number of plaintiffs
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13036018-606/nfl-brain-injury-lawsuit-includes-2138-players.html?print=true Page 2 of 3
Print Story
7/31/12 1:55 PM
in those cases is 3,356, which includes players, spouses and other relatives or representatives. Some of the plaintiffs are named in more than one complaint, but the AP count does not include duplicated names in the total. We want to see them take care of the players, Mary Ann Easterling said. Copyright 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13036018-606/nfl-brain-injury-lawsuit-includes-2138-players.html?print=true
Page 3 of 3