Wow! You’d think that it was the NFL that’s suffering from one too many concussions with as many hits as they’ve been taking on the issue of concussions lately. This past week, another series of news stories have been hitting the wires, covering everything from brain injuries in general to football concussions in particular. This recent run started off with Evan Weiner‘s piece from the New Jersey Newsroom on how football players are discarded in retirement (click HERE to read that earlier post) as well as Alan Schwarz‘s continuing series on the NFL’s history of dodgy mishandling of concussions over the years (click HERE for the last round of recent coverage).
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The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon wrote a new piece in their Sunday edition:
THIS JUST IN: The NFL’s Dr. No – Dr. Ira Casson – has just resigned along with his co-chair from their MTBI Committee. Following the release of a leaked memo sent out to all the teams, NFL Commissioner made his usual non-statement about making “progress.”
AAA
Chairs of NFL concussion panel resign; Goodell reviewing rules
Frank Deford continues to point out the long-running imbalance between current and retired disabled players’ benefits (or lack thereof) in the NFL. Deford discussed the intricacies of the NFLPA/Players Inc. trial on HBO’s Real Sports in January (clickHEREread about that show).
In his latest piece, There’s No Love in the NFL, Deford discusses the callous indifference of the NFL and most of its current players to its old warriors.
“It’s not enough to just keep reciting that, well, football’s a rough, tough game and we must accept carnage as the price of amusement.”
To read the story and listen to the broadcast (3 minutes long) click HERE.
HBO Real Sports ran its Disunity episode on the retired players GLA trial last night. In under 15 minutes, they managed to present the major highlights of the entire 3-week trial, covering the points and counterpoints between the retired players and the NFLPA/Players Inc. and how the trial was won.
Joe DeLamielleure, Bruce Laird and Herb Adderley on HBO Real Sports
Joe DeLamielleure, Bruce Laird, Herb Adderley and Dave were interviewed as plaintiffs and the players’ attorneys from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as well as the NFLPA attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, were each given time to explain their positions. Just like in the trial, the defining moment came when they showed Herb Adderley sitting on his couch with Frank Deford to show him some player’s pages on Electronic Arts’ Madden Football video game. There on the screen was a virtual NFL player that didn’t have his name or his number but his stats were exactly the same as Herb’s (and that virtual player was black). Then they showed a generic white player who also didn’t have Dave’s name and number but with his exact stats. Then they showed the letter from the NFLPA’s own licensing director instructing EA to make sure they altered any reference to all actual players to avoid payment of royalties. (As usual, the NFLPA’s overpaid mouthpiece Kessler still had the nerve to try spinning his worn-out ‘We-were-only-trying-to-protect-the-retired-players-from-being-ripped-off routine.’)They even had references to the departed Gene Upshaw’s Dog Food comment (read Judge Alsup’s own comments by clickingHERE).
Gene Upshaw selling Dog Food on HBO Real Sports
This was pretty much the way it was all presented in court, so it’s easy to see why the retired players won an overwhelming decision, complete with Judge Alsup’s final opinion as icing on the cake.
Wow! You’d think that it was the NFL that’s suffering from one too many concussions with as many hits as they’ve been taking on the issue of concussions lately. This past week, another series of news stories have been hitting the wires, covering everything from brain injuries in general
