By Phil Riske | Managing Editor
Background: Rose Law Group represents many retired National Football League (NFL) players in their concussion suit against the league. At this point, the retired players and the NFL have reached a settlement agreement that is expected to receive final approval by Federal Judge Anita Brody.
Attorney Jana Weltzin says Rose Law Group will represent its former player-clients to receive the full benefits they are eligible for under the settlement when the settlement receives final approval. That will include working with their doctors, preparing and submitting their claims and defend its clients’ claims against any efforts to reduce our client’s benefits.
Rose Law Group Reporter (RLGR) interviewed Weltzin recently about her involvement in the litigation and settlement.
RLGR: For those who have not followed the concussion issue, please summarize developments in the lawsuit against the National Football League (NFL) brought by former players.
Jana Weltzin: To really understand how this suit came to be and actual harm it seeks to address, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of the backstory revolving around players, head traumas and the NFL’s knowledge. Although most people think the hype about head injuries and concussions started just a few years ago, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. (See historical timeline that follows this interview.)
Why on earth did the NFL continue to deny and ignore the problem when evidence clearly showed the ramifications of getting hit in the head repeatedly. Did the stonewalling start at the top with Commissioner Roger Goodell?
JW: Clearly the NFL’s historically inconsistent position on concussions and the real effects on players shows quite frankly the disingenuous nature of the NFL’s true knowledge and it also shows a clear indication the NFL cares about one thing above all: the NFL. The fact that thousands of men gave their bodies, and in many cases, their sanity and cognitive ability, to build this billion-dollar entity, doesn’t change the league’s tradition of discarding players once they cease to become valuable.
Unfortunately, this didn’t start with Goodell, and clearly, given the obvious flaws of the terms of the settlement, it isn’t going to end with Goodell.
Despite being one of the most profitable business entities in the world, the NFL is a 501(c)(3) entity, meaning it doesn’t pay taxes. The burden of providing Social Security, medical services, and other social programs to these forgotten players rests with the average American taxpayer.
Interestingly, the sport’s talent that the NFL has made its fortune from is quickly drying up because of lower participation in youth and high school football. There are simply not enough funds to pay for safer equipment and competent athletic trainers. If the NFL really wanted to sustain it’s legacy, it should take all the money it should be paying in taxes and distribute those funds to high schools across the country to pay for safer gear and athletic trainers.
Do you view those cases as a harbinger for future litigation in amateur and professional contact sports, especially soccer, where experts say concussions are a serious problem?
Absolutely. If real steps are not taking by the entities that can afford to make a substantial change, there is going to be quite a boom in sports injury litigation.
Historial Timeline: Football concussions and the NFL
As early as 1933, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) medical handbook specifically warned that concussions were treated not seriously enough and recommended players receive rest and constant observation after a concussion. In
1952, a study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that players who received at least three concussions should quit the game for their own health. In 1973, the condition now known as Second Impact Syndrome was first identified, The syndrome occurs when a player suffers a concussion while still suffering the effects from a previous concussion. Alarmingly, that same condition was noted to have a 90 percent mortality rate in the 2013 Journal of Neurosurgery.
In 1991, high school football and the NCAA adopted a grading system for concussion severity and established strict guidelines for allowing players to get back into the game —interestingly, the NFL did not adopt the same. Finally, in 1994, the NFL publically acknowledged the dangers of concussions, but clearly attempted to minimize head trauma’s true devastating impact.
In 1994, the NFL formed the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, which was co-chaired by Elliot Pellman, a rheumatologist who claimed to have a medical degree from Stony Brook, but did not. Pellman tried to hide the fact he obtained his medical degree from a school in Mexico.
Additionally, Pellman was not an independent doctor as he was also the New York Jets team doctor and the then-commissioner of the NFL’s personal doctor. Clearly, he was personally invested in the success of the NFL. He was quoted advising Sports Illustrated, “Concussions are part of the profession, an occupational risk.”
In 1997, the American Academy of Neurology published a set of guidelines for players returning to the game after suffering a concussion. These guidelines were presented to the NFL for adoption, and the NFL unsurprisingly rejected them.
In 1999, the NFL’s retirement board began disbursing millions of dollars in disability payments to players who were suffering cognitive decline due to “league football activities.”
Most notably, in 2002, Dr. Bennet Omalu examines the brain of a great player, Mike Webster, and found an accumulation of certain proteins, which evidenced Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). In 2003, a study was released that found NFL retired players have twice the risk of developing depression than non-players.
A plethora of examples of players acting bizarrely and erratically emerged and some died as a result of their erratic behavior. For example, in 2004, former player Justin Strzelczyk crashed his car into a tractor while driving 90 mph. He was only 36 and had been acting differently for months. Dr. Omalu examined his brain and found evidence of CTE.
In 2005, former player Terry Long committed suicide by purposefully drinking antifreeze. His brain was also found to have CTE, and examiners ruled his brain damage was a contributing factor to his death.
In 2006, former player Andre Waters shot himself, and Dr. Omalu examined Waters’ brain and found the brain tissue to be aged far beyond Waters’ age.
In 2007, Dr. Casson who was the co-chair of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, stated there was no link between head injuries, depression, dementia, or “any long-term problems,” despite the numerous studies and real life examples mentioned here. Interestingly, despite Dr. Casson’s 2007 statement, in 2006, the NFL ceased the “Jacked Up!” TV segment that boasted the hardest, most brutal hits of that week’s NFL games.
In 2008 the NFL commissioned a survey and found that retired players suffer Alzheimer’s and dementia 19 times more than non-players. Conveniently, the NFL categorized its own study as inconclusive.
In 2009, the first concussion suites were filed. That same year, NFL for the first time publically stated that concussions can lead to long-term problems. Also in 2009, former player Chris Henry died from jumping from a moving truck and was later diagnosed with CTE.
In 2010, Dr. Cassson apparently couldn’t help himself from misstating medical findings and testified in front of Congress stating CTE “has never been linked to athletics or head trauma.” The same year, the NFL disbanded the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee and publically shunned Dr. Pellman. NFL began putting posters in locker rooms warning of concussions and signs of concussions.
In 2011, Concussed players were still being put back into the same game in which they sustained the injury.
In 2012, beloved former player Junior Seau shot himself in the chest. His brain too was found to have CTE. That same year, 35 brains from retired football players were donated for research purposes, and 34 of the 35 brains were found to have CTE.
Most recently, for the year of 2013, there have been eight highs chool students who have died directly from playing football, six from head injuries and two from neck injuries.
A University of Richmond Student, Kurt Schmitz, 22, died for unknown reasons after suffering from at least four concussions. This outstanding young man pushed for increased safety for concussion injuries before his premature death.
Kosta Karageorge from Ohio State shot himself in a dumpster two weeks agos, but not before texting his mother that the concussions he had suffered were messing with his brain.
