As the NFL and the players union meet in the District for their federally mediated bargaining talks, I wonder if the subject of players brains being donated for study will be negotiated.
It is obscene that the owners and players are talking about finding a way to divide $9 billion and avoid a lockout. Last Thursday, former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson committed suicide and asked that his brain be examined for damage resulting from the same $9 billion enterprise.
Duerson, a four-time Pro Bowler who was part of that great 1985 Super Bowl squad, shot himself in the chest and, according to the New York Times, sent text messages to family asking that his brain be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition linked to more than a dozen deceased NFL players.
The family has agreed to donate Duerson’s brain to Boston University, which is conducting a study of the degenerative disease and its connection to depression, dementia and occasionally suicide in former NFL players, according to the report.
The NFL has donated $1 million toward that study — $1 million out of $9 billion. Do the math.
When all is said and done, it may wind up costing the NFL a lot more money, and it could shake the very foundation of the game the American public loves.
We are looking at an issue that will have far greater impact than anything football in this country has faced since the turn of the 20th century when there was talk of banning the game because of the deaths suffered on the field.
Just four months ago, Duerson’s Super Bowl teammate, former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, told the Chicago Tribune: “My memory’s pretty much gone. There are a lot of times when I walk into a room and forget why I walked in there. I’m going through some studies right now and I am going to do a brain scan. It’s unfortunate what the game does to you.”
And yet the owners are calling for two more regular season games and fighting the players on how much to expand rosters to allow for more bodies to replace the damaged ones during the season.
Today’s bargaining issue could become tomorrow’s evidence in court.
If the NFL thinks it has a fight on its hands with the class-action lawsuit over the Dallas Super Bowl seating debacle, wait until the lawyers start lining up with former players and their families to take the league to court for damages resulting from arguably negligent medical practices.
During the season, Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox analyst Terry Bradshaw rang the bell when he said on a pre-game broadcast during the season, “There’s a potential lawsuit out there that’s devastating.” In a lengthy New Yorker article last month called “Does Football Have A Future?” it was reported that there are two groups of lawyers preparing class-action suits on behalf of recent players against the NFL.
“Trial lawyers, tort reform, the nanny state: this is no small part of football’s future,” the article stated.
So whatever is being negotiated in Washington may be moot when it comes to a courtroom in the future.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
