Family of former Bear Dave Duerson sues over his suicide

[NY8123]

Anyone else have a problem with this besides me? I get it, it was a tragedy and to the family it is traumatic and I feel for them but come on man. You can not sue the NFL claiming there was some grand concussion cover up. ****, I played football and never once was the word concussion muttered until I was watching it from my lazy-boy on Sunday afternoons.

I'm sorry but the utter ridiculousness of lawsuits these days is just mind boggling, I mean the next thing we will see is someone suing because gravity made them fall and they weren't warned of it.

Can't eat red meat, can't drink, can't play football, ......might as well lock me in my house so I can wait to die.

Family of former Bear Dave Duerson sues over his suicide
By Todd Lighty Tribune reporter [h=1]12:42 p.m. CST, February 23, 2012
[/h]

Former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson’s family today sued the NFL over his suicide last year, claiming the league for decades had known that concussions from playing football cause brain damage but deliberately concealed that information from players, coaches and fans.

Duerson, a Pro Bowl safety, sustained at least three concussions during his 11-year playing career and suffered from progressive, advanced brain damage known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, according to the lawsuit.

“If the NFL would have taken the necessary steps to oversee and protect Dave Duerson by warning him of the dangers of head traumas. . .then (he) would not have suffered dangerous repetitive head trauma, would have recovered more rapidly, and would not have sustained permanent damage to his brain which contributed to his death,” according to the suit.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ues-over-his-suicide-20120223,0,3393870.story

 

[silver McNibblets]

Your telling me Duerson had no knowledge of the injury (both physical and mental) risks of playing football? It was his choice to pursue a professional career in the sport. Everybody knows it is a dangerous sport which can cause serious injuries, both now and in later life.

Now I have no knowledge of his family background, wealth etc. but I'd be willing to bet that they make a decent living off the money that he earned through playing the game, and now their going to try and sue the league? come on ...

 

[GoonBoss]

And now you see the basic destruction of the game at it's root.

It's a treat kids..To see a great empire brought to ruins.

 

[rob19]

I don't agree with the lawsuits, but this brain trauma epidemic is a real thing, and something should be done about it.

I know we'd all probably like if the Steve Atwater stories of the world would just remain quiet, but this is only going to get worse. Mark Schlereth went on ESPN talking about how fining players isn't the answer, but rather utilizing the helmets that have been recently engineered to reduce risk of brain trauma. He said the only problem is they look a little funny, and that the NFL doesn't want it's game to look funny. I think we need to bridge that stylistic and pragmatic chasm in a very quick fassion.

 

[GoonBoss]

I don't agree with the lawsuits, but this brain trauma epidemic is a real thing, and something should be done about it.

I know we'd all probably like if the Steve Atwater stories of the world would just remain quiet, but this is only going to get worse. Mark Schlereth went on ESPN talking about how fining players isn't the answer, but rather utilizing the helmets that have been recently engineered to reduce risk of brain trauma. He said the only problem is they look a little funny, and that the NFL doesn't want it's game to look funny. I think we need to bridge that stylistic and pragmatic chasm in a very quick fassion.

Like it or not, football players are among the elite of this society. Nobody forces them to play football. Choose to play or not. Assume the risks or don't.

Every day I walk through the doors of the prison I work at, I assume risk. I know it. I knew it when I took the job. I have good insurance (Partially job, partially private) so that if I catch a shank in the neck one day, which is far more likely with the newer generation than it was with the old.....My family will be taken care of. That's what it is. I am not forced to work at the prison. I work there by choice.

It's easy not to play pro football. It's a warrior culture which I deeply get. And, bottom line is there is a reason Sergeant Majors in the Army retire, and then
die within a year after retirement. Not everyone's cut out for it. There's a reason girls don't play pro football, and there's a reason there aren't girls in the Infantry.

All this litigation in and of itself is destroying the game. Athletes enjoy a level of glory and priviledge throughout their lives, then, for some reason
think that they should be entitled to even more stuff, and will kill the thing that gave them their success to get it.

This, is really the fundamental difference in generations manifesting, IMO.

 

[rob19]

Like it or not, football players are among the elite of this society. Nobody forces them to play football. Choose to play or not. Assume the risks or don't.

Every day I walk through the doors of the prison I work at, I assume risk. I know it. I knew it when I took the job. I have good insurance (Partially job, partially private) so that if I catch a shank in the neck one day, which is far more likely with the newer generation than it was with the old.....My family will be taken care of. That's what it is. I am not forced to work at the prison. I work there by choice.

It's easy not to play pro football. It's a warrior culture which I deeply get. And, bottom line is there is a reason Sergeant Majors in the Army retire, and then
die within a year after retirement. Not everyone's cut out for it. There's a reason girls don't play pro football, and there's a reason there aren't girls in the Infantry.

All this litigation in and of itself is destroying the game. Athletes enjoy a level of glory and priviledge throughout their lives, then, for some reason
think that they should be entitled to even more stuff, and will kill the thing that gave them their success to get it.

This, is really the fundamental difference in generations manifesting, IMO.

The only 'more stuff' they want is better helmets. I already said I don't agree with the lawsuits, but techonology progresses, so first from leather helmets to plastic ones, and now we can improve upon those. It is the natural evolution of things.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

The players don't need better helmets. All that does is encourage them to use themselves as missiles in pads. The more protection you give 'em the more they're going to use it as a weapon.

I think if you get back to TEACHING players how to tackle properly, it'll eliminate some of the concussion problems. You'll still have them, but it takes a lot more discipline to tackle a player than to "hit him hard".

In a rugby union you're required to tackle. Players aren't using themselves or their heads as weapons because they have no protection.

 

[rob19]

The players don't need better helmets. All that does is encourage them to use themselves as missiles in pads. The more protection you give 'em the more they're going to use it as a weapon.

I think if you get back to TEACHING players how to tackle properly, it'll eliminate some of the concussion problems. You'll still have them, but it takes a lot more discipline to tackle a player than to "hit him hard".

In a rugby union you're required to tackle. Players aren't using themselves or their heads as weapons because they have no protection.

Broken arms or legs aren't the issue here, it's brain damage due to recurring jarring of the brain. After Chris Henry's autopsy they revealed that he had so much brain damage that he was suffering from pugilistic dementia at 25, 25! That brain damage started long before he was ever in the pro's.

If you can do something to absorb some of the shock from repeated head-jarring, you make the game safer, and not just at the professional level, but at the college and high-school level as well. There's plenty of people who play football that aren't millionaires.

I strongly disagree with both you & Goon.

 

[Tunaphish429]

I too do not agree with the lawsuit...why is his family not suing his pop Warner team? His high school team and the NCAA? Oh wait they don't have the money that the nfl has. But in reality they should be the ones to be sued since they didn't pay dave anything. I was all for the union when the lockout was going on and I don't like to see players get hurt either..but what can the nfl do about it? We as fans complain about the way they have changed the game. Like goon said no one makes him play football. There are other leagues out there... he chose to play the nfl and actually pursued a job in the nfl. There are plenty of other players out there who would have gladly played in his place. Also I am sure dave was told by his doctor that if you play with a head injury then it may get worse. Players lie about symptoms to get back on the field... how can the nfl control what an individual player does? It can't. You signed to play the game. You know the risks. If you don't like the risks find another career.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

Broken arms or legs aren't the issue here, it's brain damage due to recurring jarring of the brain. After Chris Henry's autopsy they revealed that he had so much brain damage that he was suffering from pugilistic dementia at 25, 25! That brain damage started long before he was ever in the pro's.

If you can do something to absorb some of the shock from repeated head-jarring, you make the game safer, and not just at the professional level, but at the college and high-school level as well. There's plenty of people who play football that aren't millionaires.

I strongly disagree with both you & Goon.

Players have been coached for years to launch themselves in an attempt to seperate the ball from the ball carrier prior to even being JV age. It was taught all the way through high school, college, and into the pros. I've seen it being done first hand on the practice field more than 20 years ago.

The lack of fundamental tackling being coached in football was a topic of discussion at coaching clinics that I attended as far back as the late 80's.

That's why the NFL had to start fining players and making it illegal to lead with your head and use the crown of your helmet in the first place, because most of them weren't taught any different. It was encouraged and it begins and ends with the coaches.

You're not going to eliminate the issue of long term brain damage from the game of football, nor can you eliminate brain damage from the sport of boxing by having the boxers wear olympic style head gear. Repeated blows to the head are going to cause brain damage in any sport... helmet or no helmet.

The issue that CAN be controlled is concussions, and it can be done by eliminating the teaching of players to use their head gear as a weapon. The more "concussion proof" head gear is made available, the "safer" it becomes to use it as a weapon, and the more it encourages it to be used that way on the practice field as opposed to fundamental wrap up tackling.

 

[rob19]

I'm not opposed, nor do I disagree with you that fundamental tackling should be taught better and more widely, but I think you do that in combination with safer helmets. If you reduce the chance that a concussion can happen in the first place, I think that's a good place to start.

 

[GoonBoss]

Broken arms or legs aren't the issue here, it's brain damage due to recurring jarring of the brain. After Chris Henry's autopsy they revealed that he had so much brain damage that he was suffering from pugilistic dementia at 25, 25! That brain damage started long before he was ever in the pro's.

If you can do something to absorb some of the shock from repeated head-jarring, you make the game safer, and not just at the professional level, but at the college and high-school level as well. There's plenty of people who play football that aren't millionaires.

I strongly disagree with both you & Goon.

You can disagree all you want. Better helmets will simply encourage bigger hits. Training kids from the ground up to tackle fundamentally is the only way.

 

[GoonBoss]

I'm not opposed, nor do I disagree with you that fundamental tackling should be taught better and more widely, but I think you do that in combination with safer helmets. If you reduce the chance that a concussion can happen in the first place, I think that's a good place to start.

You, of all people, should understand that treating a symptom is less effective than treating the disease.

I'd liken it to Pot. How do we deal with pot?

1. De criminalize and De demonize it.....

OR

2. Outlaw it and toss everyone in jail.

 

[rob19]

You, of all people, should understand that treating a symptom is less effective than treating the disease.

I'd liken it to Pot. How do we deal with pot?

1. De criminalize and De demonize it.....

OR

2. Outlaw it and toss everyone in jail.

3. Legalize it

I don't want to get too off topic on this but I believe it should be a legal commodity; it makes more economic sense that way. I don't think decriminalization is the answer.

You can disagree all you want. Better helmets will simply encourage bigger hits. Training kids from the ground up to tackle fundamentally is the only way.

Why do they have to be mutually exclusive? Why can't we have better helmets as well as teach better tackling? I don't buy that they'll try and "hit harder" with better helmets, any more than they do now.

 

[GoonBoss]

3. Legalize it

I don't want to get too off topic on this but I believe it should be a legal commodity; it makes more economic sense that way. I don't think decriminalization is the answer.



Why do they have to be mutually exclusive? Why can't we have better helmets as well as teach better tackling? I don't buy that they'll try and "hit harder" with better helmets, any more than they do now.

We've tried to make helmets safer for how many decades now, and for what? No tangible result. I'd argue that going to no pads, to include no
helmets would make the NFL a safer game. For that matter, we could subtract equipment all the way down to nothing and I'd bet we'd have many
fewer concussions. Safer helmets aren't the answer. Fundamental training, and discipline on how to tackle properly is where the resources need to
be sent...

But....That's not sexy...there's no money in football fundamentals...Only safety, discipline and toughness.