75 former NFL players suing League for Concealing Concussion Risks!!!

With the lockout nearly over, more legal news: Seventy-five former NFL players have filed a lawsuit against the league,  claiming it intentionally hid the effects of concussions for 90 years, according  to AOL.

Two NFL player collide, hitting their heads. The NFL is being sued for concealing information about the risks to its players of these concussions.

The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in L.A. County Superior Court, claims: “The NFL knew as early as the 1920’s of the harmful effects on a player’s  brain of concussions; however, until June of 2010 they concealed these facts  from coaches, trainers, players and the public.”

Some of the more notable  players include former Dolphins wide receiver Mark Duper and New York Giants  running backs Rodney Hampton and Ottis Anderson.

The players claim they suffered concussions, and that  in 2004, despite knowing the harful effects of these head injuries, the NFL  issued a report that said there was “no evidence of worsening injury  or chronic cumulative effects” from multiple concussions.

According to AOL, they are seeking unspecified damages.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-07-19/report-75-former-nfl-players-sue-nfl-for-concealing-concussion-risks#ixzz1SekTDwjw

 

NFL Running Back Cedric Benson Arrested for Assault

Running back Cedric Benson was released from jail yesterday following an arrest on an assault charge in Austin, Texas, the second year in a row he has gotten into trouble in his home state.

Benson, a free agent after leading the Bengals in rushing each of the last three seasons, hoped to stay with the team and worked out with players in Cincinnati during the NFL’s lockout. Travis County sheriff’s spokesman Roger Wade said Benson was arrested in downtown Austin on a misdemeanor count of assault with bodily injury with family violence.

Benson’s attorney Sam Bassett said in a statement that the arrest followed “a conflict’’ between Benson and a male former roommate.  Bassett said: ‘The alleged male victim no longer is Mr Benson’s household member and was not a household member for the past few  days.’

A conviction for assault with family violence would mean a stiffer sentence than for simple assault.

Asked about Benson’s arrest and the player’s future, Jack Brennan, a spokesman for the Cincinatti Bengals, said: ‘In cases like this, we don’t feel it’s appropriate to comment before there’s some kind of legal resolution.’

Last summer, Benson was charged with misdemeanour assault after allegedly punching a bar employee during a brawl, also in Austin.

He has denied the charge, and it is still waiting to be heard.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with the player after last year’s arrest, but decided not to punish him.

Now Benson could face a suspension for his latest arrest once a collective bargaining agreement has been reached between teams and players, clouding his future with the league.

 

The Daily Mail contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015942/NFL-star-Cedric-Benson-arrested-assault-home-town-second-year-row.html#ixzz1ST4y8Pew

 

Former NFL Player Arrested in Philly; Current Player Arrested in SC

It’s been a busy weekend for football players. Perhaps the lockout is making dudes restless… Two players-one current-one former have found themselves in legal jams.

 Longtime NFL defensive end Raheem Brock was arrested in his hometown of Philadelphia after a dispute at a restaurant.

Police Lt. Raymond Evers says Brock ran out on a $27 bar tab at Copabanana on Thursday.

Bartender Rob Harris told a local television station that Brock’s party was asked to leave after one of them brought in food from another eatery. Harris says they told the waitress they weren’t going to pay the bar tab.

Harris didn’t immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press at the restaurant Friday night.

Court documents indicate Brock is charged with theft and resisting arrest. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Brock played for the Seattle Seahawks last year after several seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Former NFL player Brandon Lee Frye has been charged with drunken driving in South Carolina.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports that 28-year-old Frye was arrested about 1:45 a.m. Saturday in Conway. He was released from jail on bond before noon.

Frye has no listed number for his Myrtle Beach home. A hearing is scheduled July 25.

According to the Horry County magistrate, Frye refused to take a Breathalyzer test.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound tackle last played with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009.

 

NFL Lockout Reinstated

The lockout that was on for 45 days and then lifted is  now back on.

The National Football League, after a series of legal setbacks, got a breath of fresh air on Friday when a federal appeals court put the lift of the lockout on hold.

Last Monday, U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered the end of the lockout, calling it illegal, and she denied the NFL’s appeal for reinstatement on Wednesday night.

But the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with Judge Nelson. The appellate court granted the NFL’s request for a temporary stay of the injunction which had at least temporarily ended the 45-day lockout.

Nelson’s stay had led to a crazy couple of days where teams and players had no rules to guide them. On Friday, the NFL even opened up team facilities to players for the first time in nearly two months.

The appellate court’s ruling left NFL teams in a situation where they didn’t even know if they would lock their doors again — until late Friday when the league announced the lockout was back on and effective immediately.

The former Nevada quarterback, Colin Kaepernick was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the fourth pick of the second round of the NFL draft on Friday, the same day that a federal appeals court granted the league’s request for a temporary stay of a judge’s order to lift the lockout.

For Kaepernick — and former Pack teammate Dontay Moch, taken by the Bengals with the 66th pick — that means there is basically nothing they can do. The 49ers can’t offer Kaepernick a contract. They can’t even give him a playbook.

Kaepernick, who was en route to San Francisco on Friday night to have dinner with 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, will in the near future be a millionaire. But today, like every other NFL player, he is unemployed.

“It’s certainly a fluid situation,” Kaepernick’s agent, Scott Smith, wrote in an email. “But with the lockout being reinstated today I believe the 49ers can have a ‘meet and greet’ with Colin and do some media (interviews) with him. But I don’t believe they can do much beyond that until the lockout is lifted.”

Sources: Reno-Gazette Journal; Los Angeles Times; ESPN.com