I think there is a reason football players are paid million to run around a field tackling each other over a ball. There is a really good chance you will get hurt. Is it just me or is this even stupider than people being able to sue cigarette companies. Why wouldn't repeated trauma to a sensitive organ cause damage then and in the future? Why did they even need to do a study to prove it? The players are claiming the NFL withheld the knowledge that repeated concussions can cause future permanent damage. Didn't their doctors ever warn them about this? Lets say these football players are such dumb fumbling idiots that didn't figure it out themselves, I think it should have been the responsibility of the doctor to warn them repeated concussions are bad for their health. Thats like a woman getting blood clots repeatedly and her doctor not warning her that her birth control pills are the culprit and in the future a clot could cause a Pulmonary embolism and kill her. I wonder how many of them would go back in time and give up the fame and fortune they earned by getting all those concussions and try their luck at some other career? This is even stupider than people that sue tobacco companies after they get cancer.


ESPN.com news services

Seventy-five former players are suing the NFL, claiming the league intentionally withheld knowledge of the damaging effects of concussions for 90 years, TMZ.com reported Tuesday.

According to TMZ.com, the plaintiffs claim that "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."

The website says the group includes former Pro Bowlers Mark Duper of the Miami Dolphins and Rodney Hampton of the New York Giants. Former Super Bowl MVP Ottis Anderson is also named in the lawsuit, TMZ.com reported.

The suit alleges that the NFL did not admit that multiple concussions can affect memory and cause dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) until 2010, according to TMZ.com.

CTE is a degenerative brain condition that has been linked to the deaths of several former NFL players, including former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson and former Cincinnati Bengal Chris Henry.

All of the players named in the suit claim they have suffered injuries due to multiple concussions, the website said.

However, according to TMZ.com, the suit claims that an NFL-authorized 1994 study concluded there was "no evidence of worsening injury or chronic cumulative effects" from multiple concussions.

The NFL has made numerous adjustments in the battle against concussions in the past year, including altering rules on how, when and where players can be hit. The league also introduced new tests and rules regarding in-game concussions and authorized studies to determine the quality of helmets worn by its players. In February, commissioner Roger Goodell went before Congress to urge legislators from all 50 states to pass youth concussion laws.

According to TMZ.com, the players are seeking unspecified damages.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.