In a league that is already feverishly trying to fend off the specter of the anti-concussion monster, it may have just been dealt a potentially disastrous blow.
NBC Sports is reporting that a group of former NFL players,( including Hall of Famers) is alleging, in a class-action lawsuit that the league knowingly allowed them to continue playing with broken bones, using painkilling pills and injections to mask the pain. Part of a report published by Sports Illustrated reads:
“The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says the NFL obtained and administered the drugs illegally without prescriptions and failed to warn players about potential side effects, all in order to expedite the return of injured players to the field and generate the highest possible profits.”
The former players named in the lawsuit are: Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent, offensive lineman Keith Van Horne, QB Jim McMahon, center Jeremy Newberry, WR Roy Green, offensive lineman Ron Stone, LB Ron Pritchard and WR J.D. Hill.
It will be very interesting to see just how much the NFL is willing to admit they were aware of, given the injury culture of professional football. This is not the first group of players to claim they were given painkillers to get back on the field. The problem for the NFL may grow exponentially if it can be proven that well-educated league doctors knew the lingering side effects of playing on broken legs and ankles, and it failed to warn or educate it’s players in an effort to keep starters on the field to win games.