By Cadie Carroll
Two former San Diego Chargers have sued the NFL and its main helmet supplier, claiming the league kept secret its knowledge of the dangers of head injuries and that Riddell knowingly produced and equipped players with a defective product.
Plaintiff James “Jim” Allison was a running back for the Chargers from 1965 to 1968, which at the time was under the American Football League. Co-plaintiff Burt Grossman, a first round draft pick in 1989, spent five seasons as a defensive end with the Chargers—then under the NFL—before ending his career with the Eagles in 1994.
Allison, 71, and Grossman, 47, are aiming to prove that the NFL knowingly withheld information about the effects of concussions from its players and that it knew of those dangers long before its creation of its “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee” in 1994, according to the suit.
The claim points to medical studies as far back as the 1920s researching the effects of repeated concussions on boxers and also lists numerous rules changes—beginning in 1956—aiming to increase protection of football player’s upper bodies as evidence of “a longstanding and comprehensive plan to mislead its players and the general public” about brain injuries.
Additionally, the suit alleges the NFL’s brain injury committee was never used for its intended purpose. It states: “Although the NFL created [the committee] purportedly to investigate the effect of concussions on its players, its actual purpose was to attempt to discredit legitimate research on brain injuries and continue to push the NFL’s party line: Concussions and other repeated head trauma are not dangerous.”
The pair claims they “would regularly lose consciousness during games,” but were repeatedly misdiagnosed by team doctors “so they would be cleared to return to the field.”
In addition to their claims against the NFL, Allison and Grossman also name Riddell in the suit, saying the company’s helmets were ineffectively designed and lacked proper testing.
“At the time the helmets were designed, manufactured, sold, and distributed, the helmets were defective in their manufacturing and unreasonably dangerous and unsafe for their intended purpose,” the suit claims.
The two are requesting a jury trial and are seeking damages for medical care and loss of income. They are being represented by Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, LLP, a firm that is no stranger to concussion litigation. In 2012, Casey Gerry joined the Plaintiffs Steering Committee overseeing brain injury-related litigation against the NFL and in 2013 brought about a wrongful death suit on behalf of Junior Seau’s family, another former Chargers player who suffered from chronic brain trauma.
