Hernandez family suing Patriots because Hernandez had CTE

[PatsFanInVa]

Couldnt care less.

If the NFL loses this one it is their own fault for ignoring this issue and trying to bury it for decades instead of actually working together with scientists and affected people. If you ignore an issue it generally doesnt go away but grows bigger and might just kill you at some point.

NEW YORK - In an unusual move, the National Football League* has joined a lawsuit against itself and one of its franchises, claiming that all responsibility lies with the New England Patriots program, which, the League* claims, was insufficiently attentive to the League*'s otherwise full-proof concussion protocols.

"While the Patriots are one of the NFL*'s 32 franchises, they have a long history of bending and flouting league* rules, and their share of the blame - all of it - should be commensurate with their prior bad acts. Plus, what Gisele Bundchen said that one time," said a league official who declined to be named in a press statement intended to shift the venue to the court of public opinion.

Separately, the League* confiscated the Patriots' first through third round draft picks in 2018, their first, second, and fifth in 2019, their first pick in 2020, and their whole damn draft in 2021.

"In the event that the League has to pay any form of damages we will fine the Patriots a sum double what we paid because Article 46," said the source.

 

[primetime]

thing is there's no way at present to know how the two causes of tau deposition (head trauma and drugs) interact. There could be synergy that turns that small but statistically significant effect from the drugs into a multiplier for the effects of head trauma.

also we do not know if AH got whupped upside the head as a gang banger, totally apart from football. Nor do we know what kind of knocks on the noggin he received as a schoolboy footballer.

Lots of factors at play. Unlikely his lawsuit will prevail, but there will be a lot of well earned negative publicity.

CTE isn't thought to be caused by individual episodes of trauma, or else we'd all have it from banging our heads on the ceiling. It comes from regular cumulative trauma. In Hernandez's case, there is about a 99.9% chance it's attributable to football.

Nor is there any indication Hernandez was a heroin user at any time, and that's the only drug for which there's any evidence for accelerated aging processes, and again the effect sizes are quite small there even if we buy the methodology. Such small sample sizes to me indicate more research is needed. (To be fair, a substantial portion of the league is addicted to opioid painkillers, which are not dissimilar from heroin. However, the scientific paper tested heroin only.)

None of that would be defensible in court. The likely angle the NFL's attorney will take is to go to the studies that suggest tau accumulations begin as early as high school or college and thus there's no way to prove culpability on the part of the NFL. Interestingly, this defense would tacitly approve the idea that football causes CTE, a truth the NFL has been dedicated to fighting for the last decade.

 

[DarrylS]

This seems like an opportunistic move on the part of Baez, it might make sense if Hernandez has started his criminal behavior when he was in the NFL, but he was up to criminal shenanigans long before he even went to Florida.. the CTE may have contributed to this, but he was a thug for a long time..

This was not "NFL onset thuggery", this was a lifestyle that he engaged in, goes back to his days in Bristol, Ct... just more publicity for his legal team about Hernandez in an effort to try to make him something that he wasn't...

Do not know his history of concussions when he was in the NFL... pretty confident that there were incidents in Fla, where he was told to "walk it off"....

 

[Nehalem]

None of that would be defensible in court. The likely angle the NFL's attorney will take is to go to the studies that suggest tau accumulations begin as early as high school or college and thus there's no way to prove culpability on the part of the NFL. Interestingly, this defense would tacitly approve the idea that football causes CTE, a truth the NFL has been dedicated to fighting for the last decade.

Or focus on his drug use and gang membership, which pretty clearly have a link to criminality.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

CTE isn't thought to be caused by individual episodes of trauma, or else we'd all have it from banging our heads on the ceiling. It comes from regular cumulative trauma. In Hernandez's case, there is about a 99.9% chance it's attributable to football.

Nor is there any indication Hernandez was a heroin user at any time, and that's the only drug for which there's any evidence for accelerated aging processes, and again the effect sizes are quite small there even

CTE isn't thought to be caused by individual episodes of trauma, or else we'd all have it from banging our heads on the ceiling. It comes from regular cumulative trauma. In Hernandez's case, there is about a 99.9% chance it's attributable to football.

Nor is there any indication Hernandez was a heroin user at any time, and that's the only drug for which there's any evidence for accelerated aging processes, and again the effect sizes are quite small there even if we buy the methodology. Such small sample sizes to me indicate more research is needed. (To be fair, a substantial portion of the league is addicted to opioid painkillers, which are not dissimilar from heroin. However, the scientific paper tested heroin only.)

None of that would be defensible in court. The likely angle the NFL's attorney will take is to go to the studies that suggest tau accumulations begin as early as high school or college and thus there's no way to prove culpability on the part of the NFL. Interestingly, this defense would tacitly approve the idea that football causes CTE, a truth the NFL has been dedicated to fighting for the last decade.

If he got it like that then everybody must have CTE playing right now. I still feel drugs played some part here.

 

[PatsDeb]

Severe CTE and severe sociopathy don't mix.

All I could think of when I heard this is that the Patriots and BB must rue the day they ever heard the name Aaron Hernandez (me too as a fan).

 

[RobertWeathers]

McCanns piece is crazy.

Paints a scenario of BB, Kraft and Goody testifying.

Michael McCann: How does Aaron Hernandez's CTE diagnosis affect a lawsuit against the NFL?

 

[mosi]

CTE isn't thought to be caused by individual episodes of trauma, or else we'd all have it from banging our heads on the ceiling. It comes from regular cumulative trauma. In Hernandez's case, there is about a 99.9% chance it's attributable to football.

Nor is there any indication Hernandez was a heroin user at any time, and that's the only drug for which there's any evidence for accelerated aging processes, and again the effect sizes are quite small there even if we buy the methodology. Such small sample sizes to me indicate more research is needed. (To be fair, a substantial portion of the league is addicted to opioid painkillers, which are not dissimilar from heroin. However, the scientific paper tested heroin only.)

None of that would be defensible in court. The likely angle the NFL's attorney will take is to go to the studies that suggest tau accumulations begin as early as high school or college and thus there's no way to prove culpability on the part of the NFL. Interestingly, this defense would tacitly approve the idea that football causes CTE, a truth the NFL has been dedicated to fighting for the last decade.

Very well said. Your last point clearly explains why the NFL can't go this easy way.

 

[BTTA]

I have a 3 year old son, I don't want him to play youth football. If he wants to in HS, I'd say yes right now. Although that depends when he hits puberty and truely starts developing.

I strongly discouraged my (now 35 year old) son from football his entire life, even in college, when the coach tried to get him to walk on. He chose basketball and volleyball, and to this day has a great time playing volleyball in the city leagues around the country. And his brain works really well.

Ethical dilemma for me because I love the game but don't want anyone I know or care about to play it.

 

[Froob]

I still feel drugs played a part here.

Was def weed, turned him into a criminal and made him gay. Harsher punishments for the devil's lettuce is def the solution amirite?

 

[patriot1136]

I apologize in advance as I didn't read all 6 pages. Wouldn't heroin and PCP have a bigger impact on this than concussions and hits suffered in football? Or may its a combination of all of this?
Not sure what age A-hern started playing but I thought he joined a gang pretty young, possibly before football.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Heroin destroys/rearranges the pleasure center of the prefrontal cortex of brain which effects decision making and personality. Anyone that has known a addict friend or relative before and after can see the difference without mri or cat scans.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I thought i heard the same thing too, so since he was a thug in college how can they honestly say it was the nfl that caused the cte that resulted in his behavior? Sounds like they got an ambulance chaser for a lawyer.

We're still dealing with many unknowns when it comes to CTE, so you may be right. But, there is now evidence, as reported in the media yesterday, that the damage from playing the game at a young age...under 12...has the greatest impact on a kid. So, it's not inconceivable that this problem was with him for a long time. I don't think anything can reasonably be argued to justify murder...other than self-defense...so I'm not suggesting this is an "excuse" for any of his actions, but it might be part of an explanation.

 

[Ring 6]

This is ridiculous but typical of our legal system. Find a scapegoat to sensationalize the issue and lay blame on and hope you can confuse a jury.

If a woman can win $2,000,000 for spilling coffee on herself because she wasn't explicitly warned coffee is hot, surely you can get a jury who would like to see the little girl growing up without a father get some of jerry jones and his pals money, facts be damned.

 

[SalemPats]

CTE is a geeky writers dream.

Further proves the ****ification of our society

 

[mosi]

Or focus on his drug use and gang membership, which pretty clearly have a link to criminality.

And also point out that CTE does not make you kill people. Of the 99% of those NFL players examined that had CTE, how many were murderers?

 

[mb6592]

We will see the NFL become flag football in our lifetimes. The liability on this is too great.

What's so unique about football? So, how do we give boxing or MMA the "flag football" treatment? What about wrestling – a sport whose origins go back 15,000 years? Shouldn’t we take the choice out of the athlete’s hands? Wouldn’t it just make more sense to do away with all traditionally “manly” sports? Do we really need men?

 

[Ring 6]

Hernandez attorney said his CTE was "the most severe case ever found in someone as young as him".
Of course since CTE has only been known about for a few years and can only be found after death and Hernandez killed himself at 27 years old he may in fact be the only person ever examined for CTE as young as that.
Sensationalism.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Can't believe these people are gonna get a payday. Maybe the Lloyd family can sue them afterwards.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Can't believe these people are gonna get a payday. Maybe the Lloyd family can sue them afterwards.

the suit names his daughter...i imagine that most of any Award will go into a Trust for her...