And So Is The Beginning Of The End Of The NFL

I can’t say I don’t have mixed feelings:

“A Colorado jury has awarded $11.5 million in a lawsuit originally brought against helmet maker Riddell and several high school administrators and football coaches over brain injuries suffered by a teenager in 2008.” While the jury rejected the plaintiff’s claim of design defect, it accepted the theory that the helmet maker should have done more to warn of concussions. “The jury assessed 27 percent of the fault for Rhett Ridolfi’s injuries, making the company responsible for paying $3.1 million of the damages.” Riddell has been hit with a wave of lawsuits from both school and professional football players.

It’s over people.

2 responses to “And So Is The Beginning Of The End Of The NFL

  1. “Could have done more to WARN of concussions”? Good Lord. This is such a liberal “not enough” argument, which is as bad as their “fair share” one.

    And such a fair and well-thought-out verdict, too. Did Riddell guarantee no concussions through use of its helmets? No.

    Does any kid or adult getting into football know the following two things about the game?
    1) That it hits hard
    2) That you can get injured – either temporary or permanently?
    Yes.

    Did any coach, team, franchise, or helmet maker force a kid into a game, or prevent them from leaving one?
    No.

    “More” – This is the classic never tangible, never quantified, unicorn-like ideal that :”fair share” liberals always cling to as a last resort wherever risk and reality are in the same room. They scream so loud about companies shirking their responsibilities and socializing the losses, then you see verdicts like this one where this is exactly what they have done both as players and as parents. Both groups had 100% opportunity to either not get into the game or take themselves out of the game if the risk outweighed the reward, but instead they choose to absolve themselves of this fact and instead dump that responsibility onto a an innocent but close-by third party that happens to have money in order to 1) ease their guilt, and 2) grab an even bigger piece of the financial pie.

    The league could turn the game into a touch rather than tackle game, and through promoting “hardest hits” and things like that is complicit in these injuries to a significant degree, I think. It also has a responsibility to its players just as a workplace has a responsibility to safety for its employees, so it does owe somewhere. But sue the helmet maker? Pure b.s.. Unless Riddell followed some orders somewhere to NOT make the helmets safer, no way.

    If I were Riddell I’d say fine, we’re taking that $11.5m out of our R&D budget and guarantee no new helmet improvements for the next five years.

    • Does any kid or adult getting into football know the following two things about the game?
      1) That it hits hard
      2) That you can get injured – either temporary or permanently?
      Yes.

      I agree. And at the NFL level, that should be enough. NASCAR drivers make millions of dollars driving very fast and dangerous race cares. They know the risks.

      Football players too.

      If I were Riddell I’d say fine, we’re taking that $11.5m out of our R&D budget and guarantee no new helmet improvements for the next five years.

      The problem is they already lost the suit.

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