The NFL And The Concussion Storm

As many of you have probably noticed by now, former Falcon Ray Easterling had CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, when he committed suicide. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that slowly eats away at your brain until you can no longer function properly.

Several current players have gone on record and said they would try to hide a concussion so they could stay on the field, and yet the NFL is trying harder and harder to make sure that all concussions are properly diagnosed and treated so that CTE doesn't happen to current players after they retire.

However, it stands to reason that if current players would hide a concussion to stay on the field, is it possible that more players would've hidden concussions in the older days, when the NFL was considered more tough, or at least less like flag football (in the eyes of many players now)

Did Ray Easterling die due to concussions that went undiagnosed? Or did he die because he hid the concussions and wanted to keep playing? Therein lies the problem with the class action lawsuit. It's easy to say "I had concussions the NFL didn't help me with" after the fact, especially if you start to feel symptoms and start to regret your earlier life choices.

Any player who starts to suffer through a degenerative brain disease absolutely should receive whatever assistance they need, and dare I say the NFL should be able to afford it with all the money they bring in.

But these men, especially the ones that admitted they'd hide a concussion, need to accept that if they keep playing that game, then they could end up the exact same as Duerson, Easterling, or possibly even Junior Seau, too.

I'd argue it takes a tougher man to admit you can't go on any longer because of brain trauma than to try and hide it and be "tough". Yeah, football teams are families, but if you're truly families, then your family should want the best for you, and that means to get out if you have a concussion.

This lawsuit is going to be an interesting one, for sure.