Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

Chris Dronett has filed suit against the NFL on behalf of her deceased husband, former Atlanta Falcon Shane Dronett. After playing for 10 seasons, Shane retired from the NFL in 2003. In 2006, he began to suffer from paranoia, confusion, fear and rage. He subsequently had surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2007. Shane's condition continued to worsen resulting in his tragic suicide in the couple's Duluth, Georgia home in 2009.

The Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy confirmed that Shane was suffering from a degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) linked to repetitive head trauma.

Researchers believe the beating Shane took as an NFL lineman led to his brain's deterioration. It is estimated that a NFL lineman takes 1,000 or more hits every season accumulating to tens of thousands of ultimately subconcussive hits, resulting in overt concussion symptoms such as dizziness, short-term memory loss and confusion but could still cause brain damage.

The number of subconcussive hits Shane Dronett took likely started when Shane played youth and high school football continuing to accumulate as he became an All-American at The University of Texas. Increasing awareness and understanding of the dangers of concussions have shaped a more proactive approach to the problem on a professional level, but the overwhelming majority of head injuries are suffered by student athletes in a broad range of sports.

There are 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions per year among teenage athletes and as many as 80% go unrecognized or are not treated properly. The NFL has the funds to keep physicians on staff, but most high school athletic departments do not. Students feel pressure to return to the field in hopes of impressing scouts and receiving scholarships. Therefore it is imperative for coaches and parents to monitor the activities of these student athletes and seek the proper medical attention if a head injury occurs.

If you or a loved one experience a head injury, it is important that you see a doctor for appropriate diagnosis especially if you notice a change in sleep patterns, confusion, fatigue or mood swings. If in fact you have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury such as a concussion, seeking help quickly will increase your chances of a full recovery. Athletes with multiple concussions were 7.7 times more likely to experience a major drop in memory performance.

Four former National Football League players have filed suit in Atlanta against the league for personal injury, asserting that the NFL ignored years of evidence that repeated blows to the head were causing serious and traumatic brain damage to NFL players. The suits are the first of about 30 that will be filed on behalf of ex-NFL players and, in many cases, their wives.

The players claim that the NFL not only failed to take effective action to protect players from head injuries, but failed to inform players of the risks associated with concussions. Instead, the NFL chose to misrepresent and/or conceal medical evidence through its 'hand-picked' committee of physicians who were purportedly researching same, according to the plaintiffs. While athletes in other professional sports who had suffered concussions were being effectively 'shut down' for long periods of time or full seasons, NFL protocol was to return players who had suffered concussions to the very game in which they suffered the injury.

The four men say they continue to suffer from headaches, insomnia, dizziness and dementia. Plaintiffs include Jamal Lewis, Dorsey Levins, Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart. Lewis, 32, played for the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns and is one of only five players to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. Levens, 41, played for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers. Kuykendall retired in 1985 after 10 years with the Atlanta Falcons that earned him the nickname "Kaptain Krazy" for his enthusiastic assaults on opposing players. Stewart spent five seasons with the Detroit Lions and now commentates for ESPN.

If you or a loved one experience a head injury, it is important that you see a doctor for appropriate diagnosis especially if you notice a change in sleep patterns, confusion, fatigue or mood swings. If in fact you have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury such as a concussion, seeking help quickly will increase your chances of a full recovery. Up to 15% of those diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury have persistent disabilities.

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