A federal judicial panel in Miami will decide Thursday on whether to consolidate the more than 500 lawsuits being filed by retired NFL players.
They claim the league intentionally hid the danger that concussions could lead to long term brain injuries.
Miami attorney Stephen Rosenthal represents close to 100 former athletes, and says his clients feel like they were betrayed by the NFL.
He mentions one such case where an athlete’s memory loss is taking a toll on his family, saying “One former quarterback, his wife will give him a list of groceries, and he’ll come back with nothing,” he continues, “She realizes that he hasn’t even looked at the list because he forgot it was even there and didn’t even know why he went to the grocery store.”
One of Rosenthal’s more prevalent clients is former Patriots fullback Kevin Turner, who’s suffering one of the worst symptoms.
“Turner was a terrific fullback and is now suffering Lou Gehrig’s disease, which is most likely a derivative of the brain injuries he sustained while being concussed on the football field,” Rosenthal adds.
Players are demanding for the league to compensate them for their medical bills, as well as future medical monitoring.
The NFL says it prefers to hear all the cases as a single multi‐district litigation case.