Further evidence of how awesome Forrest Gregg is

[Vitale]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/91832 ... ns-not-nfl

[panhandle_pony]

What a stud !

[Treadway21]

His Green Bay team mate and SMU great Bill Forrester also had Parkinson's. I saw him just before he died; it is a horrible disease. Football injuries must be part of the cause.

It is great that he is staying out of the legal battles. He is one very honorable man.

[78pony]

As honorable a man as you will ever find.

[SMU2007]

"I don't need anything from anybody but what I earned."

What a novel idea.

It's sad that men like this are so rare.

[ponyboy]

Agreed, 07

[Casey]

Two men I admire more than any others: my father and Forrest Gregg.

[Digetydog]

His Green Bay team mate and SMU great Bill Forrester also had Parkinson's. I saw him just before he died; it is a horrible disease. Football injuries must be part of the cause.

It is great that he is staying out of the legal battles. He is one very honorable man.

"Football injuries must be part of the cause."

That is simply not true. Correlation does not imply causation. There are plenty of people who get Parkinson's who don't participate in any contact sports. At this time, there are no proven "causes" of Parkinson's.

I really liked Forrest Gregg and find it strange that SMU hasn't done more to honor his Hall of Fame career and contributions to the school.

[Junior]

Let me ask this. From this point forward, will players be allowed to pursue similar lawsuits? If this case is successful, will future players be able to due given that they would have to be well aware of the risks? It's like suing the Army because you volunteer for hazardous duty and get wounded. You know the risks and want the rewards. Can't have both, especially when it's something you do voluntarily.

[SMU2007]

They shouldn't be able to but some idiot lawyer will argue they should have done more to prevent and they didn't know the full extent of the risks blah blah blah

[PonyKai]

Not really, not when you're alleging that the NFL committed an intentional tort.

[Alaric]

His Green Bay team mate and SMU great Bill Forrester also had Parkinson's. I saw him just before he died; it is a horrible disease. Football injuries must be part of the cause.

It is great that he is staying out of the legal battles. He is one very honorable man.

I saw Bill as well when he had Parkinson's. Herschel Sr looked great but not Bill...Real tough to see him like that

[Digetydog]

Let me ask this. From this point forward, will players be allowed to pursue similar lawsuits? If this case is successful, will future players be able to due given that they would have to be well aware of the risks? It's like suing the Army because you volunteer for hazardous duty and get wounded. You know the risks and want the rewards. Can't have both, especially when it's something you do voluntarily.

While I don't work on products liability matters, I have worked in the insurance industry for years. Simply put, there is a good chance that liability issues could significantly shrink the game.

As noted in the link below, Riddell just got popped with a huge verdict. Based upon what I have read, verdicts like that one are only going to get worse. Potential defendants include the helmet mfgs, coaches, administrators, school (and school districts), organizing bodies such as the [Name} Sports Authority, and even opposing players. Faced with significant liabilities, the cost of insurance for everyone is going to go up significantly and/or it will become unavailable.

1) Helmet Manufacturers: they are sitting ducks for product liability claims involving head injuries. If they design a "better" helmet and people get injured, it won't protect them. I would bet every penny I own that thier insurance carriers are forcing through huge premium increases and reducing coverage. Ultimately, increased insurance costs will be reflected in the price of helmets.

2) Schools and School Districts: They face increased costs of purchasing and maintaining helmets + higher insurance costs. If you need to cut the budget, football will be an easy target. Even if they keep football at the high school level, they will likely drop it for 7th and 8th grades.

3) Organizing Bodies: In addition to higher insurance costs, they are going to be pressured to force parents to buy expensive helmets for their children.

4) Opposing players: At some point, a parent is going to sue the parents (and coaches) of an opposing player who hits a kid in the head causing a concussion. Even if the defendants win, their legal costs will be enormous.



http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... r-lawsuit/

[Treadway21]

I should not have made an snap judgement with only anecdotal observation, though I guess we will eventually find out if there is a cause and effect with more study. Regardless, it is terrible to deal with and it really saddened me to see Mr Forrester's condition as well as other friends who have had Parkinson's.

[No Quarter]

My own feelings about Forest Gregg are similar to those expressed above. My admiration for him as a man, a Mustang, and a player is great. I am sorry that he is in a bad way and that the cause is a game I so enjoyed watching, although I was never a player.

Here is a link to an piece in the Chicago Tribune by John Kass that appeared a week ago. It goes further than anything I've seen on the subject of head injuries suffered by football players.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013 ... ft-the-nfl