Ray Easterling’s widow pushing for change in NFL
Ray Easterling played eight seasons with the Falcons in the 1970s, but brain trauma may have led to his suicide. (AP photo)
She tried to think back to life before her husband first started suffering from sleepless nights and depression, before the memory loss and the dementia, before the suicide.
“The first part of our marriage in Atlanta and Richmond, Ray was wonderful,” Mary Ann Easterling said Thursday. “He was the life of the party. There was always an excuse to get up in the morning. Then when the insomnia and the depression hit, it was like the light went off. The switch was flicked. He no longer enjoyed being around the family. He no longer enjoyed doing the things he always enjoyed.”
It has been seven weeks since former Falcons safety Ray Easterling, 62, was found dead in his Richmond home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suicide came eight months after the first in a flurry of concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL, a list that has grown to 86 suits, approximately 2,308 former players and 3,400 plaintiffs (including family members).
Easterling’s name was at the top of that initial suit. It follows that, in death, he has become the face for possible change in the NFL.
A master complaint was filed Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania. The expected administrative move consolidates the cases in hopes of streamlining the litigation process, a complex paper chase expected to last at least several months.
Two of the plaintiffs were on a conference call Thursday: Easterling’s widow, Mary Ann, and former running back Kevin Turner, who played for Philadelphia and New England and also suffers from ALS.
Turner has arranged to have his brain and spinal cord donated to science when he dies. He said he is not trying to “bring down” the NFL and even would support his sons playing pro football. But he believes the league “turned a blind eye to concussions and the cumulative effect of those. Ten years after retirement, I thought I had just turned into a loser over night. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.”
For 20 years, Mary Ann Easterling dealt with her husband’s mood swings, forgetfulness and anger issues. She said it wasn’t until five years ago when she made a “neurological” connection to the symptoms.
“His memory started to go,” she said. “He couldn’t organize anything. … He would forget where he put things. He was always late to appointments. He lost control of his hands. Then he was diagnosed with dementia.”
You will hear several more stories like this in the coming months. The NFL has long denied knowledge of covering up evidence of long-term effects of concussions. But in the court of public opinion, this will not be an easy battle to win, and my guess is commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners know that.
In the 88-page master complaint, plaintiffs are seeking, “a declaration of liability, injunctive relief, medical monitoring, and financial compensation for the long-term chronic injuries, financial losses, expenses, and intangible losses suffered by the Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ Spouses as a result of the Defendants’ intentional tortious misconduct, including fraud, and intentional misrepresentation and negligence.”
The suit charges, among other things, that the NFL, “was aware of the evidence and the risks associated with repetitive traumatic brain injuries virtually at its inception, but deliberately ignored and actively concealed the information …”
The NFL has denied knowledge of covering up any evidence of long-term effects of concussions.
Mary Ann Easterling and Turner are pushing for a greater awareness of the effects of concussions and support for players and their families. They also want tighter restrictions on those who suffer head injuries during their careers.
Turner recalled a game when he got knocked unconscious: “I came to on the sideline and asked [a teammate], ‘Are we in Green Bay or Philadelphia?’ If you can’t tell the difference between Lambeau Field and [Veterans Stadium], you’re in trouble. I sat out for 10 or 15 minutes, then I went back in.”
Mary Ann said “home life was peaceful” for the early years of their marriage. She talked about meeting her husband at Bible study. She spoke a little longer, then choked up and the conference call went silent for several seconds, stopped and started again twice.
“I’m concerned about former players who have symptoms and those who will have symptoms,” she said, later. “Their wives and their families should know that help and hope will be available to them.”
Not all stories end as tragically as Easterling’s, but the tragic ones often become the impetus for change.
Previous columns related to NFL concussions
– Goodell not fazed by Vilma’s lawsuit, Saints’ blather
– Former players more worried about concussions than current ones
– Bounties: They’re wrong, and Vilma, Saints, NFLPA just don’t get it
– Bounties: NFL violence isn’t the same as premeditated assault
By Jeff Schultz
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71 comments Add your comment
Nathaniel
June 8th, 2012
3:56 pm
What did those guys think would happen after using their heads as weapons and getting concussions for ten to fifteen years. Never saw a movie with a punch drunk fighter as a character. They had as much inofrmation as the officials of the league.
The term assumption of risk comes to mind.
However, since the NFL is floating in money, might as well let them have some more of it.
Rule changes are in order in football. And a change in the direction of the game, or else assumption of risk from now on since everyone knows what the results will be.
doc
June 8th, 2012
4:13 pm
man people miss the point.
it isnt about danger but the best protection before but more important the dx, care and treatment that goes with these injuries they havent received until legal actions began a few years ago on this. if you crash your car and are burned and broke up they dont run you back out and say it was a dinger and good play. you get a helicopter to the closest level one trauma center.
incidentally nascar is a great example of a corporation taking responsibiity to make it about fool proof from being injured severely. of course that took the death of beloved dale earnhart who didnt have to die with mandatory safety equipment. some folks have a real almost hate agenda
that over rides sensibility.
Just the facts maam
June 8th, 2012
4:13 pm
I think the only thing the league did was further increase injuries to the much older players before million dollar contracts were the norm. By players perceiving pressure, real or not, by coaches to hurry up and get back in the game after a concussion or other injury during a game. Of course, medical science back then did not have same concussion studies as today. So nobody in league would have known the future harm.
The pressure may have been felt to keep a job and stay in the league. Remember, many athletes had second jobs in offseasons years ago to supplement income.
Today’s pampered millionaires are treated much differently. Teams are protecting their investments and allowing players to get back to prime health before taking chances on further injuries.
I don’t get a lot of the “millionaire player era” complaints. Seems as if they’re jumping on bandwagon. They know a lot more today than they are letting on.
And when does simple common sense come into play. Players know consequences of their actions. That was a big argument for why they started receiving million dollar contracts to begin with.
Just the facts maam
June 8th, 2012
4:15 pm
They know it’s a dangerous sport and that’s why they get paid the big bucks.
Just the facts maam
June 8th, 2012
4:19 pm
They’ve had the best medical treatment from the time that knee doctor, specialist over in Birmingham became the premier sports medical physician many, many years ago.
No more Triple Crown for this year
June 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
Jeff, Anyone else bummed about I’ll Have Another not being able to race the final leg of the Triple Crown? Geez, to get this far and not have a shot at the Belmont due to a flaky injury.
Only the 3rd horse to make it to the Belmont with a Triple Crown chance and get scratched because of injury. Last 2 were way back in ‘32 and ‘36.
At least he’ll be able to stud.
No more Triple Crown for this year
June 8th, 2012
4:28 pm
That sux. Too long to wait between races. He would have been healthy to run if it were last Saturday.
Shut the f up
June 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
“No More,” go to hell and die. You are on the wrong thread.
chuck
June 8th, 2012
5:32 pm
Smokers blaming the cigarette makers for lung cancer. Football players blaming the owners for concussions. Same old story. Knowing the risks you take yourself, blame someone else. Sounds like liberals.
Hillbilly D
June 8th, 2012
6:21 pm
They’ve had the best medical treatment from the time that knee doctor, specialist over in Birmingham became the premier sports medical physician many, many years ago.
Dr James Andrews is an orthopedic surgeon. He does mostly knees, elbows and shoulders. He did a friend of mine for a hip fracture. He doesn’t do brains.
Timbo
June 8th, 2012
6:51 pm
This is nothing more than a money grab. I am truly sympathetic to the Easterlings, but have a hard time believing that all of a sudden former players are claiming that they didn’t know the inherit risks of banging heads and taking drugs to get back out on the field.
Also, whose to say that these problems didn’t begin in the NFL, but began in college football, high school football, junior high, little league…Who gets sued next? Why not sue UGA, the Southeastern Conference, the NCAA, or any state/local governing body(taxpayer’s dollars) that ever sanctioned and allowed football to be played at all. The notion that the media, Congress, or whatever are looking at just the NFL is non sensical. How many players that never made it to the NFL are suffering similar physical issues. What is the percentage of former NFL players that commit suicide compared to the percentage of anyone that commits suicide? I bet the ratio is the same. I don’t doubt the cause and effect of banging heads, but one cannot blame this on the NFL, one has to blame the game itself. You either accept the consequences, don’t play the game, turn the channel, or kill the sport.
Ken Stallings
June 8th, 2012
10:35 pm
The NFL now uses radically altered treatment plans and requirements for concussions since these men played. The NFL then had the same information they have now.
The difference is that the NFL has since had the medical information they kept secret become public as the mounting evidence based upon the debilitating life-altering injuries became diagnosed by competent doctors (those not working for the NFL) and the truth was finally told. Once the truth was told, the NFL finally did what they should have done decades earlier. Had they taken those action then, these men would not be suffering for the rest of their lives today (nor their families).
People who see these facts and still claim this is a mere money grab, or a case of fools knowing the risks and playing anyway, have no cognitive reasoning powers, or are merely using a blog for cheap entertainment opportunities!
5150 UOAD
June 9th, 2012
12:43 am
KEN STALLINGS go CRY to the Soldiers that still see the faces of the men they killed while they live under some bridge and beg for money to get drunk to forget the HORRORS of war.
JSS
June 9th, 2012
6:04 am
“Why is it that the league can “hide” this info? Did they do it in secret? Does the union accept responsibility for not doing there own study? Are the players going to sue the union too?”
Yes, “they” did hide it and colluded in a effort to undermine data with a study paid for by the league. The union cooperated mightily in every study since 1980
Ken Stallings
June 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
UOAD,
I served in wars and earned a DFC in combat flight operations. Before you lecture someone about warfare, perhaps you should shut up a few seconds and take a moment to learn something about whom you attempt to lecture!
Men in combat take those risks to protect their society from loss of liberties and lives, and that makes the sacrifices paid worth it. And before using the talking points of lying politicians as you just did, take a few seconds to appreciate what our nation does to take care of our veterans in real need.
But, to see men suffer in their middle ages such that they become disfunctional, and effectively are exiled from their own families, just so I can watch them play a game for a few years is a rather pathetic trade.
Protecting your country, and keeping liberty alive in it, is worth a price in lives.
If it comes down to it that football cannot be played without men making such sacrifices, then destroy the sport immediately and play basketball or baseball! However, provided we don’t listen to foolish voices like your’s the truth is that football can be played without such sacrifices. The NFL simply needed to implement the concussions policies they did in the 21st century way back in the 1970’s when they had all the data necessary to confirm the risks back then.
The NFL is going to lose this lawsuit. Hiding risks, and sending men back out on the field with concussions just to play a game, is a foolish and crass exchange of life for money! When you comprehend that it takes this sort of recklessness to turn concussions into life-altering debilitations, then intelligent people can see the issue. Forcing players to rest until all concussion symptoms are gone prevents the sort of life-altering issues these retired players are now facing. Forcing them to retire for their own good after the symptoms fail to disappear costs them money, but protects the rest of their lives. People should not die or be permanently debilitated to play a sports game!
On the other hand, life for liberty is something rational people can understand.
Perhaps UOAD, you will either find another entertainment outlet for your fantasies, or take a few seconds to contemplate how foolish you have acted here!
DawgNole
June 9th, 2012
5:29 pm
Ken Stallings
June 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
Perhaps UOAD, you will either find another entertainment outlet for your fantasies, or take a few seconds to contemplate how foolish you have acted here!
________________________
Wishful thinking, I’m afraid. Perhaps you don’t know the guy.
Hillbilly D
June 9th, 2012
10:03 pm
But, to see men suffer in their middle ages such that they become disfunctional, and effectively are exiled from their own families, just so I can watch them play a game for a few years is a rather pathetic trade.
Well said, Ken.
PlanB
June 10th, 2012
7:04 am
5150 has it right except for the point of injured players being forced to play. We are evolving and head injuries are being taken care of in a different way, now. I’ve heard players can get safer helmets but they are a little heavier and slow the players down. I feel sure the player will go for the lighter faster helmet as many have opted not to use knee and thigh pads because they slow them down.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
June 10th, 2012
9:49 pm
Ken Stallings
June 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
UOAD,
I served in wars and earned a DFC in combat flight operations. Before you lecture someone about warfare, perhaps you should shut up a few seconds and take a moment to learn something about whom you attempt to lecture!
_______________________________________________
Thank you
TOAD is an idiot!
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bob
June 20th, 2012
11:34 pm
Who would have thought that head on full force hits would cause damage to the human body? I love how personal responsibility has gone bye-bye in this day and age, I understand some of these players are your friends but they harbor some of the blame for not bargaining for that in the CBA.
The players have no one to blame but themselves, the boss rarely looks out for their meal tickets and they should have been proactive to do their own studies.