The Lawsuits Continue

Updated June 20, 2012

Although the master complaint has been filed, the never-ending parade of lawsuits won’t be stopping anytime soon.

In the past two days, at least three lawsuits were filed outside of Philadelphia.

On Thursday, Nathaniel Abraham et al v. NFL was filed in Atlanta, Georgia, which includes more than sixty players. This group is led by Billy Kilmer, Allen Rossum and the son of a Hall of Famer, Tony Dorsett Jr. As you may recall, the elder Dorsett was one of the first Hall of Famers to file a concussion lawsuit against the NFL.

On Friday, two lawsuits were filed in Houston, Texas. The first lawsuit is led by a group of Pro Bowlers, Danny White, Jerry LeVias, John Niland and Darryl Talley. This suit includes 14 former players.

Last November, Danny White told The Arizona Republic that he had more than 20 concussions while playing in the NFL, and he constantly walks into a room and forgets where he is. In a confusing turn of events, White recently told The Arizona Republic, “If somebody asks me if I’m going to sue the NFL, I say ‘no,’ The NFL was really good to me. It’s responsible for everything I have.”

Perhaps, White is showing further signs of memory loss — because he is clearly suing the NFL. According to White’s attorney, Walter Umphrey, White “signed a contract” and is a plaintiff in the concussion lawsuits. Nonetheless, White’s comments are certainly bizarre.

The other lawsuit filed in Houston, Kevin William et al v. NFL, includes 14 players, and every single player is in his thirties. Coincidence? Definitely not! The plaintiffs’ lawyer presumably did this in case he has to try the cases together, and they may all be showing early stages of brain damage.

There are now 89 concussion-related lawsuits filed against the NFL, which include more than 2,400 former players.

As the regular procedure goes, these cases will soon be transferred to Philadelphia and consolidated with the master-complaint, via a short-form complaint.

David Barron of The Houston Chronicle was the first to report the lawsuits.