How One Lawyer’s Crusade Could Change Football Forever

Tyler Lima                                                                                                                                                            ENG101

(Seconded Article link: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article187534063.html)

In this article Michael Sokolove fights to connect serious head injuries to the sport. Jason luckasevic was studying to pass the bar exam, which he passed on the first try. Not long after passing he was hired right out of school. By 2000 a Pittsburgh firm hired him. “lawyering for the working people”, was the ambition of Goldberg, Perksy and white. This was a new firm Luckasevic had joined to move on up and start making big bucks.

Luckasevic’s older brother Todd was working in a medical examiner office, under Bennet Omalu a forensic Pathologist. Omalu performed autopsy on former football player Mike Webster, who had passed away at the age of fifty suffering from dementia. While reviewing MR. Webster brain he noted damage similar to what boxers suffer “drunk punch” syndrome. Five more cases over a few years with similar conditions. Tangled brain tissue and sharing characteristics of Alzheimer Disease.

By 2005, Omalu published his findings in the Journal of Neurosurgery. He stated seeing chronic tramatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E. This is when the NFL responded with affiliated doctors demanded Mr. Omalu retract his article. NFL said “ preposterous and misinterpretation of facts”. At this point Omalu seeked to get some legal help from Todd’s younger brother Jason Luckasevic.

Luckasevic had met with retired NFL players in 2006. Witch those players confirmed Omalu’s studies when looking at the brain tissue under a microscope. Luckasevic witnessed the suffering ranging from headaches, memory loss, depression and sleeplessness. Building a case against the NFL takes gaining the trust of those retired players, who were the victims. Luckasevic said  “they have to feel they have a friendship with you before there’s a business relationship,” Luckasevic said. “They have to have your cellphone number. They’ll keep calling and calling and calling until they get you, and you’ll have a conversation, and then they’ll call you back an hour later and ask the same questions and have the same conversation. This is a clear sign of having some extensive brain damage, without doing any testing.

It seemed that the NFL is losing the fight to deny C.T.E claims or its link to brain damage amongst players and retied ones. Other then changing rules to make football less violent and improving equipment. There will always be injuries but its about helping the players who have these conditions and finding ways to fix the problem not deny and act like its not happening. The NFL needs to admit there wrong and help save the lives of these players.