NFL, Like M.D.'s, Was Slow to Recognize Concussion Risk =Orentlicher & David

In 1910 the NFL required this poster to be
displayed in NFL locker rooms, the CDC reports

Concussion and Football: Failures to Respond by the NFL and the Medical Profession, 8 (1) FIU Law Review (Forthcoming)

Brain injury in the NFL has gained the attention of public health authorities who have documented that NFL players die of neurodegenerative disorders at a rate triple the national average.  The NFL finds itself and the game on the defensive.  
In a new paper David Orentlicher (Indiana Law) and William David (Harvard Medical) argue that the NFL's slow recognition of the seriousness of concussion injuries reflected the slow recognition of the problem by health professionals - neurologists and others.  Many viewed concussion as a temporary injury, others suspected frequent malingering, and almost no one saw the "punch drunk fighter" as a phenomenon that signaled danger for football players.
Although the authors are not entirely uncritical of the NFL their argument, if accepted, would undercut the plaintiffs'assertion in the NFL Concussion Litigation master complaint that the NFL fraudulently concealed the dangers of professional football to its players.  They write 

While the NFL may have responded slowly to problems from concussion, the extent to which its response was unreasonable is unclear. If many medical experts did not worry about concussions, it is difficult to fault the NFL for not worrying either. Moreover, the NFL did not ignore concerns about head injuries. It imposed helmet requirements and banned types of blocking and tackling that were particularly dangerous. It also convened an expert committee to study the issue. Still, one can question the NFL’s failure to adopt concussion guidelines in the late 1990’s when they were being issued by medical experts.

If the fraudulent concealment claim is defeated the players' tort remedy will be barred and they will be limited to workers compensation which sharply limits compensation, and presents a welter of  jurisdictional problems since players work in many states in the course of a season and may suffer injury in any one or even all of them. - GWC