The helmet-to-helmet shot knocked Tony Dorsett out cold in the second quarter of a 1984 Cowboys-Eagles game, the hardest hit he ever took during his Hall of Fame NFL career.
Brett Hundley Authentic Jersey . "It was like a freight train hitting a Volkswagen," Dorsett says now. "Did they know it was a concussion?" he asks rhetorically during an interview with The Associated Press. "They thought I was half-dead." And yet, he says, after being examined in the locker room -- a light shined in his eyes; queries such as who sat next to him on the Cowboys bus ride to the stadium -- Dorsett returned to the field and gained 99 yards in the second half. Mainly, he says, by running plays the wrong way, because he couldnt remember what he was supposed to do. "That aint the first time I was knocked out or been dazed over the course of my career, and now Im suffering for it," the 57-year-old former tailback says. "And the NFL is trying to deny it." Dorsett traces several health problems to concussions during a career that lasted from 1977-88, and he has joined more than 300 former players -- including three other members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and at least 32 first- or second-team All-Pro selections -- in suing the NFL, its teams and, in some cases, helmet maker Riddell. More should have been done in the past to warn about the dangers of concussions, their lawyers argue, and more can be done now and in the future to help retired players deal with mental and physical problems they attribute to their days in the NFL. In interviews conducted by the AP over the past two months with a dozen plaintiffs, what emerged was, at best, a depiction of a culture of indifference on the part of the league and its teams toward concussions and other injuries. At worst, there was a strong sense of a wilful disregard for players well-being. "Its not about whether players understood you could get a concussion playing football. Its about the negligence of care, post-concussion, that occurred," says Kyle Turley, an offensive lineman for the Saints, Rams and Chiefs who was the No. 7 overall pick in the 1998 draft and an All-Pro in 2000. Players complain that they carried owners to their profits, in an industry that now has more than $9 billion in annual revenues, without the safety nets of guaranteed contracts or lifetime medical insurance. "Yeah, I understand you paid me to do this, but still yet, I put my life on the line for you, I put my health on the line," Dorsett says. "And yet when the time comes, you turn your back on me? Thats not right. Thats not the American way." Head injuries are a major topic of conversation every day of the NFL season. With the Super Bowl as a global stage, the NFL will air a one-minute TV commercial during Sundays game highlighting rules changes through the years that have made the sport safer. The owners of the teams playing for the Lombardi Trophy in Indianapolis -- Bob Kraft of the New England Patriots and John Mara of the New York Giants -- acknowledge the issues significance. "Theres more of a focus on it now, without question, and I think thats a good thing, and I think itll continue to be a focus. Because none of us want to put players in perilous situations like that," Mara says. "I dont want to see guys that are on this team, 20 years from now, with debilitating injuries, no matter what they are." Says Kraft: "We know this is a physical game, and when people play the game, they know it comes with certain risks. We have tried to stay ahead of it." The most accomplished and best-known plaintiff in the flurry of lawsuits -- a star for the Cowboys after winning the 1976 Heisman Trophy at Pittsburgh -- Dorsett agreed to two interviews with the AP, one over the telephone and one at his suburban Dallas home. "I dont want to get to the point where it turns into dementia, Alzheimers. I dont want that," says Dorsett, who ran for 12,739 yards, the eighth-highest total in league history. He is, in that moment, sad and deflated -- in others, pumped up and angry, fists flying to punctuate his words. "Theres no doubt in my mind that ... what I went through as a football player is taking an effect on me today. Theres no ifs ands or buts about that. Im just hoping and praying I can find a way to cut it off at the pass." He spreads two pages worth of brain scans on his coffee table and says doctors told him that red regions in the colour-coded scan mean he is not getting enough oxygen in the left lobe of his brain, the part associated with organization and memory. He already forgets peoples names or why he walked into a room or where hes heading while driving on the highway, and fears his memory issues are getting worse. Dorsetts had surgery on both his knees, and problems with his left arm and right wrist. He says then-Cowboys coach Tom Landry once told him he could play despite a broken bone in his back. Not even the flak jacket Dorsett says he wore beneath his jersey could bring relief, the injury so painful that "tears would just start flowing out of my eyes, profusely and uncontrollably" during practices. "They would see me and just point to the training room. Go to the training room, get some ice and heat and come on back out here," Dorsett says. And during games? "They were hitting me, and Id be squealing like a pig," Dorsett says, imitating the guttural sound. "It was so bad that the other team was telling our coaches, Get him out of the game. You know that somethings wrong then. And like a fool, I stayed as long as I could. Theyre going to our sideline, telling our coaches, Get him out of the game! ... You know its bad when the opposition feels sorry for you." Other players describe an off-camera NFL that is darker than the carefully scripted show presented during Super Bowl week. Their recollections, based on playing careers that touched every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s, include: -- "Midnight snack" buffets at a team hotel the night before games that would consist not only of food and drink, but also painkillers so that, as Rory Graves, an Oakland Raiders offensive lineman from 1988-91, puts it, "The next day, you feel like a kid. You could run into a car -- no pain! You didnt feel nothing." -- Cans of beer tucked into airplane seat pockets before players would board, so theyd have something at the ready to wash down the prescription drugs such as the painkiller Vicodin (commonly called "footballs" by players because of their oblong shape) or the muscle relaxant Flexeril ("home plates" because theyre pentagons) disbursed freely by someone coming down the aisle on team flights. "We took those drugs because we wanted to play, but there was nobody stopping us," Turley says. "Were young. Were 10 feet tall. Nothing can harm us. If youre giving it to us, were going to take it." -- Widespread and regular use of Toradol, a medicine intended for pain relief, generally after an operation, and a central part of one of the lawsuits that says the drug could put someone with a head injury at increased risk. "If it wasnt torn or it wasnt broken, to me, Toradol fixed it and allowed me to keep going. I was so used to using it that I wanted to make it a weekly ritual to make sure that if I did get hurt, I wouldnt have to be taken out of the game," says Joe Horn, who estimated he got four or five concussions during a career in which he caught more than 600 passes for the Chiefs, Saints and Falcons from 1996-2007. "To be honest with you, we were kind of -- whats the word for it? -- addicted. But I always thought it was OK; the NFL doctors were giving it to us." -- Being scorned by teammates or coaches if unable to return to a game because of injury, and a seeming total dismissal, particularly in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, of the notion that head trauma could cause significant problems, immediately or long term. "Get back out there" was a phrase repeated by the ex-players, citing words they heard during practices or games. As Joe Harris, a linebacker with five teams from 1977-82, says: "I know I had nine or 10 concussions, because I played through them. A lot of times, Im out there and I was dazed, and I heard guys say, Hes knocked out, and he dont even know it. And then you talk to your coach, and they bring out smelling salts. Give him a hit of that, and put him back out on the field. And they show you fingers, and you say its three when its two. And they say, Get back out there. Just hit the one in the middle." -- A day-to-day, post-football existence that is difficult because of, for some, depression, dementia, migraine headaches, memory lapses, along with balky hips and knees and shoulders. "My body hurts all the time," says Mark Duper, who caught more than 500 passes as a wide receiver with Dan Marinos Miami Dolphins from 1982-92. Duper is more concerned, though, about the ringing in his ears, the loss of memory, "having a conversation and, all of a sudden, I just forget what Im talking about." "I try not to take medicine. I dont want to be a zombie," Duper adds. "What little left Ive got in my brain, I want to keep it normal." Dorsett describes making the trek to the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony and being saddened by once-hearty men deteriorating before his eyes. "Bodies that were just mangled, just beat up. Twisted up. Hit with arthritis and the knuckles and the bones, the twisted bones. Its Wow! Its very enlightening to see that," he says, wincing at the images he describes. "And then when you hear that these guys dont have insurance, that the league wont give them insurance, that the league is saying that it didnt happen on their clock. Thats bull." Citing the pending litigation, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would not comment on players specific allegations and referred to a written statement initially released in December: "The NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit. It stands in contrast to the leagues actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions." Jack Yeo, who works at a public relations firm representing Riddell, said the equipment company does not comment on legal matters. As public as the plight of current players is, former players say their stories arent widely known. "Fans dont know. They have no clue. And you think the NFL is going to tell them? No," says Ronnie Lippett, a Patriots cornerback from 1983-91. "Im just so happy that the senators and congressmen and congresswomen took notice of how they have been cheating us. And thats the only reason (players are) getting the help that were getting now. And its only been in the last two years that anything has started to change." Soon after a House hearing in October 2009, when lawmakers grilled Commissioner Roger Goodell about the leagues concussion policies and the connection between injuries on the playing field and later brain diseases, the NFL made several changes. Those included revamping return-to-play guidelines and changing the co-chairmen of its committee on concussions -- a panel, originally formed in 1994, that one pending suit against the league describes as "part of the NFLs scheme to deceive Congress, the players and the public at large." The league finds itself continually changing its concussion protocols, most recently after Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy returned to a December game despite not being checked for a head injury following an against-the-rules hit to the helmet. The league put certified athletic trainers in booths above the field to watch for injuries and added video feeds on sidelines to make it easier to track dangerous hits immediately. But players like Dorsett and Duper, who played long before that greater awareness and vigilance, didnt have such safeguards. "They werent as cautious back then. We played with concussions. I didnt know what a concussion was, really, when I was playing football. We got hit, we got up," Duper says. "I can remember times when I got hit, and I went back out on the field, and I couldnt remember the plays. I guess thats what a concussion is, the Eeeeeeeeeeee! youd hear. And you woke up and youd see stars. I remember those things. And I played with it." Says Barry Brown, a linebacker and tight end for three teams from 1966-70: "When you know youve got a concussion, and they put you back in the game, its abuse." That attitude extended beyond head injuries, according to the plaintiffs the AP interviewed. "The game of football and the money that was out there -- they wanted the best players in the games, no matter what. If he was 80 per cent well or 75 per cent, they believed that he, the starter, was better than the second guy behind him, and theyd rather have a less-percentage guy. They didnt protect us at all," Lippett says. "I took shots in my foot, in my shoulders, in my ribs. They had to know of the ramifications of going back out there with different injuries. The money aspect of it just forced them to not pay attention." Mara, the Giants owner, says he cant speak for other teams, but insists his medical staff takes "any kind of injury seriously." "They dont let players go back on the field unless they feel they can do so without risk, particularly with head injuries," says Mara, whose family founded the Giants in 1925. "Our trainer, Ronnie Barnes, has been with us forever. You ask any of our players, or former players, whether he put their interests first or the teams interests first, and I think youd find a pretty strong consensus that he always put the players interests first. I cant speak to other organizations." Giants long snapper Zak DeOssies father, Steve, also played for New York, as well as New England, during his 1984-95 career. The elder DeOssie was approached about signing on as a plaintiff against the NFL but hasnt because, he says, "Im not 100 per cent sure if my concussions have affected me." "You accept the responsibility and you accept the idea that youre in a dangerous profession, but you also expect certain levels of care and professionalism on the other side. And I think its a lot better now than it ever was before," says Steve DeOssie. "Whether its through public pressure, or whether its their own desire, theyve gone a long way to make it right, which is a good thing." Players have differing motives for suing their former employers, and the 20 or so lawsuits against the NFL seek varying remedies, although lawyers are reluctant to discuss specific monetary damages. At least one suit, for example, asked that the NFL and Riddell fund a medical monitoring program that would test players over the years to see whether they wind up with problems that stem from concussions. "I just want to make sure there is some recognition given to the fact that, 10 years from now, if I come down with something ... that I have some kind of recourse," says Cedric Brown, a safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976-84. "I dont want to end up, 10 years from now, being a vegetable, and youve got nowhere to go." Asked what advice hed give current players, Brown says: "First thing is, wear every pad. ... And pay attention to your body. When you get to be 50 or 60, those little injuries you have now, guess what? Theyre coming back." Dorsett acknowledges hes not familiar with details of the lawsuit that includes him among the plaintiffs. He was approached about joining other former players, and he agreed, figuring his name would call attention to the issues of mistreatment he sees as being at the heart of the case. "Ill stand up on a mountaintop," Dorsett says, "and tell the world its not right." Ask Dorsett what outcome he hopes for, and he speaks about money and principles. "The owners need to own up to it, own up to what the game does to human lives. Theres a zillion football players in the same situation with their brains, their backs, their knees. Come on. They just need to own up to it, and do something about it. Theyve got money they can put in funds to take care of guys when they need to help," Dorsett says. "We need health insurance for life. Paid by the NFL. No question in my mind, we definitely need that." According to the NFL Players Association, full lifetime medical insurance was not sought by current and former union leadership because such a plan would cost an estimated $50 million a year and the current U.S. health care laws should cover most players with pre-existing conditions. "Until the public realizes whats going on and how many players -- theres guys in the Hall of Fame; in the Hall of Fame! -- that were making $300, $400, $500 a month with no health insurance. Again, what is that? That is sad. That is sad," says Dennis Harrah, a Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman from 1975-87 and an All-Pro in 1986. "Theyre just fallen heroes. You take care of fallen heroes. Somehow, some way." For now, the lawsuits are still in the initial, procedural stages. On Tuesday, at least four, including one in which former Chicago Bears Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon is a plaintiff, were consolidated in a Philadelphia court. Harrah, like most of the former players interviewed by the AP, isnt all that optimistic about a quick resolution. "Theyre just waiting until we die," he says of the NFL. "Theyre just waiting for us old guys until we pass -- to quit complaining, and we die." That same sense of resentment and despair permeates Dorsetts words as he raises his voice and shakes his head. "They use you up. No matter what the circumstances are, its all about winning games, football games, regardless. And they dont care, because they figure, you know, We got, you know, replacement factories, which are colleges. And theres going to be somebody else to eventually come along and fill that void," he says. "So they just put you out there, and feed you to the wolves. And if you make it through, fine. If you dont, thats fine. "Management, ownership, as far as injuries are concerned, I think in some regards they wish they could just look the other way."
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Damarious Randall Limited Jersey . Two weeks after the Kings became NHL royalty for a second time; sitting on top of the hockey world, Stanley Cup in hands.LONDON - Owen Hargreaves marked his return to competitive football with a debut goal for Manchester City in a 2-0 win over defending champion Birmingham in the Carling Cup on Wednesday. The England midfielder, who struggled through three injury-plagued years before being released by Citys neighbour Manchester United in the off-season, fired in Citys opener from 25 metres (yards) in the third-round victory over the cup holders. Hargreaves, who has had operations on both knees in recent years, managed to complete 57 minutes before being substituted. It was the Calgary-born midfielders longest appearance since completing Uniteds match against Chelsea exactly three years ago. "After so long out, I dont think it was easy for him before the game," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "But he worked well and scored a fantastic goal." On a night of comebacks, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard returned after six months out in a 2-1 victory over Brighton. Two of Wednesdays games were settled by penalties. Chelsea beat Fulham 4-3 in the shootout after a 0-0 draw through 120 minutes, while Cardiff beat Leicester 7-6 on spot kicks after the second-tier clubs were level at 2-2 after extra time. Everton also reached the fourth round by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 after extra time, and League Championship leader Southampton defeated Preston 2-1. Hargreaves had managed just six minutes of playing time in the three years since that Chelsea match, and many thought his career was over at the age of 30 when his United contract ended. But the former Bayern Munich midfielder posted videos on YouTube to prove his fitness, and was given a surprise contract across the Manchester divide at City. Three weeks later, Hargreaves showed it was a gamble worth taking by Mancini. It took him just 17 minutes to score against Birmingham, seizing on a loose ball as Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli had their route into the penalty area blocked and unleashing the ball from distance past goalkeeper Colin Doyle and into the top corner of the net. "Owen is a fantastic player, who can become a very important player for us," Mancini said. "He hasnt had any problems in the last three weeks. At the moment his knee is fine." Hargreaves was still on the pitch when Mario Balotelli scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute.
Ty Montgomery Limited Jersey. The Italy striker steered Aleksandar Kolarovs low cross from the left flank into the bottom corner. Former City striker Craig Bellamy rewarded new club Liverpool for its decision to re-sign him on Aug. 31 by scoring on his first start since returning after four years. On the south coast at Brighton, Bellamys shot went in off the post in the seventh minute from an awkward angle after linking up with strike partner Luis Suarez. Gerrard came on as a substitute for the last 15 minutes after a recurring groin injury kept him out since March. Dirk Kuyt doubled Liverpools lead in the 81st before Ashley Barnes pulled one back from the penalty spot after Jamie Carragher fouled Vicente Rodriguez. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said it was a "superhuman effort" surviving with 10 men after Alex was sent off at the start of the second half. The match ended in confusion as it was unclear whether the final penalty from Fulhams Bryan Ruiz crossed the line after bouncing down off the crossbar. Referee Chris Foy adjudged that it did not. In the first half, Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge found the net but was ruled to have been offside and he injured himself in the process of beating Stephen Kelly to the ball. The hamstring injury could rule him out of Saturdays match against Swansea. Goalkeeper Petr Cech was also hurt after colliding with Orlando Sa and was replaced at half time by Ross Turnbull. "He felt a bit dizzy," Villas-Boas said. "Petr went for a scan in hospital but is OK. ... He felt it was better not to take risks." Alex was sent off after bringing down Kerim Frei in the 47th, but Pajtim Kasami blasted the resulting penalty kick against the crossbar. "The result was good, but I still feel at the back of my mind I could have beaten them for the first time in 32 years (at Stamford Bridge)," Fulham manager Martin Jol. At Goodison Park, Everton captain Phil Neville scored the winner in stoppage time after Marouane Fellaini had forced the game into extra-time with an 89th-minute volley that cancelled out Chris Brunts penalty kick for West Brom.
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