Potential Legal Consequences Following Steelers, Browns Game

During the November 14, 2019 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, a fight broke out between Browns’ defensive lineman, Myles Garrett, and Steelers’ quarterback, Mason Rudolph. After a play ended with Garrett tackling Rudolph to the ground, both men engaged in a physical altercation, which ended with Garrett taking off Rudolph’s helmet and striking Rudolph in the head with it. In response, some other players from the Steelers, including Maurkice Pouncey, brought Garrett to the ground and started kicking and punching him.

The …

November 5, 2019 Class Actions / Doping / Litigation / NFL

NFL Tells Ninth Circuit to End Painkiller Class Action Lawsuit

The NFL argued to the Ninth Circuit that the lawsuit from former players should be dismissed, as it was individual teams, not the league, that supplied the players with amphetamines and painkillers.

In 2014, former Chicago Bears players Richard Dent and Jim McMahon sued the NFL, claiming that teams frequently use opioids, anesthetics, and anti-inflammatory drugs like Toradol. They alleged that such drug use often does not require prescriptions and that the teams do not take into account medical history, substance abuse treatment or potentially …

December 28, 2018 Litigation / NHL

Former NFL Players Face Uphill Battle in Painkillers Appeal

On December 19, 2018, a lawyer representing six former NFL players had difficulties persuading a panel of Ninth Circuit judges to revive a lawsuit claiming that the NFL illegally dispensed painkillers and pushed athletes to return to the field, ending their careers early.

The lead plaintiff, Etopia Evans, widow of the late Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens player Charles “Chuck” Evans, filed her federal class action lawsuit back in May 2015. Back in 2008, Chuck Evans died a jail cell, two days after being imprisoned …