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Five former Kansas City Chiefs players are suing the team claiming the team concealed the long-term neurological impact of repeated headshots. Manny Ramirez . The plaintiffs in the action are Leonard Griffin, Chris Martin and his wife, Joe Phillips, Alexander Louis Cooper and Kevin Porter. The players are alleging they suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, as a result of their days in the National Football League. This same allegation was made in the NFLs concussion lawsuits. In all, there were over 220 lawsuits involving 4,500 former retired NFL players. This new lawsuit, however, is different than the NFL concussion lawsuits in that the plaintiffs are targeting the team and not the NFL. There are two reasons for the timing of the lawsuit. First, these players played between 1987 and 1993. During that time, there was no collective bargaining agreement in place. This is important since the CBA provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and court. Thats why the NFL went to court to try and get the players lawsuits punted and sent to arbitration (the court never had a chance to rule on that request since settlement was announced). So in this case, since there was no CBA in place when the players were playing, they can head to court without the CBA saying they have to go to arbitration. Theres also a local Missouri law that allows employees (or players) to sue employers (or teams) if the employees are declined workmans compensation. That legislation expires at the end of this year so the players may have decided now or never. One more point. The big NFL concussion lawsuits havent formally settled. You may remember that the negotiated settlement was for $765 million and would bind every retired NFL player the day the deal is approved by the Court (thats about 18,000 players). Settlement was indeed announced; however, the Court still has to approve the settlement proposal. As well, a player may opt out of the settlement and file his own lawsuit. So its premature to declare that the case is done. Still much ground to cover. Wes Welker . The Winnipeg Jets head coach, whose parents are French-Canadian, lost much of his mother tongue the result of playing and coaching hockey in the U.S. but still speaks enough to get by. Tom Jackson . The 32-year-old native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., said on his Twitter account that his knee was bothering him. Guay underwent knee surgery over the summer, then returned for the start of the World Cup season after an intensive rehab program.ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Borussia Dortmund took a big step toward the Champions League quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory at Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday. Losing finalists last year, Dortmund made a blistering start with Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring in the fourth minute and Marco Reus doubling the visitors lead a minute later. Zenit, which hadnt played a competitive game since Dec. 11 due to the Russian winter break, looked rusty, but pulled one back through Oleg Shatov in the 57th. Lewandowski replied four minutes later, after playing a one-two with Poland teammate Lukasz Piszczek. Then Piszczek conceded a penalty and Hulk scored emphatically from the spot in the 69th. Lewandowski responded by scoring his sides fourth away goal two minutes later to leave Dortmund firmly in control before the second-leg of the round-of-16 tie on March 19. "We were close to optimal this evening," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said. "It was a great game, no question." After more than two months without competitive football, the home side buckled early on under the visitors pressure and struggled to keep up with their quick passing game. The tactics quickly paid off for Dortmund when Reus ran at the Zenit defence, staying on his feet when he might have been awarded a penalty, before Mkhitaryan swept the loose ball past Yuri Lodygin. The visiting fans were still celebrating when Kevin Grosskreutz knocked Mkhitaryans cross back for Reus to volley inside the right post. "We stayed compact. We wanted to pressure them to win back the ball. That was very important," Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl said. "We brought the game in the right direction and made Zenit uncertain." Zenits attacking midfielder Andrey Arshavin went off with what looked a hamstring injury in the 15th minute, and last-gasp defending from its captain Nicolas Lombaerts prevented Lewandowski from getting Dortmunds third shortly afterward. Zenit was let down by sloppy plaay and nervous defending, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who came on for the injured Arshavin, giving the ball away cheaply to highlight his sides travails. Dennis Smith. Hulk was fired up but his shot failed to trouble Roman Weidenfeller and his only reward for taking on three Dortmund defenders was a corner, which came to nothing. Lodygin pulled off a good save to deny Lewandowski three minutes after the interval, before Zenit responded with a period of pressure. It finally paid off when Shatov scored in fortuitous fashion. Marcel Schmelzer cleared Hulks effort off the line and Jose Rondon struck the post from the rebound, before the loose ball fell kindly for Shatov to blast home. Dortmund soon replied, with Lewandowski playing a one-two with Poland teammate Lukasz Piszczek and firing beyond Lodygin, who got a touch to the ball. The home side was given a lifeline when Piszczek was adjudged to have fouled Viktor Fayzulin. Hulk duly obliged with his penalty. But Lewandowski provided another immediate response after Tymoshchuk lost possession. Reus sent the ball into the Poland strikers path and he fired inside the far corner for his sixth of the campaign. "I dont have the feeling that it was easy," Klopp said in response to a question from a Russian journalist. "I think we had to work very hard." The game was played with the section normally occupied by Zenits ultra fans closed due to racist behaviour, fireworks and crowd disturbances during a group stage loss at Austria Vienna on Dec. 11. There was also tight security in place around the Petrovsky Stadium to prevent any further trouble. Zenits Italian coach Luciano Spalletti said the tie was not yet decided and that his side still has a chance of going through. "In football theres always a chance of coming back," Spalletti said. "Everything depends on what kind of performance you deliver. It all depends on what you put into it, how much youre prepared to run. It depends on your effort." ' ' ' |
