Dan Marino Pulls Out Of Concussion Lawsuit Against NFL, Calls Filing An ‘Error’
Dan Marino, the 17-year NFL great who despite never winning a Super Bowl is universally considered one the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, stunned the football world Monday by suing the NFL over brain concussions he suffered during his playing career.
But on Tuesday, Marino’s attorneys said that the Miami Dolphins legend must have called the wrong play, because he now wants his name pulled off the lawsuit filed in a Philadelphia federal court, which Marino joined with 14 other ex-players seeking money and a promise of medical treatment for any adverse symptoms that may arise as a result of the concussions the players suffered in their NFL careers.
The Dan Marino lawsuit was similar to at least 300 other lawsuits filed on behalf of former NFL players, alleging that NFL was aware of disastrous health consequences that come from brain concussions, but deliberately hid what it knew from its players, just to keep them on the field no matter what the risk to their health, sanity or lives.
The NFL consistently denies that it engaged in any such cover-up regarding the health effects of concussions.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Dan Marino said that the former quarterback and TV personality — who suffered two concussions while a player — wants to be sure that he will have health coverage if he comes down with any of the frightening symptoms associated with concussions at any time in the future. But he doesn’t want to make a federal case of it.
“It was never Marino’s intention to initiate litigation in this case, but to ensure that in the event he had adverse health consequences down the road, he would be covered with health benefits,” a source close to Marino told the Florida Sun-Sentinel. “They are working to correct the error.”
Now the 52-year-old NFL legend — whose 61,361 career passing yards are still the most by any quarterback playing for a single NFL team — is trying to figure out how his name got on the lawsuit in the first place, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
The lawsuit did not list any specific symptoms allegedly suffered by Dan Marino, instead stating simply, “On information and belief, the Plaintiff sustained repetitive, traumatic sub-concussive and/or concussive head impacts during NFL games and/or practices,” a general statement similar to the language used in complaints by other players involved in the lawsuit.
Brain concussions can lead, often years after the initial injury, to numerous terrifying symptoms, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a dementia-like condition that can cause memory loss, severe depression and uncontrolled rage, and is believed to have led to the suicides of several former NFL players.
