Karras’ Celebrity Helps Highlight Concussion Case

The latest chapter of former NFL players suing the National Football League over concussion-related injuries includes a very familiar face.  Former Detroit Lion and star of stage and screen Alex Karras is one of 70 former NFL players that are part of the latest lawsuit against the NFL filed this week.

This is the 12th concussion-related suit filed against the NFL by the Philadelphia-based Locks Law Firm, which now represents about 700 former players.  Karras, now 76, suffers from dementia which is an all too common ending for former NFL players.

Lion Alex Karras, from his rookie year in 1958

The suit alleges that Karras “sustained repetitive traumatic impacts to his head and/or concussions on multiple occasions” during his NFL career.  The lawsuit goes on to state that Karras current “suffers from various neurological conditions and symptoms related to the multiple head traumas.”

The suit is part of a broad range of actions taken by former players against the NFL accusing the NFL of not taking sufficient actions to prevent head injuries.

This physical beating that he took as a football player has impacted his life, and therefore it has impacted his family life,” Karras’ wife Susan Clark said. “He is interested in making the game of football safer and hoping that other families of retired players will have a healthier and happier retirement.”

The NFL has changed rules and taken actions to try to reduce concussions, but the process has been slower than many would have liked, and serious injuries continue to mount.  Just this past season, San Diego Charger Kris Dielman suffered a seizure after sustaining a concussion and being left in the game, when it appeared clear from the TV coverage that he should have been checked for a concussion.  Dielman never played again after the seizure and retired after the season.

The Dielman incident led the league to institute the practice of adding a “spotter” in the box to watch for injuries, and to contact the team medical staff on the sidelines where they believe a player may have suffered a concussion and should be checked.  Despite the change, a few short weeks later, Browns’ quarterback Colt McCoy suffered a concussion on an obvious blow to the head by Steelers lineback James Harrison, but was put back in the game a few plays later without being checked for a concussion.

Clearly, there is still a lot of work left to be done on the concussion issue, and the additional attention of a high profile player and celebrity like Karras can only help to focus more attention on the problem.

Karras played with the Lions from 1958 to 1970, and was selected to four Pro Bowls during his NFL career.  He was also famous for the TV sitcom “Webster” in which he played the adopted father of Webster, played by child star Emmanuel Lewis, and co-starring with his real-life wife Susan Clark.

He may be most fondly remembered for his role in the Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles, where he played the dim-witted Mongo, delivering one of the greatest lines in the film.

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