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Last updated on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
(UNDATED) - Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom “Webster” - and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia - has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.
Jason Hanna, of CNN, reports Karras , who also played the horse-punching Mongo in the 1974 movie "Blazing Saddles, " is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia on behalf of him and 69 other former NFL players.
The suit - the 12th concussion-related complaint filed against the NFL by the Locks Law Firm in Philadelphia, now representing about 700 former NFL players - alleges that the league didn't do enough to warn players that they risked permanent brain damage if they played too soon after a concussion, and that it concealed evidence about the risks for decades.
The suits claim that plaintiffs suffer from neurological problems after sustaining traumatic impacts to the head.
Karras, 76, of California, "sustained repetitive traumatic impacts to his head and/or concussions on multiple occasions" during his NFL career, and "suffers from various neurological conditions and symptoms related to the multiple head traumas," the latest lawsuit says.
"Alex suffers from dementia but still enjoys many things, including watching football," his wife and "Webster" co-star Susan Clark said in a news release Thursday. "But dementia prevents him from doing everyday activities such as driving, cooking, sports fishing, reading books and going to big events or traveling.
"His constant complaint is dizziness - the result of multiple concussions. What Alex wants is for the game of football to be made safer and allow players and their families to enjoy a healthier, happier retirement."
Karras entered the league in 1958 from the University of Iowa. A four-time Pro Bowl selection , he was a defensive lineman 12 seasons for the Lions, ending his career after the 1970 season.
The players are seeking financial compensation, punitive damages and payment for medical monitoring and treatment, according to Locks Law Firm founding partner Gene Locks. Eventually, he hopes the suits will prompt the NFL to pay for monitoring and treatment for all former NFL players, regardless of whether they're part of lawsuits.
"(The NFL) had knowledge they didn't share with the players and didn't add the knowledge to the playing rules to protect players" from head injuries, Locks said by phone Friday. "What we want is for the league to stand up and be counted, and examine everyone and provide medical benefits to everyone."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Friday that "any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit."
"It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions," Aiello wrote in an e-mail Friday.
"The NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so," he wrote.
In recent years, the NFL has attempted to strengthen rules that govern player conduct on the field , adding sideline medical staff - unaffiliated with the teams - in an effort to more independently evaluate injured players.
In 2005, the league banned the practice of tackling a player by using his shoulder pads, a move commonly referred to as a "horse-collar" tackle, after concluding it commonly resulted in injury.
It also recently strengthened a 1979 rule that prohibits players from using their helmets to butt, or "spear" players during a tackle - a rule that critics had often complained lacked official enforcement. Players such as Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker James Harrison have since faced hefty and repeated fines for helmet-first tackles.
Still, others have called for added protections following a series of high-profile incidents involving former players' health.
In May, scientists announced that an autopsy of the brain of former Chicago Bears safety David Duerson, 50, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, showed evidence of "moderately advanced" chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
CTE is a degenerative, dementia-like brain disease linked to repeated brain trauma.
The disease has been found in the brains of 14 of 15 former NFL players , including Duerson, studied at the Boston University School of Medicine Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy as of last May. Their cases share a common thread - repeated concussions, sub-concussive blows to the head, or both.
A brain with CTE is riddled with dense clumps of a protein called tau. Under a microscope, tau appears as brown tangles that look similar to dementia. But the cases of CTE have shown this progressive, dementia-like array in players well in advance of a typical dementia diagnosis, which typically occurs when people are in their 70s or 80s.
"What (the NFL) has done is better than 30 years ago, but still not what it should be," Locks said.
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