NFL, KELCI STRINGER SETTLE LAWSUIT

The NFL has settled a lawsuit filed by Kelci Stringer stemming from the death of her husband, Vikings T Korey Stringer. Stringer died on August 1, 2001 after collapsing during workouts at Vikings camp the previous day. Stringer sued the league and Riddell, which made Stringer’s helmet and shoulder pads. She alleged that the equipment was defective and not designed for use in high temperatures and that the league had erred in approving equipment that wasn’t safe. As part of the settlement, per ESPN, the league will support Stringer’s effort to create a heat illness prevention program for the benefit of athletes of all ages. No other details of the settlement were made public. Stringer’s lawsuit against Riddell is still pending. A recent study by Lawrence Armstrong, a professor of thermal and exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut, found that “the helmet and shoulder pads were substantial contributing factors to Mr. Stringer’s hyperthermia and ultimate death.”