One of the first players in NFL history to quit the game because of concussions says he’s doing well and has no interest in joining the lawsuit against the league.
Roger Staubach, the Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback, retired from football after the 1979 season because he had suffered his 19th and 20th career concussions that year. But Staubach told USA Today after the concussion lawsuit settlement was reached on Thursday that he never considered joining the lawsuit. Staubach says he’s doing great at age 71 and doesn’t believe that the NFL misled players about the risks associated with brain damage suffered on the football field.
“I don’t think the NFL initially tried to hide the fact that you might have dementia one day because you’ve had a concussion,” Staubach said. “The players that are in the middle of the lawsuit, they feel differently. I just have stayed out of it because I don’t think anyone intentionally tried to deceive me.”
Staubach said he hopes the settlement is the best result for all involved, even as he expressed some skepticism about whether all 4,500 of the players who joined the suit really do have symptoms of brain damage. Staubach said he believes some players may hear about the lawsuit and “jump into it just to jump into it,” and he wanted no part of that.