Intentional Misrepresentation In Sports

The topic I will be discussing in this draft is the debate on whether the National Football League should be held liable for injuries that their employee’s sustained while playing professional football. The injuries that I will discuss are concussion and traumatic brain injuries related to multiple concussions. In years past this injury wasn’t know n to be as prevalent because that game was played at a much slower speed. Players in todays’ game are bigger, faster and stronger than ever. It has been documented that the players themselves willingly know the risk they are taking yet still take the chance at playing the game. Players and player group representatives are now seeking compensation for their player and player’s families.

In the Documentary League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis is about an investigation regarding the serious legal hidden information that the National Football League was keeping from its playing. Thousands of former Football players have claimed that league tried to cover up how football inflicted long-term brain injuries on so many people. This video breaks down and researching the truth on the NFL’s football players concussion crisis.

These lawsuits represented over 2,000 former players claiming that the NFL didn 't teach them the dangers of a concussion. On August 29, 2013, over a year after the lawsuits were filed, there was an agreement between the NFL and the players; the NFL agreed to pay $765 million to pay for medical examinations, compensation for the concussed athletes, and research towards concussions. Just as the NFL thought the lawsuits were over, on January 14, 2014, the agreement was declined by a federal judge because the judge believed that $765 million was not enough money (“NFL Concussion”). These lawsuits over the issue of concussions prove that the athletes have experienced a multitude of medical issues that resulted from multiple concussions. These former athletes are working hard to ensure that young athletes do not have to suffer like they do.

Over the past several years, the NFL has faced numerous lawsuits involving former NFL players and their families ranging from negligence, fraud, and wrongful death conspiracy from related head traumas suffered while playing professional football. Several studies have shown that there are long-term and devastating effects on football players who consistently experience concussions during regular season play and practice. There is

The former players have a great argument against the NFL in each lawsuit. Dr. Ann McKee is a professor of neurology and pathology, and she receives the brains of deceased former players. Each brain has suffered brain trauma or brain diseases. The families of the former players want to see if there is a connection between football and psychological harm. After deep analysis, she confirms this connection; however, she believes each player knew the risks of playing contact sports (King).

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

In conclusion, this case could have been started for monetary reasons, but the initial decision appeared to be made based on the case being controversial in many areas beyond monetary considerations.

In the previous years the National Football League has been under intense fire from many doctors, news outlets and even players. Not for concussions, but for the over use of prescription medication pain killers. Future Hall of Famer and ex NFL receiver Calvin Johnson was quoted as saying, “Powerful and addictive opioids were handed out like candy.” That’s pretty powerful statement against the NFL by one of its best recievers ever!

The judge will consider the facts of the case as well as surrounding factors such as:

Since much of a player’s life is manage by his team, whenever a player obtains an injury, all of the player’s medical treatments are handled by the team and the team doctor. Furthermore, the organization is required to report that an injury has occurred and the type of injury. The doctors responsible for treating the players should be focused on regaining the player’s health and strength so the player can continue with his life and football career as quick as possible with no long term effects. However, this idea does not seem to be a reality among NFL teams. Many NFL doctors have been obeying the directions of the same stingy owners that neglected Dexter Manley. With this direction, NFL doctors have been losing sight of any concept of ethics, and the doctors have been aiming to get the players back on the field as soon as possible. This aim does not solely affect the treatment of players, but also the reporting of injuries. For example, Calvin Johnson, an All-Pro wide receiver and future Hall of Famer for the Lions, could not even count the number of concussions he has had. In fact, when he was asked about whether or not he had an exact number he answered “It’s simple to get a concussion, you know. … I don’t know how many I’ve had over my career, you know, but I’ve definitely had my fair share” (qtd in “Calvin Johnson’s Retirement”).

Before describing the facts of the case, it is worth noting that all the facts have already went through the court scrutiny as the facts are taken from the subscript of the Appeal court. What this means is that the facts are deem to be legitimate as the lower level courts would have already questioned the creditability of the facts, since the upper level courts do not concern itself with questions of law.

False Advertising is defined by the Lanham Act as “in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person 's goods, services, or commercial activities” (Bitlaw, 2016, para. 3). This action can frequently happen in sports and any business and can be an intentional decision or simply negligence. In a business like sports where competition is fierce when advertising it is no surprise that products or services can be misrepresented or falsely advertised. This topic is of particular interest to me since I hope to work in marketing and sales. Marketing and sales revolve around advertising and it is extremely important to know the laws surrounding it in order to ensure you do not break them. Also having a strong understanding of past cases that set precedent for false advertising can even more greatly improve your ability to be a quality marketer. The five cases I studied all revolve around sports or sport related companies.

Professional athletes are role models to the American children across the Nation. Professional athletes must follow ethical standards to play fairly in their sport. This means that players must compete without the assistance of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids (Tynes, 2006). Yet, professional athletes choose to cheat by taking illegal substances, which results in the death of some players and a wide variety of health problems. The Federal Government realized that the use of anabolic steroids is a form of cheating and defrauds the players and fans of “real” competition. As a result, for the concern of the athletes’ health and concern for the ethical standards of the game played, the Anabolic Steroid Act of 1990 (ASCA) was

The following is a case study analysis on Case 8:10 Health Risk and Sport Participation. This particular case involves five individuals, all of which are employed and or playing for the athletic department at BTU University. One of the individuals in this case is star BTU football linebacker A.B. Another individual is BTU Head Football Coach J.M. In addition to A.B and J.M, the other individuals associated with this particular case are the head football trainer, the team physician for the football team as well as the Director of Athletics for BTU N.P. This particular case all revolves around star linebacker A.B who recently established a record for most tackles in a single season (Malloy, 2003, pp. 160).

The Pittsburgh Steeler’s football team doctor goes by the name of Dr. Joseph Maroon. Dr. Joseph is aware that CTE has been the cause of this for many years. He refuses to bring it to the light because of how much America looks forward to football season and with the income that comes with the sport. He believes that the players that died can simply be replaced. Dr. Joseph Maroon did not care enough because he saw this happening to his own players and did not think to come forward to speak upon it because of all the money behind it. Pittsburgh spent 233 millions of dollars to build there glorious sport. Leaving Dr. Omalu to go to war with a corporation of 20 million people craving their product the same way they were craving food. Dr. Omalu wanted Dr. Maroon to come forward and speak because CTE was going to continue to kill these young players that was