The New York Times has a sad story about Ted Johnson today. According to the story, Johnson, the former middle linebacker for the New England Patriots, now suffers from Alzheimer's disease as a result of multiple concussions he sustained starting in August 2002. The first concussion occurred in a preseason game against the Giants. Shortly thereafter, in practice, Coach Belichick essentially forced Johnson to practice with full contact in order to "find out if you can play." After that, mini-concussions became commonplace for Johnson, and the result has been devastating for Johnson's health and for his personal life.
Although Johnson has paid a huge price for his football career, he says that he's not contemplating a lawsuit against the Patriots or the NFL. Given the situation, I wouldn't blame him one bit if he did sue the New England Patriots. However, because the negligence occurred in August 2002, and because Massachusetts has a three-year statute of limitations for such actions, unless he could show that the statute should be tolled on the basis of the discovery rule (the concept that the statute doesn't start running until you find out about the injury) or some related concept, Johnson is probably out of luck in any event.
This is been a bad three weeks for the Patriots. First they got criticized for taunting the San Diego Chargers after that game. Then they blew a 21-3 lead against the Colts. Then Coach Belichick got subpoenaed in a divorce proceeding involving a woman to whom he sent FedEx packages stuffed with cash. And now, on a much more serious note, this story becomes national news.
For almost a decade now, the Patriots has been the model sports franchise, at least in the public perception. Bob Kraft has been the model owner. Bill Belichick has been the model coach. The Patriots' players have been the epitome of class. Has this all been just an illusion, a PR coup? Or is it another example of the media building something up only to tear it down?
Regarding the Johnson situation, one thing that keeps coming back to mind is the time when Tedy Bruschi came back after suffering a stroke. Kraft was asked whether he would make Bruschi sign a waiver. Kraft said "no, that's not the way we do things around here." He got a lot of credit for being a humane owner in a league full of mercenaries. It will be interesting to see what Kraft does about the situation.