NFL seeks larger (court) audience

The National Football League and a group of related entities, including equipment manufacturers, moved June 3 to have a concussion-related suit tried in U.S. District Court, instead of Superior Court. The defendants, who were served in early May, argue that players' head-injury suits properly belong in federal court.

The suit by Ken Neil, who played for the Chargers in 1984, as well as the Jets and the Oilers, says that he suffered multiple concussions that were improperly diagnosed and improperly treated during his career. He was not warned by the league or the other defendnts of long-term concussion risks, he argues.

"The NFL has mythologized violence through the media," says the suit, "to glorify the brutality and ferocity of NFL football." The suit lists a number of videos glorifying violence produced by NFL Films, such as The Best of Thunder and Destruction — NFL's Hardest Hits, of 1989. Neil's suit argues that, for many decades, medical professionals knew the dangers of concussions. The NFL knew, too, argues the suit.