The testimony OJ Simpson gave in 1970 likely helped the NFL ignore the concerns of players suffering from CTE for decades.
In March 1970, shortly after winning the Heisman Trophy and being drafted by the Buffalo Bills, Simpson testified in a major lawsuit brought by the family of a paralyzed football player against a helmet manufacturer, Rawlings Sporting Goods.
The equipment manufacturer was hit with a $3.6 million lawsuit by Ernie Pelton’s family, the first to reach a jury. Ernie once played running back at Rio Linda High School in Sacramento, California. However, he was paralyzed from the neck down after a helmet-to-helmet collision in 1967.
Simpson, who gained recognition as a local hero in San Francisco before achieving national fame, wowed the jury when he defended Rawlings’ use of plastic helmets, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Simpson, who wore a Rawlings helmet while playing for the Bills, testified in Sacramento County Court, affirming its effectiveness. “I believe in this helmet,” he said on the stand.
When asked to read the warning label inside the Rawlings helmet in the booth, which advised players to “avoid all intentional contact,” Simpson joked: “I tried, but I couldn’t do it.”
During the trial, Rawlings’ lawyers claimed that the future of football was at stake. A lawyer questioned Simpson about his knowledge of the risks inherent in the sport.
“A person would be pretty ignorant if they didn’t know that,” Simpson said at the time. “I know every time I step on the field, there’s a chance you’re going to get hurt like the Pelton kid.”
OJ Simpson reportedly signed autographs for jurors, who later ruled in favor of the helmet manufacturer
Following Simpson’s testimony, the jury requested to take photos with the soccer legend, as detailed in Melody Gutiérrez’s account of the trial for the Sacramento Bee.
Weeks later, the jury returned a verdict in Rawlings’ favor. Simpson, who died April 10 at the age of 76 and was cremated after his family refused to perform a brain autopsy to check for concussion-related damage, played a key role in establishing a precedent. This verdict protected the NFL for years from facing consequences related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to industry experts.
“This made attorneys afraid to take on other cases,” helmet liability expert Kimberly Archie said of the case. “If Pelton won, it would have been devastating for football,” agreed Robert Erb, CEO of helmet maker Schutt Sports from 2008 to 2020. “The NFL, the NCAA and high school football had to be taken over,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rawlings stopped producing helmets in 2015 due to lawsuits from families of injured youth soccer players. Around the same time, the NFL began recognizing CTE, a condition related to repetitive head trauma. It can only be diagnosed postmortem and is characterized by erratic impulsive behavior.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn