On Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed out some pretty tough punishments to those involved in the New Orleans Saints bounty program, including a one-year suspension for head coach Sean Payton and the loss of second-round draft picks for the next two years.
If you want to know why Goodell had such a heavy hand, look no further than the amount of concussion lawsuits that are currently filed against the league by former players.
Showing a no-tolerance policy like this is just legally smart as the NFL gets ready to defend these cases, which are growing by the minute.
Below is a list of the astounding 49 lawsuits against the league on concussion-related claims along with the date they were filed compiled by sports litigation reporter Paul D. Anderson on his Website, NFLconcussionlitigation.com.
1. Ray Easterling v. NFL (Aug. 17)
2. Dave Pear et al (including Tony Dorsett) v. NFL (Oct. 11)
3. Larry Barnes v. NFL (Oct. 11)
4. Vernon Maxwell v. NFL (Oct. 11)
5. Cedric Hardman v. NFL (Oct. 13 (voluntarily dismissed)
6. Jim Finn v. NFL (Dec. 5)
7. Harry Jacobs v. NFL (Dec. 20)
8. Dorsey Levens v. NFL (Dec. 21)
9. Jamal Lewis v. NFL (Dec. 21)
10. Ryan Stewart v. NFL (Dec. 21)
11. Fulton Kuykendall v. NFL (Dec. 21)
12. Jones v. NFL (Dec. 22)
13. Reginald Rucker v. NFL (Dec. 27)
14. Brent Boyd v. NFL (Jan. 9)
15. Christine Dronett v. NFL (Jan. 9)
16. Reginald Austin v. NFL (Jan. 9)
17. Ron Solt v. NFL (Jan.18)
18. Joel Steed v. NFL (Jan. 19) CA
19. Andrew Glover v. NFL (Jan. 19)
20. Rob Johnson v. NFL (Jan. 20)
21. Steve Wallace v. NFL (Jan. 23)
22. Shawn Wooden & Ryan Fowler v. NFL (Jan. 24)
23. Fred Barnett et al v. NFL (Feb. 2)
24. Ashley Lelie et al v. NFL (Feb. 3)
25. Britt Hager et al v. NFL (Feb. 3)
26. Estate of Wally Hilgenberg v. NFL (Feb. 3)
27. Estate of Pete Duranko v. NFL (Feb. 9)
28. George Adams v. NFL (Feb. 9)
29. Steve Everitt et al v. NFL (Feb. 10)
30. Lawrence Henesey v. NFL (Feb. 10)
31. Tyrone Hughes et al v. NFL (Feb. 17)
32. John Brodie et al v. NFL (Feb. 17)
33. Parker et al v. NFL and NFL Properties (Feb. 17)
34. Estate of Dave Duerson v. NFL (Feb. 23)
35. Michael Myers v. NFL (Feb. 24)
36. Carl Hairston, et al v. NFL (Feb. 24)
37. Jethro Pugh, et al v. NFL (March 5)
38. Wes Hopkins, et al v. NFL (March 9)
39. Eric Allen, et al v. NFL (March 12)
40. Charles Alexander, et al v. NFL (March 14)
41. Lincoln Kennedy et al v. NFL (March 15)
42. Sydney Justin et al v. NFL (March 15)
43. George Adams et al v. NFL (March 15)
44. Pete Koch v. NFL (March 15)
45. Kerry Justin et al v. NFL (March 15)
46. Scott Player v. NFL (March 15)
47. Jay Taylor v. NFL (March 19)
48. David Kreig v. NFL (March 19)
49. Frank LeMaster et al v. NFL (March 21)
Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com
