Workers Comp for Tupa

[pbmax]

How common is it for NFL players to get workers comp?

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Court: Ex-NFL punter eligible for workers comp

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Longtime-NFL punter Tom Tupa is eligible for workers compensation for a career-ending back injury he suffered while warming up for a preseason game in 2005 at FedEx Field while playing for the Washington Redskins, Maryland's highest court ruled on Wednesday. The court rejected the idea that football injuries should not be considered accidental because of the rough nature of the sport.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/court-...132540753.html

Doesn't happen very often and the NFL is also fighting to keep cases in the home state as most NFL players play games in California where the laws are more favorable to the plaintiff. There are several measures in the CBA seeking to limit work comp exposure, but to be honest I am not sure how effective they have been.

[Kiwon]

Doesn't happen very often and the NFL is also fighting to keep cases in the home state as most NFL players play games in California where the laws are more favorable to the plaintiff. There are several measures in the CBA seeking to limit work comp exposure, but to be honest I am not sure how effective they have been.

My first thought was that if this marks a new legal precedent, on top of the expected impact of the concussion lawsuit, well then, the game really will be changing.

[pbmax]

My first thought was that if this marks a new legal precedent, on top of the expected impact of the concussion lawsuit, well then, the game really will be changing.

I think the concussion lawsuit carries more financial risk for the owners. Work comp is tied to insurance cost and injury settlements. Could be expensive, but I would take a stab its an order of magnitude lower than what they fear of the lawsuits. I could be wrong.

[Kiwon]

I think the concussion lawsuit carries more financial risk for the owners. Work comp is tied to insurance cost and injury settlements. Could be expensive, but I would take a stab its an order of magnitude lower than what they fear of the lawsuits. I could be wrong.

There is no doubt that the concussion lawsuit is the biggie. And if the NFL "loses" that one, what other class of suits will that led to? There is no shortage of lawyers ready to sue.

How does the league indemnify themselves from future lawsuits in such a violent sport and still retain the nature of the game? Goodness, with the climate in Washington D.C., if Darrell Stingley had been injured in 2008 or 2009, you would have had calls threatening to ban the sport completely if serious revisions in the rules of the games did not occur.

Standing alone, Tupa's workers comp decision is not that big a deal. However, the reasoning of Maryland's Supreme Court ("The court rejected the idea that football injuries should not be considered accidental because of the rough nature of the sport") sounds dangerous to me in terms of laying the groundwork for a host of other lawsuits in the future.