Marino Bailing Out of Concussion Lawsuit Speaks Volumes

NFL and concussions do not mix like oil and water, cats and dogs, peanut butter and tuna fish, Kris Jenner and a smart decision. There are major topic in the sport, and the one thing that could take the hegemony down.  They have a long-standing concussion lawsuit with some notable players including Jim McMahon and Clinton Portis. But it seemed like on Monday they were getting the biggest name with Dan Marino joining the concussion lawsuit… Or so they thought. Marino pulled out of the lawsuit claiming he did not know his name would be publicly on the class-action filing. Once again, a player bowed down to the power of the powerful shield.

All of these former prominent players in the NFL are puppets to the commissioner office.  There is no way to think of it otherwise.  Not one single media member on FOX, CBS, ESPN or NBC been a part of the concussion lawsuit with the league.  Marino stayed rather quiet during the 18 months when the former players went against Goodell. Marino may have made mention about having issues with concussions, but nothing to the point of suing the league. None of the four major networks will have someone talking football and also suing the league at the same time. Goodell will not allow it because he rules the roost with an iron fist.

Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King was all over the story and mentioned on Dan Patrick Show, Marino would be getting a role with the Miami Dolphins. King did not know what the role would be, but once again, there will not be a former player working for a team  and also suing the league. This led Marino to back out of the lawsuit.  Goodell got into his ear or the Dolphins ear that this will not happen again.  Think about this for a second, the NFL right now is so powerful, it told the Dolphins, their most famous player would be quintessentially black-balled from the league and the team. Even if the NFL will not openly say they black-balled the player. That’s carrying quite a big stick, and it might mean we never see a truly famous NFL athlete join the lawsuit.

If a guy like Brett Favre goes on the offensive suing the NFL, do we see him on NFL Network ever again? It is a fair question to ask because it feels like we are living in a sort of police state with the NFL. You want to sue to the league?  Okay, you are not going to be a part of the NFL ever again or until the lawsuit ends.  They will still do interviews and such with outlets that have NFL football yet if they want to be directly involved with something in the league like on television or with the team, it's not happening. NFL Network's Kurt Warner made comments about not wanting his kids to play football and got annihilated by other former players in the media. The former NFL players in the media feels like one major forced groupthink.

This is just another example of how powerful the NFL is in our country. Honestly, I truly believe the league is stronger than half of the Fortune 500 companies. This is the same league that's made Ray Rice's sexual assault disappear into thin air. The same one whom had no coverage on Arizona Cardinals starting middle linebacker Daryl Washington getting popped for a second time this season and getting suspended for the season. Instead, we are worried about if Tom Brady is a top five quarterback. It is absurd what conversations the football media has versus what they really should be talking about on a daily basis.

Marino is out of the conversation with the concussion lawsuit. He will probably get questions about it and have to figure out an answer as to why he wanted to join the suit in the first place. But in a couple months, he will work for the Dolphins and we will forget this even happened because that's how it works in the National Football League.

Charlie.