Junior Seau's Family Sues NFL

Junior Seau's family has filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL, arguing that the former linebacker's suicide was the direct result of repetitive head trauma, and that the league's "acts or omissions" hid the danger of that trauma, the AP reports. The family is also suing helmet maker Riddell Inc., claiming that company officials have been "negligent in their design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering."

"We know this lawsuit will not bring back Junior," the family said in a statement. "But it will send a message that the NFL needs to care for its former players, acknowledge its decades of deception on the issue of head injuries and player safety, and make the game safer for future generations." The suit accused the league and NFL Films of glorifying the game's violence and downplaying its dangers. It points, for instance, to a 1993 video in which Seau explains his philosophy on big hits thusly: "If I can feel some dizziness, I know that guy is feeling double." (More Junior Seau stories.)