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Webster Dad Alex Karras Suing NFL Over Dementia
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ABC
Former Detroit Lions football star Alex Karras is heading a new team.
The Webster actor has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players who are suing the league over concussion-related injuries. In case of 76-year-old Karras, it's dementia.
"Alex suffers from dementia but still enjoys many things, including watching football," his wife and Webster costar Susan Clark tells E! News in a statement.
"But dementia prevents him from doing everyday activities such as driving, cooking, sports fishing, reading books and going to big events or traveling," Clark's statement continues. "His constant complaint is dizziness—the result of multiple concussions. What Alex wants is for the game of football to be made safer and allow players and their families to enjoy a healthier, happier retirement."
Karras—who also played Mongo in Blazing Saddles—is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Philadelphi on behalf of him and 69 other former NFL players, according to CNN.
The lawsuit claims that the NFL didn't do enough to warn players about the serious risks of brain damage that would occur if they played too soon after a concussion.
The league told us in a statement, "The NFL has long made player safety a priority and continues to do so. Any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit. It stands in contrast to the league's actions to better protect players and advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions."
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