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Ex-college football player sues NCAA over concussion-related injuries

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Ex-college football player sues NCAA over concussion-related injuries

CHICAGO—A former college football player has filed a class action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. over concussion-related injuries.

The suit, filed last week by former Eastern Illinois University football player Adrian Arrington, seeks class action status and alleges that the Indianapolis-based NCAA “has engaged in a long-established pattern of negligence and inaction” that has resulted in physical and financial losses suffered by college football athletes.

“For over 30 years, the NCAA has failed its student-athletes—choosing instead to sacrifice them on an altar of money and profits,” Mr. Arrington alleges in the suit filed in federal court in Chicago.

Mr. Arrington alleges that the NCAA provides no medical or financial support to former athletes who have suffered concussions while playing an NCAA sport and has ignored the dangers found in numerous studies regarding concussions and student athletes.

The suit comes on the heels of an August class action filed in Philadelphia by eight former National Football League players against the league over concussion-related brain injuries. The NFL has yet to respond to that complaint.

Mr. Arrington was a strong safety for the EIU football team from 2006 to 2009 and experienced memory loss after numerous concussions, according to court documents.

In responding to the suit, the NCAA told the Associated Press that its initial review found “gross misstatements” in the allegations and that the association “has been concerned about the safety of all of its student-athletes, including those playing football, throughout history.”

The suit seeks unspecified damages for Mr. Arrington and the class, which potentially covers thousands of students who have suffered similar injuries.

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