Green Bay Packer Great Paul Hornung Sues Helmet Manufacturer Riddell in Illiniois Court

Former Green Bay Packer Paul Hornung is suing helmet manufacturer Riddell, claiming the company lied to him about the helmet's protective abilities and the dangers of brain trauma.

Hornung, who played 10 years in the NFL between 1957-1966, earned MVP and Pro Bowl honors, wore the plastic Riddell helmet throughout his playing days.

According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday morning in the circuit court of Cook County, which you can read here, Hornung's party makes the following claims:

• In the NFL, HORNUNG was provided RIDDELL’s plastic helmet, supposedly better protect his head and to brain.

• In fact, RIDDELL’s plastic helmet provided no protection for PAUL HORNUNG’s brain, yet players, including PAUL HORNUNG, were led to believe that the innovative helmets would do so.

• During his NFL football career, while wearing a RIDDELL helmet, in both practice and game situations, PAUL HORNUNG sustained numerous concussive and subconcussive brain traumas.

• PAUL HORNUNG played through the concussions and sub-concussive brain traumas and their associated symptoms because he, like all other football players at the time, was not told of any long-term consequences of doing so.

• Prior to, during, and after PAUL HORNUNG’s NFL football career, RIDDELL knew of the harmful long-term effects of brain traumas sustained by football players while wearing RIDDELL’s supposed protective equipment; however, it misrepresented and concealed these facts from PAUL HORNING.

• RIDDELL hid this information with the intent to induce PAUL HORNUNG to continue using its product, and to induce the public to purchase its product worn by football stars like PAUL HORNUNG.

Today's Standards are Higher

Today's NFL football helmets use a variety of materials and strategies in an attempt to protect a player's brain against traumatic injuries and concussions.

Today's helmets use a hard plastic exterior shell, a variety of stiff foam inserts, a soft and spongy interior foam liner that is inflatable, jaw pads, face masks and chin straps for protection.

By today's standards, the football helmets of Hornung's era were comparably lighter and featured less overall padding.

Helmets of that era had just transitioned from leather to plastic, the first generation of facemasks had been bolted on for the first time, and a soft layer of padding had been affixed to the helmet's interior for protection.

Damages Sought

According to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times,Hornung's complaint seems damages in excess of $50,000 and requests a trial by jury.

The Sun-Times is reporting that as a result of the lack of warning, Hornung suffered injuries including the development of dementia and other diseases caused by repetitive head trauma, according to the suit.

In the suit’s second count, his wife Angela claimed that as a result of her husband’s injuries she has suffered deprivation from society, affection and companionship, the Sun-Times reported.