{"id":722,"date":"2017-05-04T19:24:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T19:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiolinjurylaw.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T22:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:12:09","slug":"ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex Tampa Bay Bucs Player Talks Painkillers and the NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The newest season of the National Football League is in full swing, and it\u2019s not without its fair share of controversy. The NFL has been in the legal spotlight several times in recent years, namely for ignoring the damaging effects of <a href=\"\/practice-areas\/brain-injury-lawyer\/\">brain injuries<\/a> like concussions and reports of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Now, the NFL is in the courtroom once again: this time for the excessive use of medications to get players to play through the pain, to the detriment of their health and well-being.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/#Playing_Through_the_Pain\" >Playing Through the Pain<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/#Former_Tampa_Bay_Buccaneer_Talks_About_Opioid_Addiction_in_the_NFL\" >Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Talks About Opioid Addiction in the NFL<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Playing_Through_the_Pain\"><\/span>Playing Through the Pain<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A group of retired NFL players <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-football-nfl-painkillers-suit\/court-revives-ex-nfl-players-painkiller-lawsuit-idUSKCN1LM312\">revived a lawsuit<\/a> in September stating that they suffered permanent health effects and addiction to painkillers thanks to the league\u2019s flagrant use of opioids and forms of analgesics.<\/p>\n<p>An appeals court in San Francisco overturned a ruling stemming from the original lawsuit filed in 2014. The initial ruling alleged that the suit did not carry legal weight due to an existing collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners. However, the 30 page opinion released by a panel of three judges prompted another chance for the players to file a class action suit in court.<\/p>\n<p>The original complaint alleges that the NFL supports a culture of drug misuse and abuse. The plaintiffs, all currently retired, state that players routinely receive cocktails of pain numbing medications that include addictive opioids, local anesthesia, and anti-inflammatory medications. These pills and drugs allowed players to \u201ctough it out\u201d and perform through injuries. However, they also had several negative side effects, including dependence on pain medications and irreversible damage to their bodies and overall health.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Dent, a retired player who played with four different franchises throughout his career, stated that he was given \u201chundreds, if not thousands\u201d of such cocktails during his professional career. However, he states that no one adequately informed him of the risks of taking such medications. Today, he states that he suffers from several irreversible health effects, including an enlarged heart and permanent nerve damage.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Former_Tampa_Bay_Buccaneer_Talks_About_Opioid_Addiction_in_the_NFL\"><\/span>Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Talks About Opioid Addiction in the NFL<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The current lawsuit is only one report into the extent of the problem. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macombdaily.com\/news\/nation-world-news\/former-tampa-bay-bucs-player-grimes-talks-about--year\/article_fd9761a4-8182-5e71-b624-f9c0eee5192e.html\">Ex- Tampa Bay Buccaneer Randy Grimes<\/a> recently came forward to discuss the culture of opioid use and abuse in the league. At a recent conference, he opened up about the league\u2019s attitude towards playing through the pain and the detrimental effects it has on players.<\/p>\n<p>Grimes reported that he began routinely using opioids while playing as a center with the Bucs in the early 90s. Due to the nature of his position, he routinely endured hard blows and needed the medication to ease the pain to play. Grimes suffered an astounding 20 concussions throughout his career. At one point, he felt so disoriented that he retreated to the opponent\u2019s sideline instead of his own. The last two years of his career, he was taking so many opioid medications that he played in what he called a \u201cblackout\u201d \u2013 he would play an entire game and later have no memory of it occurring. As the pain grew in intensity, so did his addiction.<\/p>\n<p>The Bucs released him in 1992, which devastated him emotionally. While his career was over, his pain \u2013 and his addiction \u2013 remained.<\/p>\n<p>Grimes ultimately sought treatment for his addiction and currently works for the behavioral health facility that helped him achieve sobriety. He acknowledges that the NFL\u2019s attitude toward pain medication and playing through injuries may have contributed to his addiction and so spends his time travelling around the country talking to people about the dangers of opioid abuse. Not all NFL players are so lucky \u2013 many end up with permanent damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The newest season of the National Football League is in full swing, and it\u2019s not without its fair share of controversy. The NFL has been in the legal spotlight several times in recent years, namely for ignoring the damaging effects of brain injuries like concussions and reports of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Now, the NFL [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ex Tampa Bay Bucs Player Talks Painkillers and the NFL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ex\u2011Tampa Bay Bucs player opens up on opioid use and painkiller addiction in the NFL, highlighting risks, lawsuits and long\u2011term health consequences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex Tampa Bay Bucs Player Talks Painkillers and the NFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ex\u2011Tampa Bay Bucs player opens up on opioid use and painkiller addiction in the NFL, highlighting risks, lawsuits and long\u2011term health consequences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/ex-tampa-bay-bucs-player-talks-painkillers-and-the-nfl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fiol &amp; 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