As of Friday afternoon, the NFL had not responded to The New York Times’ report. This Friday, the three-pack of suspensions released by the league was supplemented by a piece of bad news that came from another portion of Manhattan.
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Junior Seau’s heartbroken daughter won’t be allowed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame to speak at her late father’s induction ceremony. Seau’s widow, Gina, added she was “very surprised” by the policy, considering the family wasn’t planning “to use the Hall of Fame as a platform”, though she stands to receive up to $4 million in a class-action settlement with the NFL.
The Hall of Fame said Seau’s video will be five minutes, two minutes longer than normal.
“The policy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 2010 regarding individuals enshrined posthumously provides for an expanded presenting video (longer than the videos of living inductees) followed by the traditional unveiling of the bronzed bust and no additional comments made from the podium”,
the statement said.
The 2011 inductions used such a format when former Los Angeles Rams star Les Richter was inducted posthumously. The Hall of Fame began producing Video tributes for all enshrinees in 2010.
Despite the protests to the contrary by the Hall of Fame, it’s hard to not wonder if Seau’s suicide and his family’s lawsuit against the NFL in regards to brain injuries have anything to do with this.
Junior Seau wanted his daughter to give his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Inductees who are alive generally give a speech during their inductions. Instead, the famed linebacker will be honored by a video presentation, in what the Hall of Fame says is standard procedure for dead players.
Seau committed suicide in May 2012 – and now there’s the lawsuit.
The family, who said they noticed signs of depression after Seau left the NFL, will be in Ohio for the ceremony honoring their lost loved one.
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The popular opinion behind the NFL’s decision is that the league doesn’t want Seau’s family to bring focus to concussion-related issues, which seems petty, considering it’s not a subject that will be ignored any time soon. Unfortunately, this time, they’ll be doing so by pissing on the life and legacy of Junior Seau, and all he was off of the football field for his family, friends, and community. “My speech was exclusively about him”.
