Patrick O'Neill, a former NFL punter who later became an orthopedic surgeon, is suing the NCAA, arguing that repeated concussions he suffered as a college athlete led to his Parkinson's disease and ended his medical career. The 55-year-old, an Academic All-American and University Scholar at Syracuse University, played football there on a scholarship from 1990 to 1993. He claims that during those college years he was urged to play through head injuries and was kept in the dark about their risks.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 2 in Manhattan Supreme Court, states that the NCAA failed to make football as safe as possible and failed to keep O'Neill informed so he could decide whether to play and how to play safely. After graduating, O'Neill was drafted in 1994 and played for the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, earning NFL All-rookie punter honors in his first professional season with the Patriots. He left the league to pursue medicine, entering John Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore in 1998.S2
O'Neill went on to a successful surgical career, becoming chief of orthopedic surgery at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and later practicing at Kennedy-White Orthopedic Center in Sarasota, Florida, where he is the only board-certified, fellowship-trained foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon in the county. The complaint says the disease has cost him great loss, including his ability to practice as a surgeon. Parkinson's can cause tremors, slowed movement and other symptoms that worsen over time.S2
The suit alleges the NCAA knew of links between repeated head trauma and Parkinson's as far back as the 1930s but failed to warn athletes or adopt adequate concussion rules. It says the organization ignored doctor recommendations to bar players from contact sports after three moderate concussions, and that O'Neill was never removed from the field for examination, rest or treatment despite repeated head trauma in games and practices. The NCAA, Syracuse University, O'Neill and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment.S2
