Report: Gale Sayers Denies Involvement in Concussion Lawsuit Against NFL

Bears Hall of Famer Gale Sayers said Saturday that he did not consent to a lawsuit filed on his behalf Friday in the U.S. District Court in Chicago that alleges the NFL and helmet maker Riddell failed to prevent repeated head injuries to the former running back, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.

Sayers told the Tribune he spoke with an attorney last Thursday after a request from former Bears safety Shaun Gayle, but that he did not agree to sue the NFL.

Sayers reportedly said the attorney is John F. Winters of Winters, Salzetta & O’Brien, LLC in Chicago.

The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago claims Sayers, who played for the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1972, suffers headaches, occasional short-term memory loss and other cognitive deficits. It says the affliction is caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

A spokesman for the NFL did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Rosemont, Ill.-based Riddell declined to comment.

Last month, in a deal with the players association, the NFL agreed to pay more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to settle lawsuits from thousands of former players who developed concussion-related health problems.