Former Patriots CB Randall Gay sues NFL
Former New England Patriot and two-time Super Bowl champion Randall Gay is one of the plaintiffs in a new lawsuit against the NFL that alleges the league failed to protect players adequately from concussions.
Gay played in 39 games over four seasons and won a Super Bowl with New England during his rookie season in 2004. He missed much of the 2005 and 2006 seasons with injuries, but was a standout during the 2004 and 2007 seasons. He recorded five interceptions as a Patriot, three of which came during New England’s 18-1 2007 campaign. He signed a four-year, $17.8 million contract with the New Orleans Saints before the 2008 season and was part of the 2009 Saints squad that won Super Bowl XLIV, but he suffered a concussion early in the 2010 season, was put on injured reserve and was cut from the team in the summer of 2011.
Gay retired from the NFL at age 29 after his release in 2011, as he said he was still suffering from post-concussion symptoms.
The lawsuit comes amidst a continuing investigation into the death of former Patriot Junior Seau, who died in May of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Seau’s family donated his brain tissue to the National Institute of Health to see the extent of any traumatic brain injuries Seau might have suffered that could have led to suicide.
Gay played with Seau for the Patriots during the 2007 season, and Gay told the Boston Herald in May that he was shaken by Seau’s death because Gay could identify with the lasting effects of a brain injury.
“That was real scary because I know what he’s feeling,” Gay said. “Some days, you just walk around, and you don’t know what you’re walking around for. I just catch myself walking around the house with no intention, like, ‘What am I doing?'”
