Report: Family of Junior Seau to reject NFL concussion settlement

The relatives of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau will reject a proposed settlement that will pay millions in claims over head injuries.

The relatives of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau will reject a proposed settlement between the league and thousands of former players over football-related head injuries, reports ESPN.com’s Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru.

Seau died in May 2012 at age 43 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A later study of Seau’s brain concluded that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease.

The NFL and former players agreed to a proposed $765 million settlement of player concussion claims in July, but the Seau family opted out of the settlement because they say the fund would not pay wrongful death claims to survivors. A revised settlement now provides unlimited funds.

Instead, the Seau family will move forward with a wrongful death lawsuit filed in January 2013, which claims that the NFL hid the dangers of head trauma while playing football. 

"The family want to know why this settlement seems designed for expediency for the NFL and to ensure that information doesn't come out," said Seau lawyer Steven Strauss.

Strauss said Seau's family is "not suing for his pain and suffering," saying the NFL's settlement does not address that.

- Scooby Axson