Matt Lauer interviews Jim McMahon on TODAY
Former Chicago Bears quarterback, Jim McMahon, and many other NFL players, claim they were misled about the effects of drugs used to keep them on the field. McMahon was the star quarterback for the Chicago Bears quarterback in the 1980s.
McMahon is one of 750 players identified in a federal class-action lawsuit filed against the NFL last month. The lawsuit accuses teams of illegally giving players strong narcotics and other painkillers without properly explaining the long-term effects of the drugs. The NFL denies the charges.
During the interview, McMahon shared his thoughts, “Ultimately the decision is up to the player, but when you’re getting information telling you there’s really nothing wrong with you, that we can hide the pain by shooting whatever area is affected, that’s a big problem here. We got a lot of misdiagnoses telling us there was really nothing wrong, it’s all in your head, we can deaden it for the game, and then you can worry about it later.”