The NFL reached a tentative settlement on the brain-injury lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 18,000 former NFL players, including the family of Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year. Almost coincidentally, Tim Carmody wrote this intriguing post for Kottke.org about football players and the harm that befalls them.

This is all to say that what offensive linemen do in football is not well understood. When the NFL finally started to act on widespread concussions and the resultant uptick in chronic traumatic encephalopathy — if you never have, please read about the life and death of Dave Duerson — they focused on open-field helmet-to-helmet hits and defensive players targeting quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers (so-called “skill positions”). They ignored the constant battering that offensive linemen take, how repeated brain injury poses the greatest risk for long-term problems, how linemen are rewarded for staying on the field and playing through pain, and the ways in which they’re encouraged to both be more aggressive and prioritize someone else’s safety over their own.

Worthwhile read. I hope the money from the settlement reaches the people who need it. At the very least, I hope it provides health care for all 18,000 of those former players.