Ted Johnson of the New England Patriots speaks with the media during media day at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 1, 2005 (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

HOUSTON (SPORTSRADIO610.COM) – Ted Johnson played 10 years in the NFL for the New England Patriots as a linebacker. He won three Super Bowls with the team. He also suffered multiple concussions and at one point was involved in the Lawsuit against the NFL from former players suffering from the concussions they received. Ted spoke during the show he co-hosts on SportsRadio 610 with Sean Pendergast and Rich Lord about why he chose to remove himself from that lawsuit.

“I’m no longer a part of that lawsuit.” Johnson said, “There (are) two things. One is the symbolic reason: its, for me, part of it is, it’s horrible, absolutely horrible settlement.

“Everybody criticized the players that were in on it. A lot, the majority of people, don’t want to hear me talk about this. They’re saying, ‘Hey, you knew what you were getting into.’ And I can go down that road, but I think I’ll just let it go.

“The point is, this lawsuit settlement that came about with our plaintiffs, us the plaintiffs, our lawyers, and the NFL basically, it is a complete and utter sham, in my opinion. When you look at the details. The only way guys are going to get any money in this…you have to fall into four categories. You either have to ALS, which is Lou Gehrig’s disease…it is a death sentence.

Tim Shaw, Steve Gleason, Kevin Turner and O.J. Brigance are all former NFLers who have been diagnosed with ALS in the last seven years. The disease, which attacks the nervous system has no known cure.

“That disease, ALS,” Johnson continued. “There is a direct link to guys that have had multiple concussions to [ALS].

“The brain disease that guys have, that have multiple concussions, called CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE they have discovered can lead to Lou Gerhig’s disease. So those guys [with ALS] should get more money than anybody should. It’s capped at $5 million, so, them and their families will get, as the current settlement is five million. The only way you are going to get paid is if you have any cognitive deficiencies, like ALS.

“So we’ve got ALS, that’s its own thing. If you have dementia, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s disease then it’s a sliding scale. You’ll get that money. The problem with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia is that CTE, the brain disease linked to multiple concussions, has nothing to do with those brain diseases.”

According to Johnson, science has not discovered a link from multiple concussions to the three brain diseases listed in the lawsuit along with ALS that will allow a former player to get some money from the NFL. Johnson was diagnosed with, in his estimate, 5-7 concussions during his career, but says he probably had ten times that many.

“Our lawyers, who are absolutely horrible, the plaintiff’s lawyers in this thing. If people want to criticize the players in this thing for being in a money grab, the lawyers for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, it’s disgusting what they’ve done. Because they wanted something fast, they wanted to get to it, they wanted to get their quick money and they fooled this judge into thinking concussions lead to these brain diseases. And it doesn’t.

“The primary problem with guys that have had histories of concussions and that have CTE is the behavioral changes, not the cognitive ones. So when you see Jim McMahon out there saying ‘I can’t remember where my keys are. I can’t find my way home.’ That is such a small part of the problem. The bigger problem is the behavioral changes. The aggression, the depression, the anxiety, the volatility; those are the biggest changes guys have in their brains whenever they have multiple concussions.”

The behavioral issues Johnson is talking about can lead to suicide. Many former NFL players have committed suicide, from Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, Larry Bethea and more.

“Guys who committed suicide before 2010, their families will be rewarded maximum payment out of this. Here is the problem. They did autopsies on these guys…they all found CTE. Here is the problem. Because they killed themselves their families are going to be rewarded money. But guys who are still living, that have CTE, will not get any monetary payment what so ever. It’s a complete sham. It’s embarrassing and that’s why I opted out. That is exactly why I opted out.”

Currently the only way to test for CTE is post-mortem, but doctors are working on tests that might be able to diagnose it while people are still alive.

Johnson said he might join some other players who have opted out of the lawsuit and pursue some other form of action against the league, but he doesn’t know yet. He just didn’t’ want his name attached to this specific lawsuit.

Here is the audio from Ted Johnson:

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