Concussion Ruined Him, Soccer Player Says

WASHINGTON (CN) - A pro soccer player suffered a "permanent traumatic brain injury" after his team doctors and head coach ignored his concussion symptoms and cleared him to play a few days after suffering a violent head injury, the player claims in Superior Court.

Bryan Namoff and his wife sued D.C. Soccer LLC dba D.C. United and its head coach Thomas Soehn. Namoff claims the defendants sent him out to play just days after he suffered a blow to the head in a collision with a Kansas City Wizards player.

Namoff, who says he was a vital member of D.C. United for years, including the club's Major League Soccer Cup victory in 2004, says he suffered the injury that ended his career and damaged his brain in September 2009.

"The hit occurred when plaintiff Bryan Namoff and an opponent collided, causing a blow to plaintiff's head just behind his right temple by the shoulder blade of the opponent," the complaint states.

"There was a visible snapping of his neck violently back to the left. Plaintiff Bryan Namoff was able to get up on his own; however, Dr. Annunziata never left the sidelines to examine plaintiff Bryan Namoff. Plaintiff Bryan Namoff felt lost and out of it but finished the game."

After the game, Namoff says, he told team doctors that "he did not feel right," and that "the lights were hazy, and that he had no peripheral vision."

He says he continued to suffer headaches and fatigue for days. He claims Soehn knew of his symptoms, but played him in a game anyway, three days after he suffered the injury and without follow-up exams or reassessments by team doctors.

"Plaintiff Bryan Namoff's reaction to the game was slow; it was the worst game of his career. Throughout the game, plaintiff Bryan Namoff experienced and exhibited post-concussive symptoms, which were significantly exacerbated by the end of the game," the complaint states.

Even after telling team doctors of his dizziness, the team failed to evaluate him, but "merely stated that they would monitor him," Namoff says.

Namoff says the team failed to follow proper guidelines and protocols for handling concussions, which should include a post-injury neurocognitive test and comparing it to the test players take at the beginning of the season.

"As a direct and proximate cause of the defendant's aforesaid negligence, plaintiff Bryan Namoff has suffered serious permanent and disabling damage to his body including ... permanent traumatic brain injury; permanent cognitive deficits and memory problems; permanent fatigue; permanent headaches; permanent vestibular problems; permanent visual motion hypersensitivity; and sleep problems; he has incurred ... medical, hospital, rehabilitative, and pharmaceutical expenses in an effort to his injuries," the complaint states.

Namoff says he also suffers from mental impairment, emotional distress and embarrassment.

Namoff, 33, seeks $32 million for medical negligence, personal injury and loss of consortium.

The Namoffs are represented by Joseph Cammarata, with Chaikin Sherman.

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