Not only is Dan Marino a Pro Football Hall of Famer and indisputably one of the top five quarterbacks in NFL history, but he also continues to be a prominent face of the National Football League. That’s the case whenever one is employed as on-air talent by one of the four networks that own NFL broadcast rights, which was the case until Marino parted ways with CBS in February.

And so news that Marino has now sued the league over concussions is especially noteworthy. That’s exactly what happened last week, according to federal court records obtained by Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times:

As the behind-the-scenes effort to gain approval for the proposed $765-million settlement of the concussion litigation continues, Marino and 14 other former players sued in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

At least 41 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, or their estates, are among about 5,000 former players suing.

The 18-page complaint alleges the NFL concealed information about football-related brain injuries and misled players, claims that are similar to those made in more than 300 related lawsuits. The NFL has repeatedly denied such claims.

The aforementioned settlement was rejected by a federal judge in January. Now, the former players have called in the big guns.

Marino isn’t an NFL employee and CBS is supposed to have complete autonomy in terms of who it employs as hosts, reporters and analysts, but it is a little odd that such a well-known pregame show host walked away from his job there just prior to this development.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com, a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at CBSSports.com, Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Comeback Media, but his day gig has him covering the NFL nationally for Bleacher Report.

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