All concussion cases are not created equal, at least when it comes to sports leagues. Some fight tooth-and-nail, while others settle to get the issue out of the courts and, hopefully, out of the news media.
So it is with the National Football League and the National Hockey League.
In 2013, after years of negative publicity and a series of suicides among former players, the N.F.L. agreed to a settlement that is expected to pay about $1 billion in damages to retired players with neurological and cognitive problems. The deal came after thousands of former players sued the N.