Disney, Paramount & More Hit With Concussion Suit From Stuntman Estate
The life of The Longest Yard and Invincible stuntman Darryl Hammond ended in 2017 with the ex-Arena football player suffering from severe head trauma but today his family went after the Walt Disney Company, Paramount, Columbia as well as the Arena Football League (AFL) for negligence, wrongful death and more.
In a jury-seeking, multi-claim complaint, Hammond’s widow and children want wide-ranging but unspecified damages from the defendants for “willfully and intentionally” concealing from the player/stuntman the risks and consequences of such “repetitive head impacts” and “concussions” as sustained over the years.
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According to the suit, Hammond was a player in the AFL from approximately 1991-2016 and “suffered symptoms of brain injury” from the head impacts during AFL football games. During this time, he also starred in two feature films. In 2004, he was a stunt double for Paramount and Columbia’s remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler where he sustained the aforementioned “head impacts”. Two years later, he played a football player in Disney’s Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg where he also sustained impacts.
The suit states that these repeated head impacts “were likely to expose him to neuro-degenerative disorders and diseases”. This includes CTE, Alzheimer’s disease and similar conditions.
Disney did not respond to request for comment on the suit and Paramount had no comment.
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