Football fans were shocked when news broke in May 2012 that former San Diego Charger Junior Seau had taken his own life. The linebacker played 20 years in the National Football League. After his tragic death, doctors examined the former linebacker's brain. The National Institutes of Health reported in January that the examination of the former football great showed signs of a brain disease linked to head trauma.

Sacramento personal injury lawyers know that head trauma--any blow to the head--can lead to varying levels of brain injury. Mild injuries may involve concussions, with severe brain injuries resulting from other more serious blows to the head. Public awareness of traumatic brain injuries seems to be on the rise-- news reports of former lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords' road to recovery, injuries that returning war veterans have suffered and stories like the Seau tragedy have served to raise more public awareness of TBIs.

Seau's four children (through a guardian) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in California seeking redress for the loss of their father. The lawsuit seeks to make the game of football safer for future generations of players. The family says that Seau played through pain, having "suffered innumerable blows directly to his head during his NFL career, both sub-concussive and concussive," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks to hold the NFL and Riddell, a football helmet manufacturer, responsible for negligence in causing head injuries that led to Seau's tragic suicide.

Obviously, head injuries are not limited to war heroes and professional athletes. Head trauma can occur during a wide variety of accidents-from slip and falls to car accidents and more. When a person or entity has been negligent, leading to a head injury, a victim of the negligence may have grounds for a legal claim.

Source: USA Today, "Source: USA Today, "Junior Seau's family sues NFL over brain injuries," Gary Mihoces, Jan. 23, 2013