Ray Easterling

Rau Easterling played for the Atlanta Falcons from 1972 to 1979, helping to lead the team's "Gritz Blitz" defense in 1977 that set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a season. Easterling played football in college at the University of Richmond. He was drafted by the Falcons with the 9th round pick in 1972 and played for seven years, starting four seasons. He was a leader of the secondary that established a team record in 1977 with 26 interceptions. The defense that year set the NFL record at the time for allowing just 129 points in a season. After his playing days ended, he returned to Richmond where he ran a financial services company and started a youth football camp. But he started showing signs of brain damage about 20 years ago, according to his wife Mary Ann and friends. Mary Ann Easterling said that her husband had suffered through depression and insomnia, both of which can be caused by head trauma, had been diagnosed with dementia last month at age 62, and had had 25 orthopedic surgeries. He was part of a group of seven former players, the first named plaintiff, who sued the NFL in Philadelphia in August of 2011, claiming that the league failed to properly treat players for concussion and tried to conceal for decades any links between football and brain injuries. It was the first potential class-action lawsuit that was filed. His wife said she will fight to continue the lawsuit despite her husband's death, and will urge the league to establish a fund for players like her husband who suffered traumatic brain injuries from their playing days.