Four ex-players sue NFL alleging brain damage

Dorsey Levens and Jamal Lewis, both named to the annual All-Star Pro Bowl, as well as Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart, filed the lawsuit against the National Football League and NFL Properties LLC on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The suits are the latest in a series filed against the NFL in recent months by former players who say the league did not do enough to protect them from concussions.

The Atlanta suit alleges the NFL knew as early as the 1920s of the potential for concussions but only made them public in 2010.

"The NFL not only failed to take effective action in an attempt to protect players from suffering, but failed to inform players of the true risks associated with concussions," the suit said.

The NFL's practice was "to return players who had suffered concussions to the very game in which the injury occurred."

In response, the league said it had long made player safety a priority and continued to do so.