Former Packers coach Gregg fighting Parkinson's, not the NFL

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg says that while he and his neurologist blame concussions for his Parkinson's disease, he's not going to sue the NFL like thousands of other former players.

The 79-year-old says he doesn't begrudge those who have joined the lawsuits but he has his pensions from his playing and coaching days and "I don't need anything from anybody but what I earned."

He said he's an "independent type" and doesn't believe in holding others accountable for his well-being.

"And my experience in the National Football League was good," said Gregg, who is promoting UCB, Inc.'s "Parkinson's More Than Motion" campaign during Parkinson's Awareness Month.

Gregg said he's doing well 18 months after his diagnosis and credits medicine, exercise and daily phone calls from his son and former teammates to reminisce about the good ol' days, which keeps his mind sharp.

The former offensive lineman known as "Iron Man" said he wants to help others recognize the signs of Parkinson's and seek treatment early enough to delay the degenerative effects of the chronic, debilitating disease on both mind and body.

When Gregg was diagnosed, his neurologist, Dr. Rajeev Kumar, a Parkinson's expert and medical director of the Colorado Neurological Institute's Movement Disorders Center in Denver, said the many concussions Gregg suffered during his playing days may have served as a trigger for Parkinson's.

More than two dozen Hall of Famers are among the 4,200 former players who contend the league misled them about the harmful effects of concussions.

In recent years, scores of former NFL players and other concussed athletes have been diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, including popular Pro Bowler Junior Seau and lead plaintiff Ray Easterling. Both committed suicide last year.

About one-third of the league's 12,000 former players have joined the litigation since Easterling filed suit in 2011. Some are battling dementia, depression or Alzheimer's disease, and fault the league for rushing them back on the field after concussions. Others are worried about future problems and want their health monitored.

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Former Packers coach Gregg fighting Parkinson's, not the NFL