Stringer v. National Football League

Korey Stringer, a National Football League (NFL) player for the Minnesota Vikings, died during the Vikings’ summer training camp. Stringer typically showed up to the camp out-of-shape; he weighed 340 pounds and was not acclimated to exercising in the heat. Practice began on July 30, and it was extremely hot and humid. The players wore shorts and protective gear consisting of helmets and shoulder pads. During the afternoon practice, Stringer suffered an episode of heat exhaustion, had stomach pain, was vomiting, and was involuntarily removed from practice. On the second day, instead of shorts, the players wore football pants with knee, thigh, and hip pads, along with helmets and shoulder pads. Stringer collapsed on the practice field and was taken to the hospital, where he later died due to multi-organ failure and complications from exertional heat stroke. Kelci Stringer (plaintiff), Stringer’s wife and estate executor, filed a products-liability action against the All American Sports Corporation and Riddell, Inc. (collectively, Riddell) (defendants), the manufacturers of the helmets, shoulder pads, and football pants, alleging, among other things, that a design defect caused Stringer’s death. The complaint alleged that the protective gear acted as an insulating blanket preventing evaporation and heat dissipation, unreasonably increasing Stringer’s body temperature. No evidence of an alternative, feasible design was presented, and although some evidence that other helmets included air vents was presented, Riddell presented evidence that the vented helmets were no cooler. Riddell filed for summary judgment.