A group of retired pro football players are suing the National Football League (NFL), saying they were illegally administered painkillers and told to play while injured. The suit claims that as players have gotten bigger and the season longer, injuries have become more common and serious, prompting the NFL to rely on pain medication to keep the players on the field and revenues coming in. The new lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight NFL players who were active between 1969 and 2008. The suit also seeks class action status on behalf of 500 others. The lawsuit could turn into another controversy for the NFL, which had agreed last year to pay $760 million to thousands of former players claiming the league downplayed the risk of concussions. -- Mornings @ ANC, May 22, 2014.