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The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in 2013 in
San Diego Superior Court by Seau's children and ex-wife, as well
as the trustee of his estate, alleged that the brain damage he
suffered during his 20 years in the NFL led to his suicide.
One of the family's lawyers, Steve Strauss of the firm Cooley,
said in a statement a "confidential settlement" was secured with
the league.
The NFL did not immediately respond when asked to comment on the
settlement.
Seau, a 12-times Pro Bowl linebacker who spent the bulk of his
NFL career with the San Diego Chargers, died in May 2012 after
shooting himself in the chest at his beachfront house in his
hometown of Oceanside, California.
A study by a team of independent researchers released the
following year found that Seau, 43, had suffered from chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition that can only be
definitively diagnosed through an autopsy.
In 2016, a federal appeals court approved a settlement between
the NFL and a class of 5,000 former players over brain injuries,
but the Seau family had opted out in order to pursue their
individual action against the league.
Seau retired from the game in 2010 and was inducted into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
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