Denver Broncos outside linebacker Aaron Patrick is suing the NFL and Los Angeles Chargers (among others) after a carpet on the sideline of SoFi Stadium caused him to tear his ACL during a game on Oct. 17, according to a report from TMZ Sports.
“Patrick is suing for unspecified damages, including lost bonuses and future earning potential,” TMZ Sports reported Tuesday.
Patrick’s torn ACL was a season-ending injury that landed him on injured reserve.
Patrick’s agent, Lamont Smith, told NFL Network in October that he was “very disturbed” by how the injury happened.
“I was very disturbed about the way the injury occurred with the carpet being on the sideline like that,” Smith said last month. “His cleat got lodged in the carpet trying to avoid the media person.”
JC Tretter, the president of the NFL’s players union, recently wrote an article that called for the league to “clear the excess people and dangerous equipment from the sidelines.”
“We have seen too many injuries because of this issue, and it really should be a simple fix,” Tretter wrote on the NFLPA’s website. “Give the players their space to perform. Year after year, the NFL tells us they will look into it; and year after year, nothing ever changes.”
The NFL has not taken action, so Patrick is taking matters into his own hands by suing the league. Perhaps that will motivate the NFL to make some changes to its sidelines going forward.
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