By Ellen Rugeley
Patrick Grant, a former football player at the University of Louisville (U of L), filed a lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court on December 21, 2012 against U of L and its Head Football Coach Charlie Strong claiming that the university breached its contract, and failed to act in good faith when it terminated his athletic scholarship.
The suit, which alleges that Grant was asked to cover up an attack perpetrated by two of his teammates and that the university and Coach Strong failed to live up to their end of a bargain, requests that the court issue a declaratory judgment stopping the cancellation of Grant’s athletic scholarship and grant him compensatory damages for his perceived wrongs. The suit also seeks a jury trial.
The attack leading to the lawsuit took place on October 24, 2010 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium when, according to police, 18-year-old twin brothers Jacob and Isaac Geffrand, who were Grant’s teammates at the time, attacked Grant over a football dispute.
According to Derwin Webb, Jacob Geffrand’s attorney, they exchanged words and the “altercation” had to do with football. “There weren’t any issues as far as females or anything like that, just some concerns about practice,” Webb told the local media.
The suit alleges that the Geffrands beat Grant so badly that “he required immediate, urgent care and nearly lost his left eye, the bones around it being fractured.
“His eye was bulging too. His treating physician was required to probe around the eyeball without any anesthesia in order to determine the extent of Patrick’s injuries.” The plaintiff also underwent two surgeries, which included the removal of bone fragments from his face, and the insertion of facial implants to rebuild his face.
Webb agrees that it was a serious incident, but believes that it has been blown out of proportion. “To my knowledge he was not within an inch of losing his sight, but there were some injuries that were sustained and those injuries from what I understand have been corrected,” said Webb.
The Geffrand brothers were kicked off the football team and charged with first-degree assault, however, a grand jury declined to indict the brother’s on the assault charges in July.
The alleged assault itself was not the only wrong Grant suffered. According to Grant, he was asked to conceal the situation surrounding his injuries immediately after the attack occurred, and on the way to the hospital the team’s trainer told Grant to “lie and cover up the fact that his injuries were at the hands of his teammates. Out of fear and desire to play, Patrick lied as instructed, telling the doctor that he was horsing around in the locker room and hit his eye on a locker door.”
Grant returned to play football later in the season but had to quit after suffering complications from a “hard hit” he took in practice, and was told by a doctor that he should no longer play football but was allegedly promised by Strong that his scholarship would be renewed.
“In apparent recognition of Patrick’s dedication to the football team and everything he suffered at the hands of his teammates and his willingness to play by the ‘rules’ set by Coach Strong and his staff,” Strong promised Grant that his 2011-2012 athletic scholarship would remain in place, according to Webb.
“That scholarship would allow Patrick to continue in school in pursuit of a graduate degree in his chosen field: criminal justice,” notes the suit.
However, that scholarship was allegedly terminated on January 4, 2012 and when Grant complained that the cancellation broke an agreement, Coach Strong, “simply ended the call and hung up the phone.”
Of importance to the lawsuit is when the scholarship was cancelled. According to the ByLaw Blog, written by John Infante, a former compliance officer at NCAA Division I schools: “If the scholarship was cancelled mid-year, the odds that the cancellation violated NCAA rules are higher. Mid-year cancellations must be for specific reasons in the NCAA bylaws or for violating a term of the scholarship agreement. Any cancellation or non-renewal requires the student-athlete to be provided written notice from the financial aid office and a hearing opportunity.”
Kenneth Klein, U of L athletics spokesman, said officials do not comment on pending litigation.
Grant is represented by Louisville attorney Gregg Hovious.
