Aaron Patrick, a linebacker for the Denver Broncos, has sued the NFL, ESPN, Los Angeles Chargers and others, claiming they were negligent for sideline conditions, which led to a season-ending knee injury.
The injury, a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), occurred on October 17, 2022 during an overtime loss to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Patrick, who filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court, suffered the injury when he veered out of bounds, collided with an “improperly situated” NFL TV liaison, and stepped on a mat near the sideline, which was there to cover cables connected to an NFL instant replay monitor.
The lawsuit is similar to litigation brought by former NFL player Reggie Bush, who slipped on concrete after running out of bounds at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis in 2015 and suffered a knee injury. Bush was awarded $12.5 million by a St. Louis jury in 2018.
In the instant case, Patrick alleged negligence on the part of every named defendant, citing California Civil Code § 1714, which “holds negligent parties financially liable for damages suffered by those injured as a result of the negligence.”
In a statement released to the media, Patrick’s attorney, William M. Berman, said, “Player safety should be the foremost of importance to the NFL and its owners. The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar sports enterprise and business, and it needs to do everything possible to protect its players from non-contact game injuries. As for Patrick’s injuries, Sofi Stadium was built at a $5,000,000,000 expense; the stadium should have the state-of-the-art equipment to protect for player safety, and not use the type of $100 mats that you would expect to see in a restaurant kitchen.”
