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Denver Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick is suing the NFL, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams and ESPN for negligence over a torn ACL he suffered during a game against the Chargers in Inglewood, California.
Patrick defended against a punt return at SoFi Stadium on October 17 and went out of bounds. The lawsuit alleges that Patrick’s foot rolled on a mat covering television cords and cables used with the league’s replay monitor. He tried to avoid crashing into an NFL employee involved with the monitor — whom he collided with — just before his legs made contact with the mat.
Patrick said his knee bent awkwardly after his foot made contact with the mat.
The suit, filed in California by attorney William Berman, says that “the defendants were negligent in their operations of SOFI STADIUM by creating a dangerous condition by placing three mats near the sidelines to cover cords/cables leading to the power supply for the instant NFL’s replay monitor.’
Berman said safety at SoFi Stadium was not a priority for the NFL.
With the Broncos underway in Inglewood, California, Patrick Chargers was attempting to tackle DeAndre Carter’s punt returner when his momentum took him out of bounds and into an unknown sideline. The situation was exacerbated by a narrow black carpet that hit Patrick’s left cleat during the collision
Aaron Patrick (94) of the Denver Broncos is on the ground after colliding with a middle-aged co-worker during overtime of the Los Angeles Chargers 19-16 win at SoFi Stadium
His agent, Lamont Smith, told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero in a text that the carpet may have contributed to his client’s injury
Aaron Patrick was an undrafted free agent whose $600,000 salary is not guaranteed
“Player safety should be the number one priority for the NFL and its owners,” Berman said. “The NFL is a multi-billion dollar sports business and corporation, and it must do everything possible to protect its players from non-contact game injuries.
As for Patrick’s injuries, Sofi Stadium was built at a cost of $5,000,000,000; the stadium should have state-of-the-art equipment to protect player safety, and not use $100 mats that you would expect to find in a restaurant kitchen.”
The 25-year-old Patrick was on a one-year, $660,000 contract this season and reportedly lost the chance to meet bonus clauses in the deal. He played all but two snaps on special teams in five games this season and made three stops.
Overall, Patrick has 11 tackles in 17 games with Denver over the past two seasons.
His agent, Lamont Smith, told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero in a text message at the time that the carpet may have contributed to his client’s injury.
“I was very disturbed by the way the injury was playing out with the carpet so on the sidelines,” Smith said in the message. “His cleat got caught in the carpet as he tried to avoid the media person.”
Smith declined to comment further when DailyMail.com contacted him.
In 2015, then-San Francisco 49ers running back Reggie Bush slipped on slick concrete at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis and suffered a season-ending knee injury. Bushed sued the Rams, who have since moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles, eventually winning $12.45 million in damages
This isn’t the first injury to result from the many physical hazards that surround NFL playing fields.
Las Vegas Raiders safety Johnathan Abram injured his shoulder and collarbone when he crashed into a television van during a game in 2020.
Earlier, in 2015, the then-San Francisco 49ers running back Reggie Bush slipped on slippery concrete at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis and suffered a season-ending knee injury. Bushed sued the Rams, who have since moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles, eventually winning $12.45 million in damages.
But the impact of Patrick’s injury could be much more disastrous financially.
While Abram retains a partially guaranteed contract after amassing $11 million in career earnings, according to Spotrac, and Bush earned $63 million in salary, Patrick was an undrafted free agent whose salary isn’t guaranteed. Including this season, he only made $1.4 million in his short career, and it’s unclear if he’ll get a chance to sign another contract in the NFL.