Football Injury Leads to Lawsuit

Summer is nearly over and we are well into another fantastic season of football. As is to be expected in this hard hitting contact sport, injuries cannot help but occur. The injuries rarely lead to litigation. However, in the case of a wide-receiver from Houston University, the injury sustained was allegedly caused by the negligence of the opposing team.

An Unusual Claim of Premises Liability

As reported in the Charleston Gazette of August 31, 2010, Patrick Edwards filed a lawsuit against Marshall University and Conference USA for injuries he sustained in a game that was played at Marshall on October 28, 2008. According to the lawsuit, Edwards was running full speed in an attempt to catch a long pass. Just beyond the end zone, his right shin crashed into a yellow cart belonging to the Marching Thunder Band. The lawsuit claims the university failed to maintain the football field in a reasonably safe manner, including the removal of obstructions. The crash into the cart resulted in Edwards breaking his leg.

Athlete Seeks Dual Recovery

Edwards has already made a good recovery from his injury. Although his 2008 season ended with his injury, he returned in 2009 to catch 85 passes for 1,021 yards. He is also one of three Houston receivers listed on the Belitnikoff Award list for 2010. He will also seek a monetary recovery for his injury due to Marshall placing a cart in an area that created an unsafe condition. The obvious fact of his complete recovery will very likely reduce whatever award of damages he may be able to recover. As far as witnesses to his injury, he will have no shortage. The game was televised on national TV. When commenting about his injury after seeing it on replay Edwards said, “It didn’t look that bad to me. When I saw the play in slow motion, I thought it could have been worse. I might not have been able to walk again.”

Bob Jacobson is a personal injury attorney in Boise, ID