Outside linebacker and special teamer Aaron Patrick has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for his season-ending ACL tear.
The injury was sustained in the Week 6 Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
Patrick is suing several organizations, including the Chargers, NFL, ESPN, and the Roe Mat Company.
The incident named occurred when Patrick’s forward movement carried him off the field and into the sidelines. He was attempting to make a tackle on DeAndre Carter on a punt return. He tried to avoid an NFL official who was monitoring television timeouts. However, Patrick said he stepped on mats covering up NFL instant replay monitor cords and cables.
The 25-year-old claims all parties should have known the mats presented a dangerous hazard for players. He also states the NFL official shouldn’t have been standing where he was.
The fall resulted in a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee.
#Broncos special teamer Aaron Patrick is suing the #NFL, the #Chargers, ESPN, the mat company, and others claiming mats placed on the sidelines at SoFi Stadium earlier this season caused him to suffer a torn ACL, according to @TMZ_Sports.
pic.twitter.com/Jtq2hu0dnc— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) November 15, 2022
“Upon stepping on one of the mats, [Patrick’s] cleats became lodged in the mat and/or the cords/cables running underneath and caused [Patrick’s] left knee to contort, causing (him) to fall awkwardly,” the lawsuit states.
In the press release, his lead counsel, William M. Berman from Berman & Riedel, 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.”
Patrick is suing for unspecified damages, which include lost bonuses and future earning potential.
This lawsuit comes on the heels of many players speaking out against artificial turf fields, which SoFi has.
When the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to the US, our NFL stadiums with turf will convert to grass. Why? Because grass is a much safer playing surface. But for us, their own players, they want us to compete on inferior surfaces. #SaferFields
— Brandon McManus (@thekidmcmanus) November 12, 2022
Odell Beckham Jr. famously also tore his ACL at SoFi in last season’s Super Bowl.
In a study by the NFL from 2012 to 2018 proved that artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass. According to the study, players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf. Of those non-contact injuries, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries. They also have a 69% higher rate of non-contact foot/ankle injuries on turf than on grass.
