Former Denver Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick has reached an undisclosed settlement with the NFL over a devastating knee injury he suffered in 2022, DailyMail.com has confirmed.
‘The case settled under terms of strict confidentiality,’ attorney William Berman told DailyMail.com in an email. ‘All I can say is that my client is looking forward towards an opportunity to return to a career in the NFL.’
Patrick was attempting to tackle Chargers punt returner DeAndre Carter when his momentum carried him out of bounds and into an unidentified sideline worker. Exacerbating the situation was a narrow black carpet that caught Patrick’s left cleat during the collision.
His agent, Lamont Smith, told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero at the time that the carpet may have contributed to his client’s season-ending knee injury.
‘I was very disturbed about the way the injury occurred with the carpet being on the sideline like that,’ Smith said in the text message.
‘His cleat got lodged in the carpet trying to avoid the media person.’
With the Broncos on the road in Inglewood, California , Patrick was attempting to tackle Chargers punt returner DeAndre Carter when his momentum carried him out of bounds and into an unidentified sideline worker. Exacerbating the situation was a narrow black carpet that caught Patrick’s left cleat during the collision
Aaron Patrick (94) of the Denver Broncos lies on the ground after colliding with a middle-aged sideline worker during overtime of the Los Angeles Chargers 19-16 win at SoFi Stadium
Aaron Patrick was an undrafted free agent who has not played in the NFL since his injury
The suit, filed by Berman in California, claimed ‘the defendants were negligent in their operations of SOFI STADIUM in allowing a dangerous condition to exist by having three mats placed near the sideline to cover cords/cables that led to the feed for the instant NFL’s replay monitor.’
Berman said in 2022 that safety at SoFi Stadium wasn’t a priority for the NFL.
DailyMail.com has reached out to an NFL spokesman for comment. TMZ was the first to report the settlement.
This is hardly the first injury resulting from the many physical dangers encircling NFL playing fields.
Las Vegas Raiders safety Johnathan Abram injured his shoulder and collarbone when he ran into a television cart during a 2020 game.
Previously, 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 now have since moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and ultimately won $12.45 million in damages.
But the impact of Patrick’s injury may have been far more disastrous, financially speaking.
While the other players had already made many millions in the NFL, Patrick was an undrafted free agent whose $825,000 salary wasn’t even guaranteed. Including his final season, he earned just $1.2 million in his brief career, and he has remained unsigned since the injury.