Broncos LB Aaron Patrick's Lawsuit Could Have Big NFL Ramifications

Aaron Patrick's lawsuit continues apace and it has the potential to class-action targeting artificial surfaces.

The number of NFL careers that have been ended or severely hindered by injuries sustained when playing on artificial turf is numerous. While the standard of synthetic turf has improved considerably over the years, take a straw poll of players, and you'll learn how much they fear playing on it considerably more than they do performing on natural grass.

Last season, Denver Broncos reserve linebacker Aaron Patrick suffered an ACL tear in an overtime loss against the Los Angeles Chargers at So Fi Field. His injury was sustained at the conclusion of a special teams play, when he was actually off the field and then got his cleat stuck on some artificial matting used to hide power cables.

It was an extremely unfortunate freak injury for Denver's emerging 26-year-old rush linebacker, one which has given rise to a lawsuit filed by the Broncos' special-teamer filed against the NFL, ESPN, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Chargers. The NFL and Chargers successfully petitioned for the case to be moved from state court to federal court in a legal decision that allows them to focus on fighting the case on the grounds of the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players.

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Patrick is counter-arguing that he shouldn't have to be restricted by the confines of the NFL's CBA. Instead, Patrick is arguing that he should be permitted to seek damages through basic 'slip-and-fall' legal parameters. These parameters are founded on strict stipulations that require the stadium operators to ensure the field is in a reasonable state to be played upon.

Should Patrick prove successful, it could open up potential options for other injured players to press their own claims outside the broad-ranging CBA. Indeed, many players may come to welcome the freedom to hold individual stadium operators accountable for injuries sustained due to their own negligence and on a case-by-case basis.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, a former lawyer, broke down Patrick's argument and how it could force the NFL's hand. 

It wouldn’t be an easy argument to make. But the possibility of such an attack on artificial surfaces currently is being contemplated. It would be an aggressive and creative way to use the legal system to force the NFL and its teams to provide safer playing surfaces for the men who play the game.

Patrick's complex legal case and forceful stand could set a huge president for generations of future players. In the process, it could put the use of artificial surfaces under serious threat and rewrite the legalities of the NFL's hard-fought CBA deal with the players.

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