Givens sues Titans for $25 million

He claims team kept defect secret

September 24, 2009|Associated Press

Former Tennessee Titans wide receiver David Givens claims the team failed to tell him about a defect in his knee that led to an injury and eventually ended his career.

Givens claims in a $25 million lawsuit filed Tuesday that a doctor discovered a defect in his knee during a physical around the time his contract was being negotiated in March 2006. He claims the doctor told team officials he “may need surgery at some point’’ and “may not be able to make a full 16-game season,’’ according to the suit.

But Givens claims he was “kept in the dark about his condition’’ and team officials urged him to keep playing.

“The decision was made by the Titans management, coaching and medical staffs to risk serious injury and aggravation to a preexisting condition without so much as consulting or discussing that situation with David Givens,’’ the lawsuit said.

Givens hurt that knee Nov. 12, 2006, in a game against Baltimore. An X-ray determined that the “previously known lesion and defect in his knee had crumbled,’’ according to the lawsuit.

Givens, 29, who played for the Patriots from 2002-05, has not played professionally again.

Titans officials said yesterday they had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment. Coach Jeff Fisher also declined to comment about the lawsuit after practice.

Givens’s attorney, Dan Warlick, said his client felt his injury could have been prevented.

“He tries to stay upbeat, but this guy . . . was at the top of his game,’’ Warlick said.

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