Ex-NFL player Sharrif Floyd to sue Dr. James Andrews and others for $180 million
Sharrif Floyd, a former defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, is expected to file a $180 million lawsuit in a Florida court on Tuesday against Dr. James Andrews, the Andrews Institute for Orthopedic Surgery and others, said Floyd's lawyer, Brad Sohn.
A source told ESPN's Dan Graziano that, according to the expected lawsuit, Floyd in September 2016 went to the Andrews Institute for what he was told would be a routine arthroscopic surgery. He would require three to four weeks of recovery.
But once doctors began the process to operate, they determined Floyd needed microfracture surgery. That required them to drill into the bone, which caused bleeding and required him to receive a post-operation pain blocker. The suit alleges that those administering that pain blocker affected the procedure, paralyzing a nerve and the surrounding muscle and creating a situation from which he could not recover sufficiently to play football.
His explosive first step was never going to return. The No. 23 pick in 2013 was done in the NFL.
Dr. Andrews is being sued, as is the anesthesiologist, the two fellows who aided in the surgery, the hospital and the associated corporations, according to the source. The defendants will have a chance to respond. The discovery process could last between six and 12 months, with a trial likely for late fall or early winter of 2019.
Floyd's former team is not being sued. Floyd filed a grievance with the NFL Players Association against the Vikings after Minnesota put him on the non-football injury list, arguing that he should not have been on the list and was owed his full $6.757 million salary for his 2017 season option, which Minnesota exercised in May 2016. But teams are not obligated to pay players on the NFI list, and can choose to pay them nothing at all or an arbitrary amount. The Vikings paid him $2 million of the salary. It's not known where those talks now stand.
The $180 million in the lawsuit comes from the projected earnings of Floyd over the course of a career and is based on the highest earning potential of the best contemporary players at his position, according to SI.com.
Sohn told ESPN on Monday, "I'm going to get justice for Sharrif. He would have earned, we believe, a considerable amount of money playing football, and we're going to attempt to hold accountable the people who prevented him from playing football and ended his career. I'm prepared to go the distance."
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