HOUSTON – The Houston Texans formally responded to an ex-player’s motion to send his lawsuit alleging poor field conditions at NRG Stadium back to state district court.
Former Texans linebacker Demeco Ryans is suing the team and several entities after a torn Achilles tendon he suffered during a 2014 regular season game as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles reportedly led to the end of his decade-long career.
Ryans claims the injury happened because of the surface’s design and construction. Houston federal court received the litigation from the Harris County 133rd District Court last month.
In recent court documents filed Feb. 16, the Texans state that the 2006 Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and two-time Pro Bowler’s injury “is a case of first impression.”
“It is the first in which an NFL player seeks to recover under state law for injuries sustained on the field of play during game play,” the papers say.
Per the Texans, Ryans’s ordeal is different from running back Reggie Bush’s case. The team asserts Bush, a member of the Buffalo Bills, purportedly hurt himself away from the field after the play was whistled dead.
It further argues that Ryans’s case is the first in which a player alleges a team controlled the field of play as opposed to the NFL.
Attorneys Wesson H. Tribble and Maureen Spector of the law firm Tribble Ross in Houston are representing the Texans.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:16-CV-3554
Harris County 133rd District Court Case No. 2016-70179