• 15
  • July
    2010

Personal injuries not only leave victims in pain, disabled or with hefty medical bills to pay, but they can also put some lifelong goals out of reach or steal them right out from under victims. Former Dallas Cowboy, Jamar Hunt, exemplifies that sad fact. He was a rookie player on the Dallas team and at just the beginning of what he hoped to be a long, successful NFL career when an accident completely changed everything.

Hunt was taking part in a training camp on May 2, 2009, when the facility wherein the camp was being held collapsed on top of the group. Investigation into the structure's collapse revealed that the structure fell due to mere 55-65 MPH winds. According to safety and engineering standards, the structure should have been able to withstand those winds with no problem.

Hunt and his Dallas personal injury attorney have filed a negligence lawsuit against Summit Structures LLC, the manufacturer of the training facility structure. The suit also includes third parties who were responsible for ensuring the repairs of the facility.

Hunt was injured when a steel piece of the structure landed on him and left him with a herniated disk in his neck. After the injury, the Cowboys cut Hunt from their team. According to sources, Hunt can get surgery to help address the injury, but that surgery would not make him any more desirable to NFL teams. He and his lawyer argue that he will now be viewed as a "damaged" player, and because he is new to the league, teams do not have enough experience to look back on in order to want to take a chance on him as a team member.

Hunt has not asked for a specific amount in damages at this point, but it is likely that he will get something out of this Texas personal injury lawsuit. He actually piggybacked onto the personal injury lawsuits brought against Summit and the other parties by two separate victims of the accident. One of those victims (both of which are Cowboys employees) was left partially paralyzed. Each party did reach a settlement, so Hunt's case will probably follow suit.

We will let you know as decisions about this case take shape soon.  

Resource

The Brownsville Herald: NFL Capsules: Ex-Cowboy seeks damages for injuries from collapse