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Listenbee suit vs. TCU adds other players' allegations of mistreatment
Former TCU wide receiver Kolby Listenbee’s suit vs. the school and coach Gary Patterson now includes allegations of mistreatment of other former TCU players.
Listenbee’s suit alleges TCU forced him to come back from a pelvic injury too quickly during his senior season. He claims he was administrated painkillers on a regular basis so he could come back quicker and was guilted by the team’s coaches while he was injured.
The stories of five former players are now part of the suit, which was updated Wednesday. Those stories include other allegations that TCU’s coaching staff rushed players back from injuries. From the suit, which was published by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
In another incident, in the 2011 season, former TCU football player, David Johnson, sprained his ankle. Johnson was administered pain medication and had his ankle wrapped with lots of tape. When Johnson expressed worry to his position coach about not being able to play because of his ankle, the position coach stated that “in your career, you will never play at 100%. You will always be hurt. And if you can’t do that, we don’t have a place for you here.” That player noticed that this became a “common thread [at TCU] – players being informed by coaches that ‘if you don’t play this year, we have no use for you. Future potential means very little, and we may very well not have a spot for you next year if you sit out.”
A second story involving Johnson also alleges that he was pressured to return quickly from an ACL tear during spring football in 2012. Per the suit, Johnson was told if he couldn’t return to play in the 2012 season he may not have a scholarship available for him. He rushed back to play — choosing a graft that would allow him to return faster — and ended up re-tearing the same ACL during the season.
TCU declined to comment on the suit’s additions to the Star-Telegram. Listenbee’s suit lists Patterson, former athletic director Chris Del Conte (now at Texas), and the school as defendants.
The school had previously said in a countersuit that it shouldn’t be a defendant in the suit. The school says that Listenbee didn’t return to the school for an exit physical exam at the end of his career and that its doctors are contractors and not employees of the school.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
