DeSean Jackson and the Delaware State football team have more than this weekend’s spring game to be concerned with.
A player has filed suit against Jackson, associate head coach Travis Clark, an unnamed player, and a staff member following a November incident that left the plaintiff with numerous dental injuries, according to a report by On3’s Nick Schultz.
Sophomore safety Malachi Biggs alleges that during the week of November 19, he was confronted by a defendant and another Hornet football player about an Instagram post.
The defendant placed Biggs in a chokehold, instructing him to tap out to release the hold. The lawsuit states Biggs was unconscious when the hold was released, and his fall to the ground resulted in “multiple fractures to his jaw, a deep laceration to his chin requiring surgery, and irreparable damage to at least a dozen teeth requiring extraction, root canals, and additional invasive dental treatments.”
The defendant was allowed to play in that week’s game after a team meeting.
“Our lawsuit alleges that the Delaware State University and its staff failed in their responsibility to adequately supervise these student athletes and failed to properly discipline violent behaviors,” Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Georgia Pham, Biggs’ representation, said in a statement to On3. “By dismissing violent assaults as mere ‘horseplay,’ the University and coach DeSean Jackson allegedly fostered a toxic culture of bullying and hazing in the locker room.”
Jackson took to social media to make a statement, saying that “I take the safety, well-being, and development of every student-athlete in the Delaware State University football program seriously. I have never fostered or encouraged hazing, bullying, or any violent environment, and that has never been the culture I have worked to build. Because this matter is the subject to pending litigation, I will not comment further. My focus has always been on creating a positive, respectful place for student athletes to train, compete, grow, and pursue their college dreams.”
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