Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Lawrence Tynes is suing the team, claiming unsanitary conditions at Bucs' facilities led to a MRSA infection that he says ended his career.
In a lawsuit filed in Broward County Circuit Court Monday, Tynes claimed the team "failed to disclose and actively concealed ongoing incidents of infection" among other people at the facility.
Tynes, 36, hasn't played football since contracting the antibiotic-resistant staph infection during the preseason of 2013. The team put him on the non-football injury list and paid him his full salary of $905,000 that year before releasing him in March 2014. Tynes never played a down for the Bucs, with his last on-field action coming with the New York Giants in 2012.
The NFL Network's Albert Breer tweeted that Tynes' lawsuit claims the situation "ended his career and cost him over $20 million in expected future earnings." In addition to those expected earnings, the suit seeks damages "in excess of $15,000.00, exclusive of costs and attorneys' fees."
The Tampa Bay Times reported that the lawsuit alleges that former Bucs trainer Todd Toriscelli contracted MRSA before Tynes and "admitted to close friends" that his infection later caused Tynes'.
Two other Bucs' players, Carl Nicks and Johnthan Banks, also contracted MRSA. Nicks, who also has not played since being infected, reportedly reached a $3 million settlement with the Bucs, while Banks apparently recovered to the point he started 14 games last season.
The Bucs declined comment, saying the team doesn't talk about pending litigation.
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