An ex-Eagles captain’s lawsuit over a career-ending knee injury will now be decided by a Philadelphia jury

Philadelphia will know the outcome of the long-awaited Super Bowl game Sunday night, but in the civil jury trial of former Eagles captain Chris Maragos — who is suing his doctors for “medical negligence” over a 2017 career-ending knee injury — the results will take a bit more patience.

After nearly two weeks of testimony and over a dozen witnesses in a Philadelphia City Hall courtroom, Common Pleas Judge Charles J. Cunningham III is expected to turn the case over to the jury Monday to begin deliberations.

» READ MORE: A former Eagles captain is suing his doctors in Philly court over a career-ending knee injury

Here is what you should know about the lawsuit, trial, and key players.

Maragos, 36, is a former All-Pro special-teamer who was with the Eagles for four seasons.

He retired in 2019 due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 6 of what was a historic Super Bowl season for the Eagles. That injury and recovery are at the center of the lawsuit currently before a jury in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Maragos began his NFL career in 2010 with the San Francisco 49ers, played several seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, and came to Philadelphia in 2014. In 2017, he was selected as an Eagles team captain. He retired with two Super Bowl rings: one from 2014 with the Seahawks and one from 2018 with the Eagles.

» READ MORE: Former Eagle Chris Maragos retires from football

It depends who you ask.

Maragos was injured during a punt return in an October 2017 game against the Carolina Panthers. An MRI the next day showed a torn posterior cruciate ligament, or PCL. The imaging also showed other injuries to structures in his knee.

What those injuries entailed, and how they were treated, is at the center of the trial.

» READ MORE: Ex-Eagles captain Chris Maragos is suing his doctors in Philly court. Here are the types of knee injuries tackled in the trial.

Both sides have sparred over Maragos’ meniscus — a cartilage layer in the knee that operates as a shock absorber.

In the year following his injury, Maragos’ meniscus moved out of place. Whether that had anything to do with an untreated tear in the root of his meniscus, and the extent of the tear, were central to lawyers’ arguments.

Maragos is suing acclaimed Pittsburgh-based sports orthopedic surgeon James Bradley, who reconstructed his PCL a month after the injury. He is also suing Rothman Orthopaedics Institute, whose physicians serve as the Eagles’ orthopedic doctors and oversaw Maragos’ knee surgery rehabilitation.

Bradley — who has operated on the knees of high-profile NFL players, including ex-Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in 2016 and then-Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz in 2017 — has been the Steelers’ team doctor for more than 30 years, and was inducted into the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s hall of fame.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleges the special-teamer’s doctor neglected to address the injured meniscus when he operated on the torn PCL — purportedly prematurely ending Maragos’ career.

Further, Maragos’ legal team alleges the doctors involved in his rehab practiced “medical negligence” by allowing Maragos to advance in his recovery — including running on land — causing further damage to his knee. A year after the injury, the arthritis in Maragos’ knee had significantly progressed, and his meniscus issues worsened. Maragos’ lawyers argued the doctors continuously ignored those developments.

Despite surgery, rehabilitation, and platelet-rich plasma injections, Maragos never returned to the NFL field, and was sidelined during the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. He was examined by half a dozen surgeons. Only one recommended surgery, and operated on Maragos in December 2018.

And, Maragos’ attorneys say, the player was not properly advised that his rehabilitation could cause further harm — a claim the defense has disputed through signed doctor’s notes.

Since 2017, Maragos has had two more surgeries, is still in pain, walks with a limp, and is looking into a knee replacement, his attorneys have said. In court, he testified that daily activities, including going on walks and playing with his three children, are difficult.

“These people were all asleep,” Maragos’ attorney, Dion Rassias, told the jury, motioning to Bradley and Rothman’s lawyers. ”They lost it, they were not paying attention to this man.”

Attorneys for Bradley and Rothman argue that they were aware of Maragos’ damaged meniscus, but that surgery on the “stable” cartilage would have made his knee worse, not better.

Rather, they say, Maragos’ progress was encouraging following his November 2017 surgery, and that he further aggravated his meniscus in a separate event months later, where he twisted his knee in the weight room.

And, they say, at age 31, with Maragos’ bowed legs and arthritis creating more strain on the joint, more surgeries would not have prolonged his career.

“It’s not that Dr. Bradley’s surgery wasn’t a success, it was because Chris couldn’t get to that final pinnacle of his performance,” Bradley’s attorney, John C. Conti, told the jury Friday. “Everyone was trying everything they could think of … to get him back to fulfill his dream.”

Doctors; NFL players; an economist; Maragos’ wife, Serah; and Maragos himself have testified.

Through emotional testimony, Maragos told jurors that he told his trainer and doctors that something was wrong with his knee, but was reassured that if he pressed on, the pain would pass. His trust in his doctors, he believes, ruined his knee and keeps him in pain.

“I’m the only dad who is not out there playing flag football,” he said.

Three other Super Bowl champions also took the stand. Former Eagles quarterback Nick Foles testified he was surprised to see his friend and confidante permanently sidelined. Former Eagles tight end Trey Burton — who threw the famous pass in the Philly Special — and Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks told the jury of their experiences with injury in the NFL, and the hardship they’ve seen Maragos endure.

Jurors also heard from an Illinois-based orthopedic trauma surgeon — who defense attorneys have stressed had little sports medicine experience — who said meniscus surgery was needed, and a radiologist who testified to the “uncommonly fast” degeneration of Maragos’ knee.

Bradley told jurors that given the chance, he wouldn’t have changed a thing. If he thought Maragos’ meniscus needed a repair, he would have repaired it, he said.

“I’m a surgeon, that’s what I do,” he said. “If I had to operate on that I’d operate on that in a heartbeat.”

Two of Maragos’ Eagles doctors defended their actions, and a Houston Texans team physician testified he believed Maragos was treated appropriately.

» READ MORE: Nick Foles and other 2018 Super Bowl champs testify in Philly court for ex-Eagles captain suing his doctors

The lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount, but during the trial, an economist estimated that Maragos would have made an additional $8.7 million had his career lasted through 2022.

If a jury rules in favor of Maragos, that amount should be “the floor,” according to his lawyer. Meanwhile, Rothman attorney Melissa L. Mazur asked the jury to consider if, in the volatile NFL, where injury and salary caps cut careers short, any earnings are “guaranteed.”