A former Eagles captain is suing his doctors in Philly court over a career-ending knee injury
On the witness list: former Eagles Nick Foles, Trey Burton, and Jordan Hicks.
As the five-year anniversary of the Philly Special approaches and the Eagles are heading to another Super Bowl, MVP Nick Foles and former tight end Trey Burton are expected to return to Philadelphia — to testify in court.
Opening arguments began Monday in the civil trial of their onetime teammate — former Eagles safety and special-team ace Chris Maragos — who alleges his NFL career was cut short by a renowned doctor’s “medical negligence” in treating a knee injury that kept him from playing in the 2018 Super Bowl and led to his retirement.
On the witness list for the trial, set to play out in a Philadelphia City Hall courtroom: Foles, Burton, and former Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings.
» READ MORE: Nick Foles and other 2018 Super Bowl champs testify in Philly court for ex-Eagles captain suing his doctors
Maragos, an All-Pro special-teamer who played four seasons with the Eagles, retired in 2019 due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 6 of the historic Super Bowl season. That career-ending injury and recovery are at the crux of the lawsuit.
Months after announcing his retirement from the NFL, Maragos sued his doctors — including Pittsburgh-based orthopedic surgeon James Bradley, well-known for his work with NFL athletes — in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for “negligent acts ... which hastened and contributed to the end of [Maragos’] professional football career.”
Maragos also sued Rothman Orthopaedics Institute, whose doctors serve as Eagles team physicians and who oversaw his rehabilitation. Attorneys for Bradley and Rothman have denied all allegations.
After tearing his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in a 2017 game against the Carolina Panthers, Maragos went to Bradley for repair surgery on the ligament. But lawyers for the former Eagle argue that that surgeon ignored a second injury in Maragos’ knee: a torn meniscus.
Bradley and the Rothman rehab team didn’t address the issue, the lawyers allege, and instead allowed Maragos to advance in his recovery — for example, allowing him to run on dry land — allegedly further damaging his knee.
Because of this, Maragos’ attorneys argue he “suffered severe and permanent injuries, great pain and anguish in both mind and body,” and was stopped from playing professional football, which led to loss of earnings.
“Chris has serious problems for the rest of his life,” his attorney, Dion Rassias, told jurors Monday as Maragos, 36, and his wife sat quietly inside the courtroom. Green banners reading “Go Birds” flapped from light poles outside the courtroom windows.
Before Common Pleas Court Judge Charles J. Cunningham III, Rassias, sporting a Kelly green tie, described Maragos as the “ultimate overachiever” and a “kid who worked like a dog every step of the way. ... Nobody handed him one single thing.”
After the injury, he said, Maragos’ dream is “shattered.”
Attorneys for Bradley and Rothman said that the doctors were well aware of Maragos’ meniscus issue, among others in his knee, but that it would have been irresponsible and more disruptive to perform additional surgeries on the standout safety. Additionally, they argued, Maragos’ meniscus problems intensified in a separate instance months after the PCL surgery, as he twisted his body on a leg-press machine and heard a “click/snap” in the joint and felt pain.
“More surgeries were not going to help him get back to the NFL,” said attorney John C. Conti, representing Bradley. Rather, Conti told the jury, Maragos had a long, eight-year run in the NFL — more than double the average NFL career of 3.3 years — and that, at 31, with Maragos’ arthritis and bowed legs, doctors could not do more to extend his professional career.
The team of doctors wanted Maragos to return to the NFL, said Rothman attorney Melissa L. Mazur, but “unfortunately, he just had a really, really bad injury that he couldn’t come back from.”
Bradley, who cocaptained the Penn State team in the early 1970s, is an acclaimed orthopedic doctor. Last year, he was inducted into the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s hall of fame after serving for more than 30 years as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ team surgeon. He’s performed surgery on the knees of high-profile NFL players, including ex-Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in 2016 and then-Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz in 2017.
Maragos retired in 2019 with two Super Bowl rings — one from the 2013 Seattle Seahawks and one from the 2018 Eagles. He began his NFL career in 2010 with the San Francisco 49ers, played several seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, and came to Philadelphia in 2014.
» READ MORE: Chris Maragos' twisting road to the NFL
After the 2017 knee injury, Maragos never returned to NFL turf. He spent the 2018-19 season on the Eagles’ physically unable to perform list before being released during the offseason.
Maragos was not the only Eagles player sidelined with injuries in the 2018-19 season. That year, the team saw 28 players miss 221 games with injuries — a 57% increase in players lost to injury in the regular season — and an ensuing medical staff shake-up.
» READ MORE: After injury-marred 2018 season, Eagles shake up medical staff once again
During that time, with his former teammates and friends Hicks and Burton, Maragos launched TopTier Wealth Management, a firm focused on helping NFL players preserve and grow the earnings from their careers.
The trial is expected to last around two weeks.