Last month, 49ers running back Reggie Bush suffered a serious knee injury after slipping on the concrete that inexplicably surrounded the playing surface at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. He quickly hired a lawyer with the intention of filing lawsuit, but Bush has not yet done so.
“Strongly considering it,” Bush said Thursday, via the Associated Press.
Bush tore the meniscus in his knee, had surgery, and landed on injured reserve. He plans to play in 2016.
“They covered it up,” Bush said. “They covered up the concrete. I would appreciate it if they did it before, but it is what it is. There’s nothing I can do about it now.”
Bush’s efforts to return to the field actually will limit the total financial exposure of any and all defendants deemed responsible for his injuries. If he plays next year and earn a football salary, the damages to which he’d be entitled for the injury would decrease.
Still, he’s entitled to fair compensation. Even though NFL players constantly assume the risk of serious injury when they play, that doesn’t justify exposing them to additional hazards, like an unnecessarily slick surface around the playing field, in the tunnel leading to the playing field, in the locker room, in the parking lot, or anywhere else. The hazard in St. Louis was obvious and, for Bush, unavoidable.
Really, he shouldn’t have to sue for damages. The folks responsible for the Edward Jones Dome and their insurance carriers should be gladly offering to make amends with Bush for the harm he suffered.