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Swift v. Richardson Sports9/6/2005
Defendants appeal from the opinion and award of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Plaintiff Michael Swift was born on 28 February 1974. He graduated from high school and attendedcollege at Austin Peay State, but did not graduate. Although he was not drafted as a professional football player, plaintiff made the San Diego Chargers as a free agent. Plaintiff worked primarily on special teams, but also played cornerback on defense. After playing two seasons with the Chargers, plaintiff signed with the Carolina Panthers and played the same positions. Plaintiff was a member of the Panthers' team in the years 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. On or about 27 July 1999, plaintiff agreed to play for the Panthers in exchange for $325,000.00 which was paid in seventeen equal installments. Although the regular season consists of sixteen games, the season lasts seventeen weeks because every team receives a "bye," or one week in which there is no game.
During the fifteenth game of the regular season, during a special teams play, plaintiff intended to go around the opposing team's players and block an extra point attempt. However, the opposing team bobbled the ball, and the play broke down. When he attempted to get the ball, an opponent knocked plaintiff on the ground, and one or two players fell on the back of plaintiff's leg. This resulted in a broken right fibula and severe tearing in the tendons of his ankle. At the time of the injury, plaintiff was taking all reasonable measures to protect himself from injury given the nature of the game.
On 27 December 1999, the Panthers' team doctor performed surgery and inserted hardware to repair plaintiff's leg and ankle. Plaintiff returned to Tennessee where he underwent physical therapy. The Panthers decided not to renew plaintiff's contractfor the 1999-2000 season because plaintiff was still on crutches and was undergoing physical therapy for his ankle. On or about 9 March 2000, the Panthers' team physician removed some of the hardware from plaintiff's leg. Afterwards, plaintiff returned to Memphis to continue his physical therapy.
Although his ankle had not fully recovered, plaintiff tried out for another team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. In spite of having continued symptoms, plaintiff made the team. However, the Jaguars released plaintiff after the first game because plaintiff's ankle injury impaired his speed and mobility.
Although several other teams asked plaintiff to participate in tryouts, plaintiff was unable to make a team because of the injury he sustained while working for the Panthers. Despite plaintiff's lengthy period of rehabilitation, the injury was career-ending.
Because he could no longer pursue a career in professional football, plaintiff worked a number of other jobs. From late November of 2000 until January of 2001, plaintiff worked as an analyst for Protein Technologies making twelve dollars per hour. From April of 2001 through October of 2002, plaintiff worked for Uniform People as a sales representative. There, he earned an annual salary of $35,000.00. Finally, plaintiff became self- employed in October of 2002. At that time, his anticipated income from selling used computer equipment was $40,000.00 per year. All of these jobs reflected plaintiff's attempt at reaching his wage earning capacity outside of the NFL. In the NFL, a player's salary is based on his contract. In this case, the contract called for $325,000.00 to be paid in seventeen equal payments immediately after each of the sixteen games plus the bye-week during the seventeen-week season. Subsequent to 26 December 1999, the date of the injury, plaintiff had played in the fifteenth game of the season and had earned that check by the
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