Luda34

Browns, Bentley reach settlement on lawsuit

NFL Headlines
CLEVELAND (AP) Former Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley has settled his lawsuit against the Cleveland Browns, the team he signed with before sustaining a career-ending knee injury that was complicated by a staph infection.

Bentley agreed to an out-of-court settlement after meeting with Browns owner Randy Lerner. Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis confirmed Wednesday that the sides have reached a confidential agreement.

Bentley sued the Browns in July 2010, claiming the team convinced him to rehab his knee at their training complex without telling him about other players who had contracted staph infections there.

Bentley released a statement saying he was relieved to have the matter resolved.

"These last six years have been the most trying time of my life, but now that it is over I can honestly say I am a better man for having gone through it," he said. "Randy Lerner and I - two men born and raised in Cleveland - were able to sit down face-to-face back in June and come to an agreement that was fair."

Bentley, who previously played for New Orleans, signed a six-year, $36 million free agent contract with the club in 2006. It was a homecoming for the former Ohio State star and standout from Cleveland's Saint Ignatius High. However, Bentley never played a single down for the Browns after tearing up his left knee on the first full-contact play of training camp.

He then attracted the staph infection while doing his rehabilitation. Bentley said his infection became so severe that doctors considered amputating his leg.

The Browns had several players contract staph from 2003-08. The team has had no known cases in the past few years.

Former wide receiver Joe Jurevicius also sued the Browns over a staph infection and reached an undisclosed settlement in 2010.

jeanpierre

LeCharles, bet your glad you went to Cleveland. @$$hat

QBREES9

Good luck LeCharles

SmashMouth

Saw that ... sad story for LeCharles and many other newly signed Browns. Best of Luck to him as well.

Luda34

Could have been one of the good ones.

Rugby Saint II

At least he has a nest egg and two legs.

Halo

Staph infection, at an NFL facility? That's ridiculous.... nasty man.

Crusader

He was one of the good ones, just never got enough time to become one of the great ones.

Still love his quote:

”When you take a man, a grown man, put your hands in the middle of his chest and bend him back to a point that you hear him scream, when he starts screaming like a little girl, you put his head in the dirt. And then you look up and you see Deuce, all you see is McALLISTER 26, stiff-arming somebody 20 yards down the field and breaking a 40-yard run and scoring. Then you get up and you just look at (the blocked defender), and you know damn well when he gets to the sideline, he’s getting cussed out.
And you know his mama, his wife and his kids were watching him on that play, and you just manhandled him.
That’s the best feeling.”

-- center LeCharles Bentley

W.T. Sherman is my favorite General. After all he did order Atlanta to be burned to the ground.

AlaskaSaints

I got staph at Pat O's with SkyMike and Budsdrinker.

Who do I sue?

Or do I just thank my lucky stars that it was not MRSA?

Also got bed bugs that weekend, but that's a different story...

Alaska

Cruize

Be coached by Haslett or go home and get paid? It really wasn't a tough choice.