The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are back in the news, but not for a good reason. A former player is suing the school, alleging that the university concealed results from an MRI and instructed him to keep playing while he was risking a spinal cord injury.
Yikes. And yes, it gets worse.
The Indianapolis Star had the big scoop.
The player filing the lawsuit is former Fighting Irish linebacker Douglas Randolph. Online records show the case was filed Sept. 1 in St. Joseph County (Indiana) Circuit Court. It names several key university figures in the suit. Those names include: Notre Dame, head coach Brian Kelly, head football athletic trainer Rob Hunt, and several doctors.
We recently spoke about Brian Kelly and how iffy he happens to be here at ClutchPoints. While this is certainly something no one should be quick to jump to conclusions on, as everyone deserves a fair shake in the judicial process, this is yet another bad look for the Irish head coach.
The lawsuit claims that Notre Dame did not provide results of an MRI that Randolph underwent after experiencing “numbness in his upper extremities” stemming from a hit in a practice drill in September 2015.
Again … yikes.
If true, this is a big deal, as Randolph played the entire 2015 season and later was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. He also might have permanent nerve damage in his neck, according to the lawsuit.
This is obviously worth monitoring as it plays out. For what it is worth, Paul Browne, Notre Dame's vice president for public affairs and communications, said in a statement Tuesday night that the university had not been served in any lawsuit from Randolph and therefore cannot comment.
Expect more from this situation sooner rather than later.
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