Ex-U of L football player's suit goes to trial

Beaten so badly, allegedly by two teammates, in 2010 that he almost lost an eye, University of Louisville linebacker Patrick Grant says then-coach Charlie Strong promised to continue his scholarship through graduate school when he was forced to quit the team.

But in a lawsuit scheduled to go to trial Tuesday in Jefferson Circuit Court, Grant says the coach instead eventually yanked the scholarship so he could sign a new player.

In an interview, Grant's lawyer, Scott Zoppoth, said Strong and the university breached their promise — and basic decency — in reneging on the offer. "This is a case of a promise made and a promise broken," Zoppoth said.

But the attorney for Strong, Craig Dilger, says in court pleadings that there was no such pledge and that Grant's case is "meritless."

Records gathered in the suit show that Grant, who has returned to his home in South Florida, has no witnesses or documentation to support his claim.

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And in a deposition, Strong, who is expected to testify in the three-day trial — said that once Grant finished his undergraduate degree in December 2011 — and was no longer playing — the university's obligation to him was over.

"I mean, why would you give a kid five years if he isn't playing?" Strong said. "I have 85 scholarships. What if every kid told me when he graduated, 'I want to continue to go to school, Coach?' How would I fill up my other class?"

U of L sports information director Kenny Klein said the university doesn't comment on pending litigation and Strong, who left U of L for Texas in 2014 after four seasons, had no comment, according to a spokesman for the Longhorns.

Grant is seeking compensatory damages and an injunction restoring his scholarship. He was allegedly assaulted Oct. 4, 2010, by twin brothers Isaac and Jacob Geffrad, who were kicked off the team but not charged by a grand jury.

Grant's suit was reported nationally by ESPN and other news outlets because of his claim that that a trainer urged him to lie about the cause of his injury, so the program could avoid bad publicity.

Grant said in a deposition that either chief football trainer Kyle Johnston or an assistant, Sam Zuege, told him to say: "You didn't get punched. You fell and hit the dresser."

Johnston said in an email last week that neither he nor Zuege would comment, but Strong said in his deposition that the allegation was implausible. Too many players knew what happened, and Strong immediately reported it to police.

Originally signed in 2007 as a defensive lineman, the 6-foot-4, 236-pound Grant was red-shirted as a freshman because of a knee injury. In his fourth year at the school, in 2010, he played in a few games on special teams before he was punched in the eye during the locker room fight, causing injuries that required two rounds of surgery.

He was unable to play the rest of the season but medically cleared to report for camp in the summer of 2011. But he suffered a concussion in practice, and decided to leave the team for reasons that are disputed in the lawsuit.

Grant says it was in part due to his eye injury; he said he was seeing "floaters" — or spots — in his vision and concerned it might get worse if he continued playing. Strong said he never mentioned his vision problems. "He quit the team," Strong said.

They also offered conflicting accounts of what happened next.

Grant says Strong promised to continue his scholarship — not only through the spring semester of 2012 — but through the following academic year, as he pursued a graduate degree in criminal justice.

That would have meant Grant would be on scholarship for six years; he said he and Strong agreed he would earn the additional year by running for the track team.

But Strong said he made no such promise. He said graduate students may continue on scholarship only if they are playing on the football team.

On Jan. 4, 2012, Strong told Grant in a phone call that his scholarship was over.

"In response to Patrick's protests that the cancellation broke the agreements and promises on which Patrick relied," Zoppoth wrote in the suit, "Coach Strong simply ended the phone call and hung up the phone."

The university later offered to extend Grant's grants through the spring 2012 semester after all, in a deal worth $7,510, for room, board and tuition. But Grant turned down the settlement offer, saying it wasn't what he was promised.

"I felt like nobody should send their kid to school to get jumped," he said. "Somebody has to be held accountable for this."

NCAA rules allow a student-athlete a sixth year of eligibility but only if the school seeks a waiver by demonstrating that the player lost two years of competition because of illness or injury, NCAA spokeswoman Michelle Hosick said.

Strong said he had no obligation to help Grant once he graduated.

"It's like any other kid who's got a degree," Strong said. "It's time to go get in the work world. I am going to need your scholarship because you're done."

"Don't you think this is an unusual circumstance with one of your players being brutally beaten by two others?" Zoppoth asked him. "Don't you think an exception should be made for Mr. Grant?"

"No," Strong said. "No exceptions."

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189