The Indianapolis Colts could be in deep trouble.
No, we aren’t talking about their Week 10 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Indianapolis recently ruled quarterback Andrew Luck out for the 2017 season with lingering issues from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.
The Colts have not only seemingly botched the handling of Luck’s injury, but have possibly left themselves vulnerable to a fraud lawsuit from season ticket holders, according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio.
Florio outlined in a story Thursday that the Colts have left themselves susceptible to a lawsuit alleging that they knowingly disseminated false information that Luck would play in 2017 in order to sell ticket packages.
While no such lawsuit has been filed yet, Florio notes that a January tweet from owner Jim Irsay would be at the crux of the case.
Andrew recovering from successful outpatient surgery to fix right shoulder injury that had lingered since 2015. Will be ready for season!
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) January 19, 2017
That last line, Florio notes, could show that Irsay, who likely had different information from doctors, tweeted this out at a time when people were deciding whether or not to purchase a season-ticket package for the 2017 season.
Florio also outlines that if an ambitious lawyer were to take up the case, Luck also could be called to testify about a text message he allegedly sent that said, “I’m nowhere near ready. They’re putting me out here to sell tickets,” according to Dan Dakich of 1070 The Fan.
Dakich claims Luck sent the text to someone and it was shown to a member of the media. Colts general manager Chris Ballard went on Dakich’s show and refuted the idea that Luck sent that text, and also said Irsay was being “an eternal optimist” when he sent the January tweet.
It certainly will be interesting to see if any lawyer or season ticket holder tries to take the Colts to court over this.
