Eric Jackson realizes a lot of people aren’t taking him seriously at the moment.
But he’s very serious about his $100-million lawsuit against the NFL over the “severe emotional distress and trauma” he says he suffered when former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders unexpectedly dropped to the fifth round of last month’s draft.
“I was a consumer of the NFL product,” Jackson said Friday in a phone interview. “And I am protected under U.S. law as a consumer.”
Jackson, a 55-year-old resident of Lawrenceville, Ga., who runs his own logistics company, is a big NFL fan who attends games and has purchased NFL Sunday Ticket to watch games on TV. He also is a huge fan of the Buffaloes and of Sanders, who was considered by some to be a potential first round pick but was bypassed until the Cleveland Browns claimed him at No. 144 overall.
Jackson said Sanders’ drop in the draft “personally affected” him.
“I was triggered,” he said. “I have some previous conditions that were triggered. Anger. I was frustrated. I was emotionally disturbed given the fact that you had a guy that was projected to go first round and it was someone that you kind of associate yourself with — like I said [in the lawsuit], I attended some of the games of Colorado, I watched every game on television and I consume their media daily. And that would establish my personal connection to the team and to the players on the team.
“And to see how they were personally [treated during] the draft process … it was just debilitating to the point to where I had to address it in one of my therapy sessions following the draft.”
Jackson said the experience gave him a “feeling of helplessness,” until he realized he might actually be able to do something about it.
In a civil lawsuit filed May 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Jackson alleged the NFL had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act for collusion and possibly violated the Civil Rights Act for race discrimination, as well as consumer protection laws for “misrepresenting the nature of the drafting process and the qualifications of players.”
Jackson filed as a John Doe but revealed his identity in court documents by indicating he represents himself. While he has no formal legal background, Jackson said he is familiar with the law through “self-study” and represented himself previously.
Last week, USC professor of law Clare Pastore told The Times that the lawsuit is “ridiculous” and characterized the $100 million in damages it’s seeking as “absurd.”
“A supposed harm someone suffers in combination with some vast number of other people is not something that, that one person has standing to contest,” she said.
Jackson said Pastore and others who have reacted similarly are missing the point.
“A person sees that headline, ‘A Shedeur Sanders fan is filing a lawsuit,’ and it automatically goes to a frivolous category because you cannot sue on behalf of someone else,” Jackson said. “But my cause of action is not as a fan. My cause of action is against the NFL as a consumer of their product, and they colluded to prevent an individual from being drafted. I mean, it’s a novel interpretation of the law, but it would apply.”
He added in a text message: “Regarding the potential for a race discrimination claim, while I acknowledge the complexities involved, I believe that the principle of disparate impact can provide a viable legal theory. The systemic issues within the NFL regarding race and opportunity cannot be overlooked, and I am confident that we can present evidence to support our claims. The historical context and ongoing disparities in the league are critical to understanding the broader implications of this case.”
Jackson chose the amount of $100 million “because that’s what the law allows,” he said, but if a judge or jury determines “that the request for reward is too high, then they will adjust it to, I guess, compensate the amount of harm that was done.”
That sum might seem laughable to some, but Jackson insists he’s not kidding around.
“This is not an intentional joke,” Jackson said. “This is not a way of getting attention [for myself]. … It’s to get the NFL’s attention and let them know that they’ve been operating in this manner for years. Shedeur is not the first person this has happened to. They have a history of doing this to players.”
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