The Cleveland Browns have taken another major step toward breaking from a recent history full of disappointment and embarrassment.
They have settled the staph-infection lawsuit filed by receiver Joe Jurevicius.
Per the Associated Press (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer), the Browns and the Cleveland Clinic struck a confidential deal with Jurevicius, a Cleveland-area native (and thus a far more sympathetic plaintiff) who joined his hometown team in 2006. In January 2008, he became the sixth Browns player in five years who contracted a staph infection. He thereafter underwent six medical procedures aimed at fixing the problem.
He has never returned to action.
In March 2010, Jurevicius scored a major victory, when a federal judge sent the case back to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, finding that the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the players’ union did not overcome most of Jurevicius’ key claims.
Our take at the time was this: “Best bet for the Browns? Settle the case quickly and quietly and move on.”
Three months later, they’ve done just that. And now the Browns can continue to attempt to map out a more positive future for a franchise that has struggled ever since returning to the league in 1999.
