Former WR Givens filed lawsuit against Titans for keeping knee problem secret

Former Tennessee Titans wide receiver David Givens filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the team, claiming that the team failed to tell him about a defect in his knee that led to an injury and eventually ended his career.

Givens said in the lawsuit that a doctor discovered a defect in his knee, which may need surgery at some point and may cause him to be unable to make a full 16-game season, during a physical around the time his contract was being negotiated in March 2006. However, the team officials did not tell Givens about the defect and urged him to keep playing after he put on giants jersey.

“The decision was made by the Titans management, coaching and medical staffs to risk serious injury and aggravation to a pre-existing condition without so much as consulting or discussing that situation with David Givens,” the lawsuit said.

The receiver signed a five-year, $24 million deal with an $8 million signing bonus in March 2006 with the Titans. He was injured on the second play of the fourth quarter of a 27-26 loss to Baltimore in November of 2006. Givens tore his anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus and needed bone plugs inserted to repair a broken bone in the knee. He also needed another surgery in 2007 to clean up meniscus and shave down some of the bone. And by so far, he still undergoing rehabilitation.