Chris Maragos Lawsuit: $43.5M Verdict, Appeal, and Fallout

The Chris Maragos lawsuit ended in a $43.5 million medical malpractice verdict in February 2023, after a Philadelphia jury found that the former Eagles special teams captain’s doctors mishandled a knee injury he suffered during the 2017 NFL season and ended his career. Liability was split between Pittsburgh orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Bradley and the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, which oversaw his rehabilitation as the Eagles’ team physicians. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the verdict on August 30, 2024, and the fallout led Rothman to end its longstanding partnership with the Eagles.

The Injury That Started It

Maragos hyperextended his right knee in an October 12, 2017, game against the Carolina Panthers after colliding with a teammate. An MRI the following day revealed a complex tear of the posterior root of his medial meniscus with mild extrusion, a complete tear of his posterior cruciate ligament, and a partial tear of his lateral collateral ligament.¹

On November 8, 2017, Dr. Bradley performed a PCL reconstruction. He examined the meniscal root tear during the surgery, concluded it was “stable,” and did not repair it. Rehabilitation was then run by physicians at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, the Eagles’ team medical practice. Despite Maragos reporting persistent pain, swelling, and a pinching sensation, the Rothman doctors advanced him through a weight-bearing protocol that included running on dry land. MRIs in May, July, and October 2018 showed the meniscus extrusion growing from 4 millimeters to 6 millimeters or more, with worsening bone bruising and cartilage degeneration.¹

In December 2018, Maragos sought a second opinion from knee specialist Dr. Robert LaPrade, who found that the PCL reconstruction had failed and that Maragos’s “knee was destroyed.” LaPrade performed an osteotomy and, in July 2019, a revision PCL reconstruction using an Achilles tendon graft.¹ By the time of trial, Maragos had undergone additional surgeries and was exploring a total knee replacement.² The Eagles released him in February 2019, and he retired that July.³

What Maragos Alleged

Maragos filed suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, case number 191100972, against Dr. Bradley, his practice UPMC Community Medicine, Inc., and Reconstructive Orthopaedic Associates II, P.C., which operates as Rothman Orthopaedic Institute. The complaint named several Rothman physicians, including Drs. Peter DeLuca, Christopher Dodson, Paul Marchetto, and Matthew Pepe, and proceeded against Rothman on a vicarious liability theory.¹

Maragos’s expert, Dr. Matthew Lawrence Jimenez, testified that Bradley deviated from the standard of care by not repairing the torn meniscal root during the initial surgery. The 4-millimeter extrusion on the pre-operative MRI, Jimenez said, showed the root was unstable. Leaving it unaddressed allowed the meniscus to shift outward, accelerating cartilage damage under the stress of rehab. Jimenez also testified that the Rothman physicians were grossly negligent for pushing Maragos through aggressive weight-bearing exercises while his knee deteriorated, and for failing to warn him of the severity of his meniscal injury or restrict his activity until the root could be addressed.¹

The defense argued that the meniscus tear was stable and that surgical repair would have done more harm than good. Defense counsel also claimed that later meniscus damage came from a separate weight room incident months after surgery, not from rehab.² Rothman’s lawyers argued their physicians faced a “no-win situation,” having to choose between performing surgery that contradicted the lead surgeon’s assessment or following his guidance and continuing rehabilitation.⁴

The Trial and Altered Records Issue

The case went to trial before Judge Charles J. Cunningham III in late January 2023 and lasted about two weeks. Jurors reviewed medical charts, MRIs, a video of the surgery, and an intraoperative photograph of Maragos’s knee.² Former Eagles teammates Jordan Hicks, Trey Burton, and Nick Foles testified in support of Maragos’s case.⁵

A major thread at trial was the allegation that medical records had been altered. Maragos’s team pointed to discrepancies between Dr. Dodson’s “draft notes” and the finalized “Eagles Training Room” notes, arguing that Rothman maintained two separate charts and that the official version omitted critical information about Maragos’s condition. Judge Cunningham allowed a jury instruction on the alteration of medical records under Pennsylvania’s MCARE Act, permitting jurors to draw an adverse inference against the defendants.¹

The $43.5 Million Verdict

On February 13, 2023, the jury awarded Maragos $43.5 million. Liability was allocated 67% to Dr. Bradley and UPMC Community Medicine, or $29.2 million, and 33% to Rothman, or $14.3 million.⁶⁷

An economist testified that Maragos would have earned an additional $8.7 million had his career continued through 2022, a figure his attorneys called the “floor” for damages.⁸ The remainder of the award reflected non-economic damages for pain and suffering.⁹

The Appeal

Rothman filed post-trial motions on February 23, 2023, seeking to overturn the verdict, order a new trial, or reduce damages. Judge Cunningham denied all of them. Rothman then appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, arguing that Maragos had not proved any specific Rothman physician breached the standard of care, that the adverse inference instruction on altered records was improper, that the court wrongly excluded a defense witness named Nicole Coleman, and that the damages were excessive and inflamed by “incendiary” cover-up claims.¹

On August 30, 2024, Superior Court President Judge Anne E. Lazarus issued a memorandum opinion affirming the trial court on every point. The court found that expert testimony adequately supported the conclusion that Rothman doctors violated the standard of care by encouraging rehab on an unrepaired, unstable meniscus. It held that the record-alteration instruction was proper given “substantive and material differences” between the draft and final notes. It upheld the exclusion of Coleman, who had been identified on the eve of jury selection. And it rejected the excessiveness argument, noting that because Maragos was a “highly esteemed and paid NFL player,” projected future earnings and non-economic damages were inherently hard to quantify.¹⁴

The appellate court also observed that Rothman’s own lawyers had stipulated to the agency theory at trial and agreed to the wording of a verdict slip that did not name individual physicians, which undercut the appeal’s argument that Maragos failed to identify which doctor was at fault.¹ Court records showed no separate appeal for Dr. Bradley; he and his practice reached a pro rata settlement with Maragos.⁴

The trial court also granted Maragos delay damages of $1,408,658.12 under Pennsylvania court rules, bringing Rothman’s total liability to $15,763,658.12.¹ Rothman president Alexander Vaccaro said the practice carries a “low insurance policy,” meaning all partners are personally responsible for a portion of the judgment. As of September 2024, Rothman said its legal team was “carefully reviewing the ruling” and “considering our next step.”⁴

Fallout for Rothman and the Eagles

In June 2024, before the appeal was decided, Rothman ended its multi-decade partnership as the Eagles’ official team physicians. A spokesperson said the decision “follows the jury verdict related to Christopher Maragos’ malpractice claim” and that “the potential future liability remains too high.”¹⁰¹¹ The contract formally expired on June 6, 2024, with both sides agreeing to ensure uninterrupted care for players during the transition.

The Eagles turned to Dr. Peter DeLuca, previously the team’s head physician from 1997 through 2018, to fill the head orthopedic role for the 2024 season. Dr. Arsh Dhanota remained the Eagles’ chief medical officer, a position he has held since 2019.¹²

Why the Case Matters for Team Doctors

Maragos’s attorney Dion Rassias said after the verdict: “This case and this jury may have changed the course of history by now forcing these team doctors and trainers to stop worrying about when a player might return to play and start thinking about the next 50 years of a player’s life.”⁵

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons published a 2023 report analyzing the case’s “possible chilling effect on team physicians,” warning that awards of this size could deter top surgeons from treating professional athletes.⁹ The concern was sharpened by a similar result months earlier: in September 2022, a Manhattan jury awarded former New York Giants running back Michael Cox $28.5 million over a botched ankle surgery.¹³ A later study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine estimated that team physicians would need malpractice coverage of $52.6 million to protect 95% of NFL players, far above standard policies.¹⁴ Dr. Scott Rodeo, head team physician for the New York Giants, said the visibility and liability of treating elite athletes may no longer be worth the trade-offs for some physicians.

1
Pennsylvania Superior Court. Maragos v. Bradley, No. 191100972
2
Philadelphia Inquirer. Chris Maragos Eagles Lawsuit Verdict Knee Injury Trial
3
NFL.com. Ex-Eagles Special-Teams Captain Chris Maragos Retires
4
Philadelphia Inquirer. Rothman Institute Philadelphia Eagles Chris Maragos Payment
5
National Center for Biotechnology Information. Medical Malpractice and Professional Athletes
6
Sportico. NFL Vet Wins $43.5 Million in Malpractice Suit Over Knee Injury
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6abc. Chris Maragos Philadelphia Eagles Lawsuit Orthopedic Surgeon James Bradley
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Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Eagles Chris Maragos Medical Malpractice Lawsuit PCL Injury Jury
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AAOS. The Maragos Verdict and Its Possible Chilling Effect on Team Physicians
10
SI.com. Rothman Orthopaedic Ends Relationship With Eagles Over Chris Maragos Damages
11
Becker’s Spine Review. Rothman Orthopaedic Institute Ends Relationship With Philadelphia Eagles
12
NJ.com. Eagles Look to Their Past to Fill Head Team Orthopedic Doctor Role
13
Insurance Journal. Ex-NFL Running Back Wins $28.5M NY Med Mal Verdict
14
SAGE Journals. Medicolegal Liability Coverage for Team Physicians