FILE PHOTO - Nov 24, 2018; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Willie Taggart after the game against the Florida Gators at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports Another football player has sued the University of Oregon, former football coach Willie Taggart, the school’s former strength coach and the NCAA, alleging he suffered long-term effects from offseason workouts in 2017. Sam Poutasi, an offensive lineman who played as a redshirt sophomore in 2018, said the workouts caused him to be diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis and subsequently hospitalized. He is seeking $5 million in damages for what he termed “physical and emotional pain, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and diminishment of avocational abilities, in the past, present, and future.” Earlier in the week, former Oregon offensive lineman Doug Brenner filed an $11.5 million suit for negligence against the university, Taggart, former strength coach Irele Oderinde and the NCAA. Both Brenner and Poutasi contend the university was negligent in its failure to regulate, supervise or prohibit the workouts; that Taggart and Oderinde were negligent in conducting those workouts; and that the NCAA has failed in its oversight of coaches at NCAA schools. Taggart is now the head coach at Florida State, where Oderinde is on his staff. The lawsuit states Poutasi was in the hospital for a week in January 2017 and suffered from “severely swollen arms, muscle aches and pains, loss of use of arms, elevated creatinine kinase levels caused by AER, discolored urine and damage to kidneys.” At the time, The Oregonian reported that multiple sources compared the workouts to military basic training. A third player, tight end Cam McCormick, also was hospitalized in January 2017. --Field Level Media<doc-sep>Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Sam Poutasi filed a $5 million negligence lawsuit against the NCAA, the University of Oregon, former Ducks head coach Willie Taggart and former Ducks strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde in relation to a January 2017 offseason workout that led to him spending a week in the hospital. On Friday, James Crepea of The Oregonian reported Poutasi is seeking damages for "physical and emotional pain, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and diminishment of avocational abilities, in the past, present, and future" after he suffered rhabdomyolysis. Former Ducks offensive lineman Doug Brenner filed a similar lawsuit Wednesday, seeking $11.5 million in damages from the same "strenuous" workouts. The lawsuits allege players were not allowed to drink water during the first day of workouts and the sessions were likened to basic military training, per Crepea. Brenner told Fox 12 Oregon his body "gave out" during the final day but added that he felt the pressure to perform because the staff was "trying to see who was going to quit." "My pee was black. Looked like coffee. My arms were so big and swollen, I couldn't take my own shirt off," Brenner said. "I couldn't even reach my face to eat." Video Play Button Videos you might like He added: "My body is ruined. My kidneys are damaged. My life might be shorter because of this." Crepea provided a statement Oregon issued in response to both lawsuits: "The well-being and safety of our students are our top priorities at the University of Oregon. We have been advised of the litigation filed [Thursday], but have not been served a copy of the complaint, at which point we will respond appropriately in the court proceedings. In light of the pending litigation, we don't have any additional comment at this time." Taggart currently serves as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles. Oderinde is also at FSU as the team's head strength and conditioning coach.<doc-sep>A second Oregon football player is suing the university, the NCAA and former Ducks coach Willie Taggart over a series of January 2017 workouts that sent three players to the hospital. Oregon offensive lineman Sam Poutasi filed suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday, with The Oregonian reporting that Poutasi is seeking $5 million in damages. The details of Poutasi's claim are similar to those of former Ducks offensive lineman Doug Brenner, who on Wednesday filed an $11.5 million suit against the same parties, along with ex-Oregon strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde. Both players are seeking liability over a January 2017 workout that led them and tight end Cam McCormick to suffer from rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which skeletal muscle tissue is rapidly broken down and products of that process are released into the bloodstream. According to the Brenner lawsuit, which was filed in circuit court in the state of Oregon, "the coaches imposed a physically impossible exercise regimen of squats and told the student athletes that the workout 'would demonstrate who wanted to be on the team.'" "Nothing would make me happier than to have this case save other football players from serious injury," Brenner said in a statement. Oderinde, who was hired by Taggart at Florida State for the same position, was suspended by Oregon in 2017 for a month without pay after the three players were hospitalized. The Brenner lawsuit states that Oderinde was not certified to be a strength and conditioning coach at Oregon. All three players were eventually able to rejoin the team, and there were conflicting reports about the severity of the workouts. Oregon has issued a statement acknowledging the Brenner lawsuit while declining to comment further. The school referred to the previous statement in response to the Poutasi claim. Taggart still has not responded to requests for comment from ESPN.<doc-sep>Willie Taggart A second Oregon football has filed a lawsuit against the University of Oregon, former head football coach Willie Taggart and former strength coach Irele Oderinde over a workout that put three players in the hospital in January of 2017. Redshirt sophomore lineman Sam Poutasi filled the suit on Friday according to the Daily Emerald. Poutasi was one of three players that was hospitalized after a "military style workout" that sent Doug Brenner, Poutasi, and Cameron McCormick to a local hospital for rhabdomyolysis. Earlier this week, former lineman Doug Brenner was the first of the three players to file lawsuit against the University of Oregon, the NCAA and former Oregon head coach Willie Taggart for $11.5 million dollars. Former Oregon lineman Doug Brenner filed the suit in Multnomah County court on Wednesday according to the Oregonian. The third player, tight end Cameron McCormick has yet to file a lawsuit over the workouts. In a statement issued following Brenner's lawsuit on Wednesday, the university says that they have not yet been served a copy of the complaint "The well-being and safety of our students are our top priorities at the University of Oregon. We have been advised of the litigation filed today but have not been served a copy of the complaint, at which point we will respond appropriately in the court proceedings. In light of the pending litigation, we don’t have any additional comment at this time." At the time of the incident, Taggart issued this response to 247Sports. “I have visited with the three young men involved in the incidents in the past few days and I have been in constant contact with their families, offering my sincere apologies. As the head football coach, I hold myself responsible for all of our football-related activities and the safety of our students must come first. I have addressed the issue with our strength and conditioning staff, and I fully support the actions taken today by the university. I want to thank our medical staff and doctors for caring for all of our young men, and I want to apologize to the university, our students, alumni and fans.” Former strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde was suspended without pay for one month and ordered to no longer report to Willie Taggart but instead to Andrew Murray, then director of performance and sports science. Oderinde is currently the head strength and conditioning coach for Florida State football under Taggart.<doc-sep>
A second Oregon player who was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis after a January 2017 workout has filed a lawsuit against the school, former Ducks head coach Willie Taggart and the NCAA on Friday. Offensive lineman Sam Poutasi, who just finished his redshirt freshman season, is seeking $5 million in damages after the week-long hospital stay for “physical and emotional pain, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and diminishment of avocational abilities, in the past, present, and future,” according to The Oregonian. Poutasi, who played just six snaps this season, joined former Ducks offensive lineman Doug Brenner in filing a lawsuit. Brenner, who was one of three players hospitalized after the workout, filed his lawsuit on Wednesday seeking $11.5 million. Poutasi was hospitalized from Jan. 13-20, 2017 and suffered from “severely swollen arms, muscle aches and pains, loss of use of arms, elevated creatinine kinase levels caused by AER, discolored urine and damage to kidneys,” according to the lawsuit. From The Oregonian: Poutasi’s attorneys claim Taggart and Oderinde told members of Oregon’s football team that “press reports of the hospitalization of the three student athletes were ‘overblown,’ that this was ‘no big deal,’ and that there was ‘nothing wrong’ with the football practices from January 10, 2017, to January 12, 2017, that lead to the hospitalizations.” Until Brenner’s lawsuit was reported on Wednesday, Poutasi claims he did not know “of the tortious nature of the conduct of defendants University (of Oregon), Taggart, and Oderinde” nor did he “comprehend the tortious and abusive nature” of their conduct during the team’s football workouts from Jan. 10-12, 2017, “particularly in light of the fact that defendant University (of Oregon) had previously communicated directly contradictory information.” The lawsuits also list former Oregon strength coach Irele Oderinde, who followed Taggart to Florida State after the 2017 season. Story continues The workouts that hospitalized both Poutasi and Brenner, along with tight end Cam McCormick, took place on Jan. 10-12 — just weeks after Taggart was hired at Oregon. The three players were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a syndrome where soft muscle tissue is broken down with “leakage into the blood stream of muscle contents,” according to the NCAA medical handbook. Oderinde, who led the workouts, was suspended without pay for a month after the incident. Taggart apologized after the suspension was announced, however later defended Oderinde, saying he thinks “our guys just overworked themselves and didn’t hydrate” in an effort to “impress the new coaches.” Oregon released one statement in response to both lawsuits. “The well-being and safety of our students are our top priorities at the University of Oregon,” the statement said, via The Oregonian. “We have been advised of the litigation filed (Thursday), but have not been served a copy of the complaint, at which point we will respond appropriately in the court proceedings. In light of the pending litigation, we don’t have any additional comment at this time.” Taggart compiled a 7-5 record at Oregon in 2017, his only season with the school before leaving for Florida State. More from Yahoo Sports: • MLB desperately needs to fix its free agency problem • Sports anchor calls Cardinals hiring ‘covert racism’ • Survey reveals what NFL players think of Kaepernick • Heisman winner has unique sports dilemma