This Week In Sports Law: Mike McQueary $5 Million, Darren Sharper Sentence, Johnny Manziel Bar Brawl – Forbes

Mike McQueary Made $5 Million Richer

Maybe this marks the end of a long, treacherous journey for Mike McQueary. The former Penn State football assistant has scored his second victory in the courts, taking home $5 million most recently and a total of $12.3 million altogether from his legal battles.

Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary has made more than $10 million through the courts. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The recent award of roughly $5 million is in relation to a whistleblower claim based on the disparate treatment and adverse employment consequences for McQueary after he reported to former head coach Joe Paterno and administrators that he saw Jerry Sandusky sexually abuse a boy in the team’s shower. The retaliation was worthy to produce a $5 million judgment for McQueary.

The $5 million is on top of $7.3 million awarded to McQueary based on claims of defamation and misrepresentation. $4 million of the $5 million recently awarded was related to lost wages.

“Mr. McQueary’s career in football is over not because of his lack of a network but because of the cloud over his involvement in the Sandusky matter,” wrote the judge. “A cloud created and reinforced by Penn State’s public actions taken against him which made him persona non grata in the football world.”

Darren Sharper Sentenced To Twenty Years Behind Bars

Five-time Pro Bowl selection Darren Sharper has received a twenty-year prison sentence for drugging and raping two women in Los Angeles. The forty-one year old had a fantastic career as a professional football player, but has been riddled with rape accusations since departing the field of play.

In 2015, Sharper either plead guilty or no contest to drugging and raping nine other woman across multiple state lines, and there may have been as many as sixteen victims of Sharper’s acts.

Johnny Manziel Made Defendant In Bar Brawl Lawsuit

Johnny Manziel is not showing off his arm on the football field, but he has demonstrated that he can still pack a punch. According to a bar-back bartending assistant, Manziel’s strength was enough to cause a broken nose. The incident allegedly occurred on September 6 at a private party.

A lawsuit has been filed based on the damages sustained.

It all seems to have resulted from a game of telephone, where the bar-back was talking about Manziel, one of Manziel’s boys reported it to him and Manziel came back swinging.

This latest incident cannot help Manziel make a claim that he is rehabiliating his character. Concurrently, he is dealing with a domestic assault case involving his former girlfriend Colleen Crowley.

Major League Baseball Bargains For New Agreement

It is pretty remarkable that the one major U.S. professional sports league without a salary cap is the same one that has now gone decades without a labor battle. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement just prior to the expiration of the last deal.

The deal, five years in length, was announced just prior to the expiration of the prior collective bargaining agreement at midnight on November 30.

Perhaps the most talked about portion of the new agreement is that the All-Star Game will no longer determine home field advantage for the World Series. Additionally, the fifteen day disabled list is changed to ten days, the luxury tax thresholds will rise every year ($195 million in 2017), HGH testing will be increased, the minimum salary goes up to $555,000 by 2019 and more.

There is no new international draft in the collective bargaining agreement, but foreign players still may have gotten screwed. MLB now has a hard cap on team spending for foreign free agents.

Illinois May Not Be Friendly For Daily Fantasy Sports 

All has been quiet on the daily fantasy sports front since the announcement that FanDuel and DraftKings have agreed to merge. But that changed this week thanks to the State of Illinois.

A bill that would make it illegal to operate daily fantasy sports sites in Illinois has been assigned to a committee, making it at least back on the agenda for legislators to discuss. If it becomes law, it would make it a misdemeanor on first offense to operate a site, followed by a felony thereafter.

Darren Heitner the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C. and Sports Agent Blog. He authored the book, How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know.

Follow @DarrenHeitner