The lockout is making us sufficiently frustrated to do something crazy like, say, spit a drink in a stranger’s face.
Speaking of spitting drinks in strangers’ faces, former NFL running back Larry Johnson will pay $100,000 for the privilege of doing just that in 2008, while he was playing for the Chiefs.
Deadspin has received via a “benevolent tipster” (not to be confused with, say, a malicious tipster) a copy of a letter confirming the settlement.
It appears that Johnson had made to Ashley Stewart a so-called “offer of judgment,” a device in civil litigation for conceding the case in exchange for payment of a set amount. It’s an increasingly common tactic for placing pressure on a plaintiff with a nothing-to-lose mentality; if the plaintiff fails to accept the offer of judgment and fails to do better at trial, the plaintiff becomes responsible for certain post-offer litigation expenses incurred by the defendant.
Stewart still has a claim against the club at which the incident occurred. The laws of each state have specific provisions for determining whether and to what extent codefendants receive “credit” for settlements made by one or more other defendants.