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Lawrence Tynes sues Buccaneers over MRSA incident

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers still haven't gotten past the ravages of the Greg Schiano regime. The latest: kicker Lawrence Tynes is suing the team for over $20 million as a result of the 2013 MRSA outbreak that saw Tynes' NFL career effectively end. Via the Tampa Bay Times:

Tynes' lawsuit, filed Monday in Broward County Circuit Court, claims that "unsanitary conditions" at the Bucs' facility constituted negligence on the team's part, and that the team "failed to disclose and actively concealed ongoing incidents of infection" among other people at the facility. Tynes was paid his full salary of $905,000 by the Bucs in 2013 after the team placed him on the "non-football injury" list.

Rick Stroud further noted that Tynes claims the Bucs "failed to employ necessary sterile techniques and routinely left therapy devices, equipment and surfaces unclean." Further, Stroud says Tynes claims that trainer Todd Toriscelli, now with the Tennessee Titans, had MRSA.

The Bucs suffered the MRSA outbreak back in 2013, which led to major infection for both Carl Nicks and Lawrence Tynes. Neither player has played football since. The Bucs released Nicks prior to last season, while Tynes was placed on the non-football injury list and paid his full salary for the 2013 season.

At the time, the Bucs brought in Dr. Deverick J. Anderson of Duke Infection Control Outreach Network to explain that Tynes' and Nicks' infections were separate strains contracted in different instances, and that the Bucs were operating a safe environment. It seems that kind of testimony would come in handy for the Bucs now that they, you know, have an actual lawsuit on their hands.