Shaun Ellis's Snowball Caused Seattle Fan "Emotional Pain"
In 2008, after losing a game with the Seattle Seahawks, the New York Jets suffered extra humiliation when Seahawks fans began throwing snowballs on them as they walked into the tunnel. So defensive end Shaun Ellis decided to fire back, and now comes the inevitable lawsuit. Ellis is seen on video (below) grabbing a hunk of snow and hurling it a Seahawks fan. Watch as the snow causes one litigious fan, Robert Larsen, great "emotional and physical pain."
Ellis was fined $10,000 at the time because it is against NFL rules to engage in contact with fans that presents a risk for injury, but two years later Larsen is claiming the incident caused him "physical injury, humiliation, mental distress, pain and wage loss." However, in the video he seems to get up immediately after being hit, and even raises the hunk of snow over his head and dances. The only explanation is that the snowball caused Larsen to forget about the incident for two years, after which he remembered that he could make bank from this.
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Actually, at :06, Jets player number 97 seems to wind up and throw something in the direction of the fan HARD (the guy is a professional athlete after all). My best guess is that he was throwing a towel or something into the garbage can below the stands. I am assuming that it was not a snowball, because if it had connected, it looks like it would cause significant amounts of both pain and suffering.
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