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Strip club manager sues Pacman, NFL

A strip club manager paralyzed in a triple shooting is suing the National Football League (NFL), the Tennessee Titans gridiron football club and suspended player Adam "Pacman" Jones, claiming they're responsible for his injuries.

Former studio wrestler Tommy Urbanski seeks unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed on Friday in Clark County District Court. The suit also names the owners of Harlem Knights, a Houston strip club that rented the Minxx Gentleman's Club in Las Vegas in February for a party the weekend of the National Basketball Association's All-Star Game.

"The fact that the NFL and the Titans did not punish Adam `Pacman' Jones until after Tommy was paralyzed is a proximate cause of Tommy's injuries," attorney Matthew Dushoff said before a news conference at a Henderson hotel with Urbanski and his wife, Kathleen.

Jones' attorney, Robert Langford, denied the troubled cornerback had any responsibility for the man's injuries.

"There's no basis in fact for suing the NFL and the Titans," Langford said.

Jones faces two felony charges alleging he incited a melee and threatened to kill people inside the club minutes before the shooting outside. No one has been charged in the shooting.

Jones was suspended for the 2007 season in April for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

"From my heart, I feel bad for this guy and his family," Langford told reporters. "But Pacman Jones is not the shooter. No one has said that he is. There's not one bit of evidence to link him to Mr Urbanski's injury."

Urbanski was shot four times and was left paralyzed from the waist down in the Feb. 19 shooting. He spent several months rehabilitating at a Denver hospital before moving in August to a hotel in Henderson because his house hasn't been outfitted to accommodate a wheelchair.

Urbanski told reporters he holds the NFL responsible for his injuries because he believed they ignored Jones' previous run-ins with police.

Jones was arrested six times after being drafted by the Titans with the sixth pick overall in April 2005. After his arrest in Las Vegas, he was suspended by the NFL but he could be reinstated after Nov. 19.

Michael Vick, banned from the NFL after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges, has put his Georgia mansion up for sale, celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported on Friday.

The gossip Web site said the onetime Atlanta Falcons quarterback was seeking US$4.5 million for the house, located on waterfront property in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth and featuring seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms.

TMZ said Vick's estimated monthly payment on the property topped US$23,000.

Vick, whose merchandise was once among the most coveted by NFL fans, was summarily dropped by sponsors Nike and Reebok in the wake of the unsavory dogfighting charges against him.

Vick formally pleaded guilty on Aug. 27 to involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring, and he is due to be sentenced on Dec. 10.

While he faces up to five years in jail on the charges of organizing dogfighting and conducting an enterprise including gambling and the sponsoring and transporting of dogs in dogfighting operations, prosecutors have said they will recommend a sentence of between one year and 18 months.

Not only was Vick banned by the NFL after his guilty plea, but the Falcons are also trying to reclaim almost US$20 million in bonuses from the man who was once the face of their franchise.

Earlier this month, an arbitrator ruled that the Falcons have the grounds to try to recoup the money, because it applied to future services which the now-suspended player cannot provide.

In addition to the federal charges, Vick faces Virginia state charges relating to the dogfighting activities, which were allegedly run out of a property he owns in Surry County, Virginia.
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