Patrick Chung sued by ex-Rams executive over defamation

New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung is getting sued by a former Los Angeles Rams ticket executive who lost his job because of a text message.

According to a new report by CBS Boston, a former Los Angeles Rams ticket executive named Matthew Hogan is suing New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung for defamation.

Hogan attended Super Bowl 53 back in early February. Early on in the second half of the game, Chung injured his right arm while trying to make a tackle. The veteran safety spent several minutes crying on the field as the New England medical staff attended to him and put his arm in an air cast, while numerous teammates and even a few Rams players checked on his well-being. Finally, Chung was able to stand up and exit the field under his own power, later telling reporters he had broken his arm and that it required surgery.

While this on-field incident was happening, apparently Hogan texted his friend Matthew Weymouth that “Patrick Chung is a b____.”

Unfortunately for Hogan, Weymouth just so happens to run Patrick Chung’s social media accounts. While it’s unknown whether or not Hogan knew this when he texted Weymouth, it didn’t stop Weymouth from later showing Chung the text he received from his old college friend.

Chung, understandably, was upset by the text message, and he retaliated by calling out Hogan on his Instagram account. Chung posted a screenshot of the text with the accompanying caption: “Matt Hogan from the @rams organization. This is disrespectful of you. I would never wish or say anything like this to anyone after they just broke their arm. You should be ashamed bro. Can’t even believe it. But I pray for happiness and good health for you because (I’m) a real man.”

The Rams ended up firing Hogan when the controversy went public, and Hogan is now suing both Chung and Weymouth for defamation, claiming that the text message he sent to Weymouth was private and not intended for Chung. He also bases the lawsuit off the premise that when Chung posted a screenshot of the text conversation online to his hundreds of thousands of followers, it appeared for all intents and purposes that Hogan had sent it directly to Chung, which did not happen.

Chung and Weymouth have since deleted all the Instagram posts, though digital records of course still exist online.

According to the report, Hogan is now seeking $1.75 million in damages.