Dallas Cowboys DE Dante Fowler must pay $280,000 in damages for 2017 altercation
Newly-signed Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dante Fowler has been ordered to pay $280,000 in compensatory and punitive damages for a 2017 altercation in which he struck a man at outside an apartment complex in St. Petersburg, Fla., a civil jury in Florida ordered Thursday.
Of the awarded damages, $150,000 were punitive.
This brings closure to an incident that happened when Fowler was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars .He was suspended by NFL for one game in 2018. He is not subject to further suspension by the NFL.
Fowler pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery, criminal mischief and petty theft and was sentenced to 75 hours of community service, one-year of probation and fined $925.
“I would like to start off by apologizing to the organization of the Jacksonville Jaguars and also the city of Jacksonville for my actions and for what had gone down,” Fowler said in issuing an apology in 2017. “I just wanted to let people know and everybody know that’s not me as a person. I’m a better person than that, and it won’t happen again.”
According to the arrest report, Fowler was driving and failed to stop fully at a stop sign, nearly resulting in a collision with another vehicle. Alvin Trotman, a resident at the apartment complex, witnessed the near collision and made a comment.
Fowler then allegedly exited his vehicle, struck Trotman, stepped on his eyeglasses and threw Trotman’s grocery bag into a nearby lake.
Trotman, 60, filed a civil lawsuit in August of 2018. He claimed he “suffered a torn rotator cuff and exacerbation of cervical spine injuries, among other injuries” as a result of Fowler knocking him to the ground.
Fowler, who has also played for the Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons, signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Cowboys last month.
The Cowboys targeted Fowler as part of a two-pronged plan along with Dorance Armstrong to help make up for the loss of defensive end Randy Gregory because of his familiarity with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Gregory signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Denver Broncos in free agency.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
