Ex-Chicago Bears receiver Ron Morris gets $5.2 mil. in malpractice lawsuit

Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Ron Morris recently was awarded a $5.2 million judgement by a Lake County, IL, jury for a malpractice lawsuit stemming from a knee operation that ended his professional football career.

The physician, Dr. Christ J. Pavlatos, was found negligent in performing arthroscopic surgery on Morris, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Morris underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a tear in the medial meniscus tendon in his left knee on Aug. 21, 1991. During the operation the articular cartilage in his knee was gouged. According to Morris', attorney, Joseph Power, neither Morris nor the Bears were informed about the problem.

Power noted that the problem was discovered after the Bears trainer sent Morris, 30, to a knee specialist in East Lansing, MI.

"A promising young man missed the prime of his career from the fifth to the 10th years," Power told the newspaper.

"I am pleased that the jury ruled that I had been severely damaged by this surgery, but I would rather be playing for the Bears and going to the Super Bowl," Morris said in a statement. "Unfortunately, that will never happen for me."

In five seasons with the Bears, Morris caught 121 passes for 1,991 yards. He was drafted in the second round out of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.