NFL wants to move Phillip Adams wrongful death lawsuit to federal court, records show

The National Football League is being sued by the family of a former football player after a deadly mass shooting in South Carolina, but the league wants the case to be moved to federal court.

The father of Phillip Adams sued the league and his son’s alma mater, South Carolina State University, two years after Adams killed six people in Rock Hill before taking his own life.

Adams’ father claims that both South Carolina State and the NFL failed to keep their players safe from head injuries, and he believes those injuries led to Adams’ severe case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.

According to court documents obtained by Channel 9 on Wednesday, the NFL filed to move the wrongful death lawsuit to federal court.

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The NFL hasn’t commented publicly on the case, but South Carolina State University has denied the claims and wants the suit dropped.

Investigators say Adams shot and killed Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife and their two grandchildren, and two HVAC repairment, James Lewis and Robert Shook. It happened at Lesslie’s Rock Hill home in 2021.

No trial dates have been set yet.

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