A second Oregon football player is suing the university, the NCAA and former Ducks coach Willie Taggart over a series of January 2017 workouts that sent three players to the hospital.
Oregon offensive lineman Sam Poutasi filed suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday, with The Oregonian reporting that Poutasi is seeking $5 million in damages.
The details of Poutasi's claim are similar to those of former Ducks offensive lineman Doug Brenner, who on Wednesday filed an $11.5 million suit against the same parties, along with ex-Oregon strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde.
Both players are seeking liability over a January 2017 workout that led them and tight end Cam McCormick to suffer from rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which skeletal muscle tissue is rapidly broken down and products of that process are released into the bloodstream.
According to the Brenner lawsuit, which was filed in circuit court in the state of Oregon, "the coaches imposed a physically impossible exercise regimen of squats and told the student athletes that the workout 'would demonstrate who wanted to be on the team.'"
"Nothing would make me happier than to have this case save other football players from serious injury," Brenner said in a statement.
Oderinde, who was hired by Taggart at Florida State for the same position, was suspended by Oregon in 2017 for a month without pay after the three players were hospitalized. The Brenner lawsuit states that Oderinde was not certified to be a strength and conditioning coach at Oregon.
All three players were eventually able to rejoin the team, and there were conflicting reports about the severity of the workouts.
Oregon has issued a statement acknowledging the Brenner lawsuit while declining to comment further. The school referred to the previous statement in response to the Poutasi claim. Taggart still has not responded to requests for comment from ESPN.