Ex-NFL star sues 'bogus' weed business for $380K + damages
Former Pro Bowl wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was known during his playing career for his strange last name that inspired a great fantasy football commercial.
Now, the former Bengal is getting notoriety for a lawsuit involving an alleged phony weed business, as Houshmandzadeh claims he was convinced to invest $200,000 to start a “bogus” marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles, according to TMZ Sports.
Houshmandzadeh is suing two men, Damien Marzett and John Wiegman, who he says convinced him “under false pretenses” to front the money for the construction of their new dispensary, per TMZ.
According to Houshmandzadeh, the men claimed that he would make hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from the business.
Houshmandzadeh also says the men signed a contract to pay him back interest of $180,000 by December 2017.
As a result, the former receiver is seeking over $380,000 plus damages for being bamboozled. The lawsuit comes just months after Houshmandzadeh learned the two men never had a license to operate a dispensary in California.
Houshmandzadeh played 11 seasons in the NFL, eight of which were with the Bengals. He led the league with 112 receptions in 2007 and made the Pro Bowl for the first and only time in his career.
As a seventh-round draft pick in 2001, Houshmandzadeh exceeded expectations, and he ranks among the leaders in receptions for players drafted in the seventh round.
The Bengals took a chance on him 17 years ago, and he continues to pay them back, as he is now working with the team’s 2017 first-round pick, John Ross.
Ross was the ninth overall pick last season but didn’t catch a single pass as he battled injuries and a lack of confidence in his rookie year. Houshmandzadeh trained with Ross this offseason and is helping him remember why he was drafted that high.
“I’m trying to get him to believe,’’ Houshmandzadeh said recently, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I tell him, ‘Dude, you were the ninth pick in the draft. I’d feel like I could fly if I were the ninth pick.’ You are John Ross. You worked hard to get here. Act that way. The one thing someone should not be able to take from you is your confidence.”
Ross admitted that his confidence was shaken last season, but Houshmandzadeh has helped him get over that mental roadblock.
“How to get that swagger back, man,” Ross said when asked what Houshmandzadeh has taught him. “That confidence. He’s not a motivational speaker. It’s his presence.”
Ross is fully healthy so physically, he’s right where he needs to be. But hearing from someone other than the coaches and teammates he sees every day has helped him take the next step in his mental preparation.
“You’ve got to mentally prepare yourself to be the person you think you are,” Ross continued. “That’s (Houshmandzadeh’s) biggest thing.”
Houshmandzadeh aspires to be a coach at the NFL level, and he’s currently working with the Bengals as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
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