Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey set to begin trial for 2014 nightclub incident

In the NFL, no news in the offseason is good news. Unless you are signing a free agent, or celebrating a draft pick, you don’t want any players from your favorite team to be in the news.

Nonetheless, for the third straight offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a player who is embroiled in controversy during the offseason. Le’Veon Bell’s back-to-back suspensions and Martavis Bryant’s one year ban precluded the news of Maurkice Pouncey set to begin trial in March for 2014 allegations at a Miami nightclub.

In 2014, Pouncey and several others were involved in a nightclub incident on his birthday.

Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Law enforcement officials did not file criminal charges against Pouncey for the incident at his birthday party at the Cameo Nightclub, but attorneys for Riquan James are seeking $500,000 in damages. The trial date in Miami-Dade County circuit court is set for March 6.

The lawsuit claims Pouncey verbally taunted James, a gay man also known as Ricky Vasquez, with homophobic remarks and then physically attacked him.

Per the lawsuit, a witness of the incident gave the following deposition:

“Ricky was standing by the VIP section and can only be acting as described to be flamboyant calling attention to himself. This greatly upset Maurkice Pouncey who called him” homophobic slurs.

The witness added: “Maurkice left the VIP area to go over to where Ricky was and then began to punch Ricky in the face. He was very aggressive. Stating that Ricky was ruining his party by acting gay.”

Video was released of the incident, and can be seen below:

The attorneys for Riquan James are seeking $500,000 in damages for the incident, and the trial date in Miami-Dade County circuit court is set for March 6.

Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest on this news, and everything else surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers.