*Shilo Sanders is seeking bankruptcy protection, and the filing has raised a question about whether his father, Deion Sanders, could have stepped in to help him avoid this outcome.
According to USA Today, Shilo, 26, has been locked in a legal battle with John Darjean for roughly a decade. Darjean, a former security guard at Shilo’s Dallas school, sued over a violent confrontation with the then-teenager. The dispute has since grown into an enormous financial problem for Shilo. He filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 with more than $11 million in debt, with nearly all of it owed to Darjean.
The case stems from Darjean’s allegation that Shilo injured him during the 2015 incident. He ultimately secured an $11.89 million judgment against Shilo after the civil case proceeded without Shilo appearing at trial. But according to Darjean, the situation might have ended very differently if Deion had intervened years ago.
Darjean recently said he would have been willing to accept a settlement from Deion that would have helped cover the expenses he incurred because of the altercation. Instead, tensions intensified after TMZ published portions of video from the attack in 2016. At the time, Deion disputed Darjean’s account, calling him a “grifter.”
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“This man used unnecessary force to secure my son’s cell phone,” Deion told TMZ Sports.
“He consequently felt ashamed of his actions and apologized to our President and CEO, Leroy McClure, for his actions. He knew he was gonna be dismissed from his job for the way he handled this situation and others prior, consequently, he produced an injury completely UNRELATED to this incident,” he added.
Now, nearly 10 years after the original incident, Darjean is still pursuing the money awarded to him, while Shilo’s bankruptcy has added another layer to the long-running dispute.
Darjean claims the Sanders family “doesn’t want to settle.”
“He will cut his own damn head off before he loses,” Darjean said, per USA Today. “That’s the type of person he is.”
University of Texas law professor Mechele Dickerson weighed in on the case, telling the outlet, “It’s extraordinary to see a case like this that could have settled privately and quietly years ago. There would have been a confidentiality and likely a non-disclosure agreement. He would have avoided the hassle, embarrassment, etc. that we’re seeing now.”
There is no indication that Deion was legally responsible for Shilo’s debt. But Darjean’s comments raise a different question: Could a settlement years earlier have prevented the dispute from growing into an $11 million-plus financial crisis for Deion’s son?
“I would have taken something,” Darjean said. “I was thinking Deion was man enough to say, ‘Hey, here’s $200,000. I know my son messed your neck up. You’re damaged.’”
He had a change of heart after Deion’s comments to TMZ.
“I wanted everything-plus after he lied on me on TMZ,” Darjean said.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Karrueche Tran Reveals Deion Sanders Gave Her the Option to Walk Away During His Cancer Battle
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