Chargers sue Foley to recoup bonus

Former Chargers linebacker Steve Foley is being sued in federal court by the team, which wants $416,666 that an arbitrator ruled he owed the club after a career-ending shooting by an off-duty policeman in 2006. The suit says that Foley’s contract in effect at the time called for a $1.25 million “signing, reporting and playing” bonus. But the deal also said if Foley could not play or otherwise breached the contract, he owed the club a default payment of one-third the signing bonus — or $416,666. In the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2006, Foley was shot in front of his Poway home by Aaron Mansker, a Coronado police officer who was off duty at the time. He had tried to get Foley, who was driving erratically down the freeway, to pull over, and when Foley did not, Mansker pursued him to his home. Mansker said he opened fire because he thought Foley, who had stepped out of the car, was reaching for a weapon. The linebacker, who was unarmed, was hit in the knee and hip, and his career was ended. The next day, the Chargers placed Foley on injured reserve, meaning he was ineligible to practice and play with the team that year. Read the entire Union Tribune article here.