What Do You Think?
To be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits in Maryland, a worker must be a “covered employee.” A recent case addresses how that rule applies when an NFL player signs a contract to play in Maryland but is injured in the team’s out-of-state facility before he ever plays a regular game.
The defensive tackle was signed to a standard one-year NFL contract with the Washington Commanders. Most of the games that year would be at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The team conducted preseason training camp and regular season practice at facilities in Ashburn, Virginia.
The player was brand new to the team and still hoping just to make the regular season roster. Three days after signing, during a mandatory team practice at the team’s Virginia facility, he ruptured his left achilles tendon. He was sidelined before ever playing a game in Maryland.
The player filed a workers’ compensation claim in Maryland. The circuit court found that he was a “covered employee” under the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Act. The Commanders appealed.
In Maryland, an individual is a covered employee while working for his employer outside of the state on a casual, incidental, or occasional basis if the employer regularly employs the individual within the state.
Could the player receive workers’ compensation benefits in Maryland?
A. Yes. The contract contemplated employment for the season, and the out-of-state practices were merely incidental to the primary purpose of playing home games in Maryland.
B. No. The player was injured in Virginia before ever playing a game in Maryland and was unlikely to make the regular season roster.
If you selected A, you agreed with the court in In the Matter of Curtis Brooks, No. 549, Sept. Term 2025 (Md. Ct. App. 07/15/26), which affirmed the circuit court’s ruling.
The Maryland Workers’ Compensation Act, the court explained, applies to employees whose out-of-state work is “casual, incidental, or occasional” relative to their regular employment in Maryland. Here, the overall purpose of the contract was to employ the player in playing games in Maryland.
The fact that the player was in a “tryout” phase, had practiced exclusively in Virginia, and was unlikely to make the final roster, was not determinative. He signed a contract for the entire season that required him to participate in scheduled games.
“[His] practice in Virginia was incidental to his employment for the Team, which was for the purpose of winning football games, more of which would have taken place in Maryland than anywhere else,” the court said.
The court ruled that the player was a covered employee under Maryland workers’ compensation law.
