Roger Clemens Defamation Lawsuit Against Ex-Trainer Brian McNamee Settled

Photo Credit: Getty Images

A lawsuit which Roger Clemens filed agains this former trainer, Brian McNamee, was settled in court on March 18.

A lawsuit which former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens filed agains this former trainer, Brian McNamee, was settled in court on March 18.

Brian McNamee’s defamation lawsuit against former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens has been settled.

According to a March 18 update from The New York Daily News, Clemens agreed to pay McNamee, his ex-trainer, an undisclosed amount seven years after the former claimed the latter was “disturbed” when he said he had evidence of injecting Clemens with steroids.

McNamee left the courthouse without much comment. “I’m going to go home and digest it,” he told The New York Daily News. He also praised his lawyers Richard Emery and Earl Ward.

Attorneys of both sides agreed to the settlement in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening. Clemens’ lawyer, Chip Babcock, told The New York Daily News he “didn’t contribute” to the settlement, which was pressed for by his insurers at AIG in order to avoid the prospect of more financial exposure had trial begun in October.

Defamation Lawsuit by Roger Clemens’s Ex-Trainer Is Settled After 7 Years http://t.co/YdmqjIWwPm pic.twitter.com/yNXYmtN7tj— NYTAlgo (@NYTAlgo) March 19, 2015

Emery told The New York Daily News that Clemens “had a homeowners policy that covered everything.” On the other hand, Ward said,”The war is over.”

“Roger Clemens did not contribute a penny to the settlement,” Babcock told The New York Daily News. “Nor did he release any claims against Mr. McNamee.” Babcock revealed last month that Clemens’ two insurance policies amounting to $500,000 apiece might eventually lead to a settlement with McNamee.

He went on to tell The New York Daily News that if AIG indeed wanted to come to terms with McNamee, “there is not much I can do about that.”

Clemens was adamant in an interview with The Houston Chronicle (via ESPN New York) on Wednesday evening. “I was not present, nor would I have participated in paying one dime. Everyone knows my stance on the subject.”

He also insisted McNamee’s case was an example “of somebody out there that is really crawling up your back to make a buck,” per ESPN New York.

AIG did not comment on the matter in both the ESPN New York and New York Daily News updates.

Clemens has spent million of dollars against charges insisting he used steroids during his legendary MLB career. Among these charges are him allegedly lying to Congress during a hearing on steroids seven years ago and a defamation suit against McNamee which a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court dismissed five years ago, per The New York Daily News.

At the time, McNamee claims he already had evidence he jabbed Clemens with steroids — bloody needles and gauze which he put in a box and set aside in his basement in 2001, The New York Daily News report goes on to say.

http://t.co/Qj8AEZeyST CT PHOTO afr-591 Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays Baseball 199 #BlueJays http://t.co/ON2WnGppvD— I Get It (@BlueJaysX2) March 14, 2015

McNamee’s legal feud with Clemens dates back to 2007, when the FBI confiscated evidence of his PED distribution in MLB baseball. McNamee was eventually forced to cooperate with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s investigation of drug use in the sport. According to The New York Daily News, Clemens was mentioned several times in the Mitchell Report for his steroid and human growth hormone use.

McNamee then surrendered the evidence he collected to the FBI, which discovered traces of steroids and Clemens’ DNA on it. Clemens showed up at Brooklyn Federal Court last month wearing a Texas Longhorns windbreaker. He told a photographer who took his picture to “beat it,” per The New York Daily News.

For his part, U.S. District Court Judge Sterling Johnson told both Clemens and McNamee’s camps that he was annoyed with the slow pace of the litigation. The delay was largely a result of Clemens being slapped with perjury for allegedly lying to Congress in the aftermath of the Mitchell Report’s release. After a two-month trial, he was acquitted in 2012.

“This is a very old case,” Johnson told The New York Daily News. “It should have been resolved among the parties or it should have been tried.”

The 42-year-old Clemens suited up in 707 starts for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros in his 21-year MLB career. He finished with 4,672 strikeouts, a 3.12 ERA and a 354-184 win-loss record, per ESPN stats.