Former NFL Receiver Lorne Sam Claims Wealthy Landowner Is Forcing Him Out Of English Country Pub Due To Race

Former NFL wide receiver Lorne Sam is locked in a court battle with a wealthy landowner after claiming he’s being forced out of his business because he is Black and from the U.S. 

The Daily Mail reported Sam, who spent time with the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos, left the sport and began running the Carrington Arms in Leicestershire. Sam claims he’s been ‘treated differently’ from previous tenants of the pub due to his African American background.

Sam is now in a court battle with Alex Stroud, one of the controllers of the land trust that owns the Carrington Arms, after Sam said he was forced to close after a falling out with the owners due to the pub’s interior design. Shroud is leading an effort by the Trustees of the Ashby Folville Land Trust to evict Sam and his company, Carrington Hospitality Ltd., as they claim he owes $14,000 in back rent. However, in a written defense submitted to Leicester County Court, Sam’s lawyer, Philip Noble, said that after Sam took over the 19th-century inn, Stroud and his wife, Lucy, visited the Carrington Arms and told him how the decor of the pub should be improved to their taste and the catering should cater to their friends following shooting parties’’ on the estate.

“They asked Lorne Sam to carry out other improvements to the decor and finish in the property, despite no such improvements being necessary or required under the lease,” Noble told the Daily Mail. “They made it plain that they relied (on) the pub to host post-shooting parties… and asked Lorne Sam to organize the kitchen to cater for those demands.” 

Sam isn’t the only ex-NFL player to get involved in the bar industry. Former Seattle Seahawks teammates Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman recently opened the Legion Sports Bar in Washington State. Additionally, former Los Angeles Ram Michael Bockers opened a bar in Houston, and former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently opened a bar in Indiana. 

Noble also told the judge that the back rent was run up before Sam took over the company, and an agreement had been made with the trustees that a payment of $5,332 would clear the debt.

Russell Davies, solicitor for the trustees, denied that Sam or his company had been treated differently based on his race, adding the Strouds are regular visitors to the Inn and are invested in the success of the Carrington Arms.

According to Davies, Stroud organized and paid for recarpeting and the installation of new pipework and a radiator at the pub “despite being under no obligation to do so.”

Davies also said they made ‘‘reasonable and proportionate’’ attempts to recover the back rent, but Sam’s company did not stick to an agreed-upon repayment schedule.

The case is expected to go to a full trial next year.

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