Bowl of Trix, metal nail spark lawsuit
Ex-area high school football star sues H-E-B, General Mills
Former Brackenridge High School standout and professional football player Ramon Richards bit on more than he could chew while munching on a bowl of Trix cereal about 18 months ago.
Richards, 28, alleges in a lawsuit filed this week that while he was eating the cereal he bit into a hard object.
“He felt instant pain in his teeth and jaw and heard a cracking sound in his mouth,” an amended version of the complaint alleges. It then says he spit out the object — “a metal nail” — along with pieces of his teeth.
Richards seeks more than $250,000 in damages in his negligence and product liability suit against General Mills Sales Inc., a subsidiary of the food maker, and H-E-B, where he says he bought the 35-ounce bag of Trix.
Mollie Wullf, a spokesperson for General Mills, said the Minneapolis, Minn., company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. An H-E-B spokeswoman said the grocer had no comment.
Desi Martinez and Mark Anthony Acuna, San Antonio lawyers representing Richards, declined to discuss the lawsuit.
Richards made a name for himself as a star quarterback at Brackenridge High, where he graduated in 2014. He then attended Oklahoma State University, where he transitioned from quarterback to defensive back.
Following Richards’ college career, the Los Angeles Rams signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2018. The team went to the Super Bowl that season, but he did not play in the game.
He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League.
He now trains athletes at his San Antonio company, R7 Sports Performance, and is a motivational speaker, Martinez said.
“He felt instant pain in his teeth and jaw ...” Amended complaint
Richards’ lawsuit was filed Tuesday in state District Court in San Antonio.
He alleges General Mills was negligent in its processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of the cereal bag.
The injuries he sustained from biting on the nail has caused his “physical and mental condition to deteriorate,” the suit says.
He’s seeking to recover damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish, and past and future lost wages.