Givens claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that a doctor discovered a defect in his knee during a physical around the time his contract was being negotiated in March 2006. He claims the examining doctor told team officials he "may need surgery at some point" and "may not be able to make a full 16-game season," according to the suit.
But Givens claims he was "kept in the dark about his condition" and urged to keep playing by team officials.
"The decision was made by the Titans management, coaching and medical staffs to risk serious injury and aggravation to a pre-existing condition without so much as consulting or discussing that situation with David Givens," the lawsuit said.
Givens, 29, blew out his knee in Week 10 of the 2006 season against the Ravens. An X-ray determined that the "previously known lesion and defect in his knee had crumbled," according to the lawsuit.
After multiple surgeries he has been unable to return to action.
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"His knee just exploded on him. He's had multiple surgeries, and it can't be fixed so that he can play football again," Givens' attorney, Dan Warlick, told WTVF-TV in Nashville.
According to Warlick, then-Titans general manager Floyd Reese and coach Jeff Fisher were given a memo about a physical examination for Givens taken before the 2006 season. He signed a five-year, $24 million contract with Tennessee in 2006 after four seasons with the New England Patriots.
The memo, according to WTVF-TV, read:
"Dr. [Tomas] Byrd is concerned about his ability to play for very long. His left knee has a large defect on the medial femoral condyle and may need surgery at some point. Dr. Byrd is concerned that he will miss some time and not be able to go through all of training camp and may not be able to make a full 16-game season."
Warlick alleges that this information was never conveyed to Givens.
"This information was never given to Mr. Givens," Warlick told WTVF-TV. "Had he known those things he would not put himself in a position where he ended up playing and blowing his knee apart."
Warlick claims that if Givens had his knee repaired before blowing it out, he could still be playing in the NFL.
Fisher told WTVF-TV that the Titans' medical, coaching and training staff are all "on the same page" and the team advises all its players about injuries.
"We would under no circumstances subject a player to potentially worsening the injury," Fisher told WTVF-TV.
Warlick said Fisher and the Titans will have to prove it in court.
"That's a wonderful policy, but they will have to prove they followed that policy. In Mr. Givens' case -- he said they did not. He got a copy of records, his medical records he had not seen before," Warlick told WTVF-TV.
Givens' former agent, Brad Blank, told The Tennessean that the suit isn't about money.
"It's emotional and physical, and the idea that his career was cut short. ... The issue is what could have been done better and was there some kind of malpractice or negligence," Blank told the newspaper.
"His knee looks awful. Emotionally, in terms of his upbeat nature. ... He is also not the happy-go-lucky, affable guy I used to know," Blank told The Tennessean.
According to WTVF-TV, Givens currently lives in Massachusetts.
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