A sandwich shop owner in Jadeveon Clowney’s hometown of Rock Hill, South Carolina was threatened with legal action by Clowney and his agent, Bus Cook, for using Clowney’s name on the sign outside of his business.
According to WRHI, the owner, Charlie Ruffalo, had changed the sign outside of his restaurant three weeks ago to read “Hurry in for our Jadeveon Clowney sub, it goes really fast,” which pokes fun at Clowney’s recent speeding tickets.
Here's the Sub Station II sign in Rock Hill that pokes fun at Jadeveon Clowney's speeding tickets: pic.twitter.com/OkZ1n4KjFE
— Sara Jane Harris (@SaraJaneHarris) January 23, 2014
On Wednesday, Ruffalo said Cook called him and “threatened to file an injunction.”
“I explained to (Cook), ‘If you want to spend the time, effort and money of your client to take it down, I’ll do it for free if you are a nice guy,” Ruffalo said.
Cook claimed the use of Clowney’s name was illegal.
“I’ve been doing this business for twenty-something years,” Cook told WRHI. “I’ve never known people to arbitrarily and openly take somebody’s name and use it for their benefit without getting permission. And that’s what this is.”
Ruffalo said that he does not offer a sandwich named after Clowney and explained that it was a “play on words.”
“It’s a play on (Clowney’s) two speeding tickets. If we did have such a sub and if it was endorsed by him, it would go really fast as in sales,” Ruffalo said.
Even though Ruffalo said he believes what he puts on his sign is protected under his First Amendment rights, he agreed to change the sign on Monday, but “Clowney’s name will remain.”
For now, Ruffalo is "on the lam."
— Charlie Ruffalo (@subguy) January 24, 2014
Clowney is projected to be a top five selection in May's NFL Draft.
- - -
Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.