Steelers WR Diontae Johnson's reps release statement about camp no-show lawsuit

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who is being sued by FlexWork Sports Management for no-showing at his own youth football camp back in May, has released a statement through his attorney and agent about the suit.

Why is Johnson being sued?

Johnson is being sued by FlexWork to recoup the money they lost due to the no-show, which they claim included a fee for Johnson, expenses to set up the camp, over $36,000 in refunds, and another $36,000 in credits to attend a future camp as a way to make up for the failed experience for those who attended. The camp did go forward that day, but without Johnson.

According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Johnson's representatives said at the time that he wasn't able to appear due to weather-related flight delays. FlexWork claims that they only found out 13 minutes before camp began that Johnson's flight to Pittsburgh the night before had been cancelled. They were told he would arrive later in the day, but were subsequently told Johnson "did not want to wait around for his second flight and left the airport."

[Set, hut, hike! Create or join a fantasy football league now!]

The statement released by Johnson's agent, Brad Cicala, and attorney, Adam Kenner, paints a different picture of the situation. They claim FlexWork is to blame for the travel snafu, and had committed "countless breaches" of their contract with Johnson leading up to that. They also claim that Johnson had offered to do a makeup camp, but FlexWork chose to file a lawsuit instead.

The initial complaint was filed by FlexWork on Aug. 2, with a summons issued on Aug. 8. Johnson and his representatives have until the end of the month to file a response. While they did release a statement on Tuesday, court records do not yet show an official response from Johnson and his team.