Brandon Spikes Facing Reoccurring Lawsuit From Years Ago

By Ryan Brennan | Jan 25, 2017

Oct 19, 2014; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills middle linebacker Brandon Spikes (51) before a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /

Buffalo Bills’ linebacker Brandon Spikes is facing a second lawsuit with an aquatic service called “The Fish Guy.”

It was more than two years ago that the lawsuit between current Buffalo Bills‘ linebacker Brandon Spikes and “The Fish Guy” was filed. It dates back to December 2014, several months after Spikes initially signed with the team on March 14, 2014. As a result, Spikes’ paychecks were garnished.

In the report, it was noted that Brandon Spikes owed Joshua Wolfson and The Fish Guy — an aquatic service company in Massachusetts — $4,045 for a service that Spikes never paid for. Wolfson was hired to transport an aquarium and some tropical fish owned by Brandon Spikes from his home in Rhode Island to Buffalo in 2014.

In February 2015, Spikes’ attorney notified Wolfson’s attorney that the reason a payment wasn’t made was due to poor service. During the transport of the fish and aquarium, some of the fish had died and the $8k tank that The Fish Guy sold him wasn’t fit for “the type and number of tropical fish owned by Mr. Spikes,” according to his lawyers.

Spikes also noted that some of his fish had suffered a death before this incident during a move from his loft to his home in Rhode Island — when Spikes was with the New England Patriots.

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It’s a rather strange lawsuit that got worse when Spikes didn’t appear in court for the lawsuit. In May 2015, an Erie County judge ruled that Brandon Spikes pay Joshua Wolfson a total of $4,990. By the time the ruling was announced, Spikes had already signed a deal to re-join the Patriots.

Not long after signing with the Patriots, he was released after he was involved in a hit-and-run that injured three people. After a four-game suspension, Spikes didn’t play at all in 2015.

That brings us to this season, when Brandon Spikes signed yet another one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills — to clear things up, Spikes was with the Patriots from 2010-2013, the Bills in 2014, the Patriots in 2015 (released shortly after) and again with the Bills in 2016. When he re-signed with the Bills in August, Wolfson ordered that Spikes’ paychecks once again be garnished.

It was announced that Spikes still owes Wolfson over $3k of the debt, which lead to a judge ruling that the collection be halted and both parties appear back in court this Thursday.

For such a weird story, let me recap real quick. Spikes hired Wolfson to transport his fish from Rhode Island to Buffalo. During the move, some fish die and Spikes decides Wolfson didn’t deserve payment. Since then, Wolfson has tried to get payment from him and Spikes’ paychecks have been garnished. After not appearing in court, a judge ruled that the debt be paid off, but Spikes still hasn’t done so.

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Brandon Spikes didn’t see a whole lot of action this season with the Buffalo Bills, although he did appear in 11 games. Playing just 9% of the team’s defensive snaps and 7% of the special teams snaps, Spikes finished the season with nine tackles.

With the one-year deal he signed with the Bills last season, Spikes is set to become a free agent this offseason. It is unclear whether or not the Bills will sign him to another contract, but I do know that having his veteran presence will help this team out a lot.

Of course, it would be nice to see this lawsuit go away before any of that happens.

Then again, Spikes could always sign another one-year deal with the Patriots. It seems to be his go-to move. Who knows…

For right now, let’s hope this lawsuit gets figured out. I mean, $3,000 can’t be that much of a hit after signing a $760k one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills.

Good luck to you, Brandon Spikes. Hop to see you back next season.

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