One year later, Edward DeShawn Goodrich decided it was time to fight back.

A year to the day after being punched by University of Tennessee football player Tony McDaniel, Goodrich filed suit with the Knox County Circuit Court seeking $800,000 in damages from McDaniel.

Attorneys Lane Wolfenbarger and Travis Venable will handle the litigation for Goodrich.

"UT is not a part of this suit," Venable said. "It's not a UT thing. It's not a sports thing. It's a situation where a young student was assaulted.

"He had four broken bones in his face and has suffered because of this."

The suit asks for $300,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.

"Tony has been trying to put this matter behind him all year," said Don Bosch, McDaniel’s attorney. "We'll answer this lawsuit and deal with it in an appropriate manner."

Goodrich, who graduated from UT last May, did not return phone calls to the News Sentinel on Thursday.

McDaniel was indicted on felony aggravated assault charges in May, but later pled guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in July.

The 6-foot-7, 295-pound defensive tackle for the Vols was suspended for the first two games of the 2005 season and placed on indefinite probation for the remainder of his time at UT.

On Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, McDaniel was one of five Vol juniors who announced they would bypass early entry into the NFL draft and return to Tennessee.

"Tony has been through a lot, as has the young man who was struck," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said Thursday in reaction to the lawsuit. "Tony has worked hard to keep his life on track.

"This day and age, lawsuits and those types of things are just a part of our society. It's something you have to deal with."

Goodrich and McDaniel were playing a pickup game of basketball together on Jan. 12, 2005 at the TREC gym on the UT campus when the incident occurred.

Security cameras at the facility caught the punch on tape.

The suit alleges McDaniel told other players in the gym that day, "The next person who fouls me is going to get it."

"It is significant," Venable said. "There was premeditation to do a certain action. By doing that, it adds some fuel to the fire."

McDaniel later drove the lane, was knocked to the floor and responded by getting up and throwing a punch that caught the 6-4, 200-pound Goodrich squarely in the face.

"I don't have a doctor's report (yet) as to what type of future loss or impairment there might be," Venable said of Goodrich. "There were four broken bones. He has a metal plate in the side of his face.

"He was still having vision problems the last time I spoke to him. Among all that, the problem with his vision is one of the biggest concerns."

Goodrich is 6-4, 200 pounds and the tape shows him crumpling to the floor unconscious immediately after the punch.

"What's even more chilling is the fact Anthony McDaniel turned and walked away without rendering any type of assistance or help," Venable said.

"He just simply turns and walks away. That's more callous than anything."

Asked why there was such a delay in filing the civil suit, Venable said it was a matter of gathering facts to beat the statute of limitations. The suit had to be filed by Jan. 12, 2006.

"It was a situation of getting all the information together," he said. "That's why it took until now to do it.

"We still have depositions to do. The Sheriff's department has to serve it (on McDaniel within 90 days)."

Venable and Goodrich actually knew each other from playing basketball together after high school in Amsterdam.

"DeShawn is a real humble and shy guy," Venable said. "When I realized it was him in the video, I was taken aback."

In July, McDaniel was placed on supervised probation until he completes restitution to Goodrich for medical expenses not covered by insurance.

At the criminal court case on July 28, McDaniel told the judge he had hoped to apologize to Goodrich in person, but Goodrich wasn't in attendance.

"At this point, criminal matters for Anthony McDaniel have come to an end, but the civil part has just begun," Venable said. "The evidentiary standard for civil litigation is not as high.

"Hopefully, we can get an amicable result."