Ex-NFL star accuses ‘obsessed’ fan of pretending to be his wife
T.J. Houshmandzadeh filed a restraining order against a woman who changed her last name to his
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former NFL player T.J. Houshmandzadeh has filed a restraining order against a woman he claims is “obsessed” with him after she changed her last name to his.
The Cincinnati Bengals veteran filed for a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles against Annette Marie Houshmanzadeh, 53. He claims has been distressing him and his family since at least 2015.
In the documents obtained by TMZ, Mr Houshmandzadeh, 46, said that the woman’s previous name was Annette Selkirk before she legally changed it to match the former wide receiver after she developed a "bizarre and extreme obsession" with him.
Alongside the name change, the documents detail that the woman allegedly had also been pretending to be the mother of his children on social media and would contact his actual wife and send harassing mail and personal items to his home, according to the outlet.
The documents also reportedly claim that the woman once sent a letter to Mr Houshmandzadeh which said she had "several bullets inscribed with the names of each member of the Houshmandzadeh family”.
The former NFL star is requesting, according to TMZ, for the judge to order her to stay at least 500 yards away from him and his family, to stop using his last name and to stop trying to gain access to his personal affairs.
He said, according to the outlet, that he previously had a restraining order placed against the fan in 2015, but it expired in 2019, causing the harvestmen to restart.
Mr Houshmandzadeh played in the NFL between 2001 and 2011, spending the majority of his career at the Cincinnati Bengals.
He also went to play for the Seattle Seahawks, the Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders before retiring.
Mr Houshmandzadeh has yet to publicly speak about the restraining order request.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments