Why NCAA was ordered to pay $18 million to ex-football player Robert Geathers and his wife

A jury in South Carolina ruled that the NCAA must pay $18 million to former college football player Robert Geathers and his wife, saying the organization was negligent for failing to warn him about the long-term dangers of repeated concussions, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Geathers, now 68, played defensive back at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980. Jurors awarded him $10 million and his wife, Debra, $8 million, according to court documents.

Geathers was diagnosed with dementia several years ago and now has difficulty with daily activities, The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg reported. Doctors who testified said he showed symptoms consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma, and that this could only be confirmed after death.

Lawyers argued that the blows Geathers suffered during practices and games at the historically black college in Orangeburg caused damage that emerged decades later, AP reported. Attorney Bakari Sellers alleged that the NCAA had known about concussion risks since the 1930s, but that Geathers failed to properly inform coaches and players throughout his career, ultimately endangering the athletes.
“They withheld all the information they knew,” Sellers told jurors, adding that their “job was to keep the kids safe.”

The decision is subject to appeal. In a statement released through a spokesperson on Saturday, the NCAA said it disagreed with the ruling and was ‘prepared to pursue our rights through post-trial motions and, if necessary, appeals.’

“The NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial on these matters nationwide,” and the South Carolina State team standards “followed existing knowledge at the time, and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers lifelong health problems,” the statement said. NCAA trial attorney Andy Fletcher argued that Geathers suffered from multiple health issues that could contribute to dementia-like symptoms. He also noted that the NCAA’s football rules committee includes representatives from member schools and that they can recommend rule changes. “There will be headers. It’s the nature of the game. You can’t take headers out of football,” Fletcher said in his closing speech.