South Carolina jury reaches decision NCAA owed a former college football player and his wife $18 million and found that college sports' top governing body was negligent in failing to warn the player about the long-term effects of concussions.
After a civil trial that ended late last week, an Orangeburg County jury awarded $10 million to Robert Geathers, 68, who played at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980 as a defensive back. His wife, Debra, was awarded $8 million, according to the court document.
Several years ago, a doctor diagnosed Robert Geathers with dementia, The Times and the Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg reported. Geathers now has trouble with daily tasks such as getting dressed and helping prepare meals.
Other doctors who testified at the trial said Geathers exhibited Symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathya degenerative brain disease found in former football players who were repeatedly hit in the head while playing. CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously.
The couple's lawyers argued to jurors that the blows Geathers received while practicing and playing for the historically black school in Orangeburg caused trauma that did not manifest itself until decades later, the newspaper reported.
Geathers' attorney, Bakari Sellers, said the NCAA has known about the risks of concussions since the 1930s, when Geathers' college career ended, but did not tell coaches and players about those risks until later.
“They withheld all the information they knew,” Sellers told jurors, adding that “their job was to keep the boys safe.”
The verdict can be appealed. In a statement released through a spokesperson, the NCAA said Saturday that it disagrees with the verdict and that it is “prepared to assert its rights on post-trial motions and on appeal if necessary.”
“The NCAA has prevailed in all other jury trials across the country on these issues” and the South Carolina State team's standards “followed the knowledge existing at the time and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers lifelong health problems,” the statement said.
NCAA attorney Andy Fletcher said in court that Geathers has several medical conditions that affect dementia-like symptoms and that the NCAA football rules committee is made up of representatives from member schools who can propose rules.
“There will be headings. It's part and parcel of the game. You can't take headings out of football,” Fletcher said in closing arguments.
According to the newspaper, the jury found that the NCAA “unreasonably increased the risk of head injury to Robert Geathers beyond the risks inherent in playing football.” And it also determined that the NCAA “voluntarily assumed a duty to protect the health and safety of Robert Geathers” and that the NCAA “recklessly breached its duties” to him.
After the trial, Sellers said the outcome provided justice: “It felt good to hug Debra Geathers. She can go home and tell her husband the good news.”
