Concussion lawsuit against NCAA could be first to reach jury
A Los Angeles jury could be the first in the U.S. to decide whether the NCAA failed to protect college football players from repeated blows to the head that cause serious brain injuries
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
A lawsuit alleging the NCAA failed to protect a former University of Southern California football player from repetitive head trauma is nearing trial in a Los Angeles court, with a jury seated Thursday in what could become a landmark case.
The wrongful death suit filed by Matthew Gee's widow says the former USC linebacker died in 2018 from permanent brain damage caused by countless blows to the head he took while playing for the 1990 Rose Bowl winning team, whose roster also included future NFL star Junior Seau.
Of the hundreds of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits brought by college football players against the NCAA in the past decade, Gee’s is only the second to go trial alleging that hits to the head led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease, and could be the first to reach a jury.
