NCAA ordered to pay $18M to former football player and wife in concussion lawsuit

Takes fans for *** ride. We force the balance between the beauty of the sport, the traditions, pure entertainment with the harsh realities for players. Health monday night football game turned into *** nightmare. Medical personnel rush onto the field, they start er on Damar Hamlin. I remember the entire night up to the point where I got tackled former NFL football players speaking out about the long term damage caused by repeated concussions. Now safety in the NFL is back in the spotlight. This is clarified. The National Football League is by far the most popular sports league in the nation. In 2021 each game averaged 17 million viewers. The most watched TV broadcast of 2022 was the Super Bowl with almost 100 million viewers. All those eyes and screens translates into money. We're talking big bucks. In 2021, the NFL brought in $11 billion dollars in revenue raking in that much cash. One would think that the NFL has the means to protect its players from harm Compared to other professional sports leagues. Football is one of the most injury prone Harvard study showed that the NFL produces almost six injuries per game. That's 3.4 times higher than the combined injury rates of the MLB NBA NHL and um football games also produced 6.9 times more concussions per game than the other sports combined concussions are of much greater concern. Omalu is real life. Discovery of CTE the brain disease caused by repetitive blows to the head and was vigorously rejected by the NFL, The condition can lead to personality changes, issues in memory, confusion and it usually worsens over time, starting 10 years after the blows, many footballers have been affected, including high profile athletes who died by suicide by playing football. You're always going to have these injuries to some extent. DR William Barr is *** neuropsychologist who worked as *** consultant for the Jets in the 19 nineties. He has conducted research on CTE and concussions in football players and says the league has changed its safety policies for the better back when I started with this, there was an increasing number number of injuries, but the game was changing, there was *** push to have the big hits to see crushing the guy. Once this so called concussion craze started the NFL in football in general started looking inward to say, well, OK, How can we change things, change the culture, change the things we do to reduce the number of injuries. So, they changed some of the rules since 2002, the NFL has changed more than 50 rules of player safety players can't lower their helmets to make contact with opponents protections, defending quarterbacks against low hits and head hits were made and kickoff rule changes try to reduce big collisions, helmet technology has also improved with almost every player wearing the highest performing helmets that have been rigorously vetted by the lead. One of the biggest challenges is actually concussion identification with that Many players on the field and without *** definitive test, concussions can be hard to recognize concussion identification requires *** combination of *** player being aware and reporting it and the medical staff being aware and reporting it and that doesn't always go together when the concussions do occur and they're identified, they're much more likely to get them off the field and much more likely to get them into this. So called concussion protocol studies back this up. Coaches and team doctors have taken *** more conservative approach to concussion management in recent years, keeping players out of play for longer once they're in the protocol, that's where I think the strongest work has been done. DR Barr says the culture has changed too. There was *** change in the culture and it was *** silent thing and players weren't coming forth with the injuries. People are looking out for each other and looking out for themselves *** lot better than they used to. Since 2015 in general, concussion rates in the league have been on the decline, but 2022 saw *** striking rise in concussions, especially for quarterbacks. So how else can they improve? There are only so many rules to change. DR Barr says the science needs to catch up. We still need things like objective tests. Tech that helps spot potentially concussed players is also highly needed. The NFL has tried to have things like observers in the stands. High tech technology is maybe gonna play *** role with that. So maybe sensitive video analysis will be able to tell that this guy lined up is wavering *** little bit. That kind of tech could have helped to *** Tonga by lower, get off the field, avoiding his three concussions in *** row by identifying the head injury and flagging it to team doctors that's on the field, but concerns don't end when they leave it. What happens when *** player retires? Unlike the MLB and NBA, NFL contracts are not usually guaranteed, meaning if *** player gets cut or is injured before the contract ends, they aren't guaranteed the foursome. *** new NFL agreement saw the maximum monthly allowance for disability for former players drop from $22,000 to $4,000. Other leagues with less revenue than the NFL offer more benefits to their former players. One day playing in the MLB, makes *** player eligible for lifetime health benefits. NBA players with four or more seasons under their belt receive health care until they're eligible for Medicare. Safety in the NFL is *** work in progress with the league, more dedicated than ever to trying to improve the game

Updated: 10:58 AM CDT Oct 27, 2025

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NCAA ordered to pay $18M to former football player and wife in concussion lawsuit

Updated: 10:58 AM CDT Oct 27, 2025

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The NCAA owes a former college football player and his wife $18 million, a South Carolina jury decided while finding college sports’ major governing body negligent in failing to warn the player about the long-term effects of concussions.Following a civil trial that wrapped up late last week, Orangeburg County jurors awarded $10 million to 68-year-old Robert Geathers, who played at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980 as a defensive end. His wife, Debra, was awarded $8 million, according to a court document.A physician diagnosed Robert Geathers with dementia several years ago, The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg reported. Now he has trouble with day-to-day tasks such as dressing himself and helping make meals.Other physicians who testified at the trial said Geathers displays symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in former football players who received repeated blows to their heads while playing. CTE can be diagnosed only posthumously.The couple’s attorneys argued to jurors that blows Geathers took during practices and games for the historically Black school in Orangeburg caused trauma that didn’t show up until decades later, the newspaper reported.Geathers' attorney Bakari Sellers said the NCAA knew about concussion risks since the 1930s, and when Geathers’ college career ended, but didn’t tell coaches or players about those risks until later.“All of the information they knew, they withheld,” 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 disagreed with the verdict and that it was "prepared to pursue our rights on post-trial motions and on appeal, if necessary.”“The NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial around the country on these issues," and the South Carolina State team standards “followed the knowledge that existed at the time, and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers’ lifelong health problems," the statement said.NCAA trial attorney Andy Fletcher said at the trial that Geathers has several health conditions that influence dementia-like symptoms, and that the NCAA’s football rules committee is composed of representatives of member schools that could propose rules.“There’s going to be head-hits. That’s inherent to the game. You can’t take head-hits out of football,” Fletcher said in closing arguments.According to the newspaper, the jury determined the NCAA “unreasonably increased the risk of harm of head impacts to Robert Geathers over and above the risks inherent to playing football.” And it also determined the NCAA “voluntarily assumed duties to protect the health and safety of Robert Geathers” and that the NCAA “negligently breached their duties” to him.After the trial, Sellers said the result provided justice: “I felt good to hug Debra Geathers. She gets to go home and tell her husband some good news.”

ORANGEBURG, S.C. —

Following a civil trial that wrapped up late last week, Orangeburg County jurors awarded $10 million to 68-year-old Robert Geathers, who played at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980 as a defensive end. His wife, Debra, was awarded $8 million, according to a court document.

A physician diagnosed Robert Geathers with dementia several years ago, The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg Now he has trouble with day-to-day tasks such as dressing himself and helping make meals.

Other physicians who testified at the trial said Geathers displays symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in former football players who received repeated blows to their heads while playing. CTE can be diagnosed only posthumously.

The couple’s attorneys argued to jurors that blows Geathers took during practices and games for the historically Black school in Orangeburg caused trauma that didn’t show up until decades later, the newspaper reported.

Geathers' attorney Bakari Sellers said the NCAA knew about concussion risks since the 1930s, and when Geathers’ college career ended, but didn’t tell coaches or players about those risks until later.

“All of the information they knew, they withheld,” 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 disagreed with the verdict and that it was "prepared to pursue our rights on post-trial motions and on appeal, if necessary.”

“The NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial around the country on these issues," and the South Carolina State team standards “followed the knowledge that existed at the time, and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers’ lifelong health problems," the statement said.

NCAA trial attorney Andy Fletcher said at the trial that Geathers has several health conditions that influence dementia-like symptoms, and that the NCAA’s football rules committee is composed of representatives of member schools that could propose rules.

“There’s going to be head-hits. That’s inherent to the game. You can’t take head-hits out of football,” Fletcher said in closing arguments.

According to the newspaper, the jury determined the NCAA “unreasonably increased the risk of harm of head impacts to Robert Geathers over and above the risks inherent to playing football.” And it also determined the NCAA “voluntarily assumed duties to protect the health and safety of Robert Geathers” and that the NCAA “negligently breached their duties” to him.

After the trial, Sellers said the result provided justice: “I felt good to hug Debra Geathers. She gets to go home and tell her husband some good news.”

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