Robert Geathers, a 68-year-old former South Carolina State Bulldogs defensive end, was awarded $10 million and his wife, Debra, $8 million, following a civil trial against the NCAA in Orangeburg County. The jurors found the NCAA negligent in warning the college football players about the long-term repercussions of concussions. Geathers played at South Carolina State University from 1977 to 1980.
South Carolina jury found NCAA negligent for not notifying its members of the long-term effects of concussions from playing football
According to a report by The Times and Democrat, former South Carolina State Bulldogs defensive end Robert Geathers is unable to perform day-to-day activities, such as dressing himself and helping prepare meals. A physician diagnosed him with dementia in 2017. A few other doctors who testified in South Carolina’s Orangeburg County shared that Geathers displayed symptoms of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). It is a form of degenerative disease of the brain found in football players with a history of repeated blows to the head. CTE can be diagnosed only posthumously. The couple’s attorneys, Bakari Sellers, told the jurors that the blows Geathers took during practices and games for the school in Orangeburg caused trauma that didn’t show up until decades later.
South Carolina's jurors found NCAA negligent for not notifying the long-term effects of concussions from playing football. During the trial, NCAA attorney Andy Fletcher argued that Geathers faces numerous health conditions outside of football that could have potentially contributed to his symptoms. However, Sellers told The Athletic that MRI scans have shown potential correlations between the position Geathers played along the defensive line and the injuries that now plague him. Sellers said, "Mr. Geathers has severe dementia. We were able to prove, based upon the MRI, that his frontal lobe--where, as a defensive lineman, you take all those hits--was damaged."
Devon Henderson of The Athletic reported that in 2015, the NFL reached a settlement with more than 5,000 former players who accused the league of hiding from them the dangers of concussions. The settlement, estimated at $1 billion, provided payments of up to $5 million to players with severe neurological disorders.
Their job was to keep the boys safe
Robert Geathers’ attorneys, Bakari Sellers, alleged that the NCAA knew about the concussion risks since 1933, and when his career ended at South Carolina State, but they did not tell the coaches or players until later. “All that information they knew, they withheld,” Sellers told jurors, adding that “their job was to keep the boys safe.”
Sellers added, "These communities, these institutions are beloved. The jury was able to see that it wasn't our client's fault, it wasn't the institution's fault, but the NCAA, by withholding this information, heightened the risk of playing football."
The jury determined that the NCAA “unreasonably increased the risk of harm of head impacts to Robert Geathers over and above the risks inherent to playing football.” It found 47 instances of negligence, citing each year from 1933 to 1980. After the verdict was announced, Sellers said, “This is definitely a landmark case.”
The trial lasted just for four days and it included jury selection process. The jury deliberated only for 1 hour and 50 minutes before delivering the verdict--via The Atheletic.
Sellers told The Athletic, "I believe that the NCAA has a problem. And they're going to have to take a similar step to the National Football League to resolve these claims on behalf of hundreds, if not thousands, of players."
After the trial, Sellers told CBS News, "I felt good to hug Debra Geathers. She gets to go home and tell her husband some good news."
You can’t take head-hits out of football
NCAA’s spokesperson Greg Johnson told The Associated Press in a statement that the association disagreed with the verdict and “is 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 standard “followed the knowledge that existed at the time, and college football did not cause Mr. Geathers’ lifelong health problems,” the statement said. NCAA’s trial attorney Andy Fletcher said in the closing arguments, “there’s going to be head-hits. That’s inherent to the game. You can’t take head-hits out of football.”
John J. Perlstein, wrongful death and personal injury attorney, told The Athletic in a phone interview, "The evidence, or lack thereof, of the NCAA withholding information about someone hitting a head, I don't think exists. Then you have all kinds of affirmative defenses. There's a reason why they won all the other lawsuits."
Perlstein also shared that football carries an assumed risk when one participates. "You also have that underlying assumption of the risk doctrine," Perlstein told The Athletic. "People know that if you're going to ram your head into things, you could get hurt. It just seems like a very difficult case."
Robert Geathers has two sons who also played in the NFL. Robert Geathers Jr. played as defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals for 11 seasons from 2004 to 2014, and Clifton Geathers also played as defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and Pittsburgh Steelers from 2010 to 2014.
According to a July 2014 BBC News report, NCAA offered to settle 10 lawsuits by former athletes who suffered concussions with a $70 million medical fund. The money would be used to test and diagnose current and former athletes who played within the past 50 years for the effects of head trauma. It would also tighten rules on returning to play after a concussion.
In October 2024, Alex Semancik of OHIOtoday reported that Professor Melissa Anderson from Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions highlighted the cumulative impact of multiple concussions, which can result in long-term health issues such as cognitive impairment, depression, and other complications. Anderson noted that while concussions are not classified by severity, symptom burden is assessed based on the number and intensity of symptoms an athlete reports. "No two concussions are alike, and it is important that we use different tools to assess different domains to get a holistic view of the injury," Anderson explained. "If an athlete is reporting feeling okay, we can look at their cognition, reaction time, their ability to hold a stance, things like this to get a better idea of the specific deficits they are dealing with."
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