Last week a South Carolina jury returned a verdict that is likely to cause some agita at the NCAA. The jury (reportedly after only 2 hours of deliberation) returned a $10 million dollar verdict for Robert Geathers – finding that Geathers’ dementia was likely brought on by repeated head trauma while playing football.

Geathers, now 68 years old, played defensive end for South Carolina State[“SCS”] from 1977 to 1980. He was then drafted by the Buffalo Bills but had an abbreviated pro career due to injuries. In 2017 Geathers’ primary care doctor diagnosed dementia. Today Geathers has difficulty just getting dressed. Doctors at the trial testified that Geathers symptoms were consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy [aka “CTE”] – a degenerative disease found in football players who endured repeated blows to the head during their playing careers.

At trial Geathers lawyers argued that the headshots he endured at practice and in games were the causative factor for the CTE – even though the symptoms didn’t show up for many years. Geathers trial lawyer – Bakari Sellers – argued that the NCAA knew about the potential catastophic damages associated with head trauma and concussions dating back to the 1930s – but sat on the data for years.

The NCAA, which will almost certainly appeal, noted in a statement that “The NCAA has prevailed in every other jury trial around these issues” and insisted that college football did not cause Geathers’ health issues. At trial the NCAA submitted evidence that Geathers had several other health conditions that could trigger dementia-like symptoms. Andy Fletcher, the lead trial attorney for the NCAA noted in his closing argument that “You can’t take head hits out of football.” Fletcher is certainly correct.

But the jury went beyond the oversimplification that Fletcher offered, i.e., football players bang their heads. The jury concluded that the NCAA unreasonably increased the risk of harm to Robert Geathers over and above the risks normally associated with football. Additionally, the jury concluded the NCAA assumed a duty to protect Geathers and failed to meet that duty.

The jury also awarded $8 million to his Geathers’ Debra.

Geathers has two sons who played in the NFL.