Jury clears NCAA of liability in ex-USC LB's death

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles assemblage connected Tuesday rejected a assertion by the widow of a erstwhile USC shot subordinate who said the NCAA failed to support him from repeated caput trauma that led to his death.

Matthew Gee, a linebacker connected the 1990 Rose Bowl-winning squad, endured an estimated 6,000 hits that caused imperishable encephalon harm and led to cocaine and intoxicant maltreatment that yet killed him astatine property 49, lawyers for his widow alleged.

The NCAA said it had thing to bash with Gee's death, which it said was a abrupt cardiac apprehension brought connected by untreated hypertension and acute cocaine toxicity. A lawyer for the governing assemblage of U.S. assemblage sports said Gee suffered from galore different wellness problems not related to football, specified arsenic liver cirrhosis, that would person yet killed him.

The verdict could person wide ramifications for assemblage athletes who blasted the NCAA for caput injuries.

Hundreds of wrongful decease and idiosyncratic wounded lawsuits person been brought by assemblage shot players against the NCAA successful the past decade, but Gee's is the archetypal 1 to scope a assemblage alleging that hits to the caput led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative encephalon illness known by its acronym, CTE.

"We are gratified that the jury, aft considering 4 weeks of grounds and testimony, agreed overwhelmingly with our presumption successful this case," Scott Bearby, NCAA elder vice president of ineligible affairs and wide counsel, said successful a statement. "The NCAA bore nary work for Mr. Gee's tragic death, and furthermore, the lawsuit was not supported by aesculapian subject linking Mr. Gee's decease to his assemblage shot career. We explicit our deepest sympathies to Mr. Gee's family."

The connection besides said the enactment "will proceed to aggressively support against cases similar this that wrongly effort to exploit the ineligible strategy to unfairly people the NCAA."

Alana Gee had testified that the assemblage sweethearts had 20 bully years of matrimony earlier her husband's intelligence wellness began to deteriorate and helium became angry, depressed and impulsive, and began overeating and abusing drugs and alcohol.

Attorneys for Gee said CTE, which is recovered successful athletes and subject veterans who suffered repetitive encephalon injuries, was an indirect origin of decease due to the fact that caput trauma has been shown to beforehand substance abuse.

The NCAA said the lawsuit hinged connected what it knew astatine the clip Gee played, from 1988-92, and not astir CTE, which was archetypal discovered successful the encephalon of a deceased NFL subordinate successful 2005.

Gee ne'er reported having a concussion and said successful an exertion to play with the Raiders aft graduating that helium had ne'er been knocked unconscious, NCAA lawyer Will Stute said.

"You can't clasp the NCAA liable for thing 40 years aboriginal that cipher ever reported,'' Stute said successful his closing argument. "The plaintiffs privation you successful a clip question machine. We don't person 1 astatine the NCAA. It's not fair.''

Attorneys for Gee's household said determination was nary uncertainty that Matt Gee suffered concussions and countless sub-concussive blows.

Mike Salmon, a teammate who went connected to play successful the NFL, testified that Gee, who was squad skipper his elder year, erstwhile was truthful dazed from a deed that helium couldn't telephone the adjacent play.

Gee was 1 of 5 linebackers connected the 1989 Trojans squad who died earlier turning 50. All displayed signs of intelligence deterioration associated with caput trauma.

As with teammate and NFL prima Junior Seau, who killed himself successful 2012, Gee's encephalon was examined posthumously astatine Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center and recovered to person CTE.

Jurors were not allowed to perceive grounds astir Gee's deceased teammates.

Alana Gee's lawyers had argued that the NCAA, which was founded successful 1906 for jock safety, had known astir impacts from caput injuries since the 1930s but failed to amended players, prohibition headfirst contact, oregon instrumentality baseline investigating for concussion symptoms.

Her lawyers had asked jurors to grant $55 cardinal to compensate for her loss.

Alana Gee had tears successful her eyes and sniffled arsenic the verdict was read. She told 1 of her lawyers that she didn't recognize however the assemblage came to that decision, and declined to remark afterward.

"We consciousness heavy sympathy for the Gee household close disconnected the bat,'' Stute, the NCAA attorney, said afterward. "But we consciousness similar this verdict is simply a vindication of the presumption we've taken successful each these cases.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.