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Los Angeles jury heard opening statements Friday in the case of a widow of a former University of Southern California football player suing the NCAA for failing to protect her husband from repetitive head trauma.
Matthew Gee died at age 49 in 2018 from permanent brain damage caused by countless blows to the head he took while playing linebacker for the 1990 Rose Bowl-winning team, according to the wrongful death suit filed by Alana Gee.
The jury of eight women and six men listened along with Gee and two of her three children to lengthy opening statements from both sides in Los Angeles Superior Court.
At times, Gee and her daughter, Melia, dabbed their eyes with tissue as attorneys recounted the life of her husband and his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.
One of Gee’s attorneys, Justin Shrader, said she is seeking $1.8 million in damages based on her husband’s life expectancy. He said Gee is also seeking damages for wrongful death, loss of her husband’s companionship and a survival claim for Gee.
“Alana wants to be one of the last widows to find out that college football can cause CTE,” Shrader said, referring to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease.
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 to trial with allegations that hits to the head led to CTE. It could be the first to reach a jury.
“This case is a big deal,” said attorney Will Stute, who is representing the NCAA.
