NCAA Found Not Liable in Suit over Former USC LB Matthew Gee's Death

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has ruled in favor of the NCAA in a wrongful death lawsuit brought forth by Alana Gee, the widow of former USC linebacker Matthew Gee.

Per Brian Melley of the Associated Press, Gee was seeking $55 million in damages, claiming that the NCAA did not protect her husband from the repeated blows to the head that caused chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease. Gee's attorneys said the linebacker endured an estimated 6,000 hits.

Gee died in his sleep from sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 49 in Dec. 2018, per Steven Henson of the Los Angeles Times. The coroner determined that acute alcohol and cocaine toxicity played a role in his death; his blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit.

Gee's attorneys used testimony from numerous experts, including neurologist Dr. Robert Cantu, who said he believed CTE was a "substantial contributing factor" to his problems with addiction.

"The CTE, I believe, was due to the trauma that his brain took while playing football, predominantly—not exclusively—but predominantly at the college level," Dr. Cantu said. "I believe the CTE is what caused him to not be able to better manage his addiction."

The NCAA's lawyers claimed that it could not be held responsible for Gee's death.

"You can't hold the NCAA responsible for something 40 years later that nobody ever reported," NCAA attorney Will Stute said in his closing argument, per Melley.

"The plaintiffs want you in a time travel machine. We don't have one ... at the NCAA. It's not fair."

Gee played for USC from 1988 to 1992 and was a member of the Rose Bowl-winning 1990 squad. He was No. 1 on the Trojans in tackles during his junior and senior years.