NCAA Reportedly Sued by Former Players over Lack of Concussion Protocol

Two former college football players filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in U.S. Federal Court on Wednesday, claiming college sports' governing body did not properly warn them of the risks associated with playing football, specifically those related to concussions.    

According to an Associated Press report, former Saginaw Valley State linebacker John Walton and former University of Memphis offensive lineman William Clark Stevenson are named as the plaintiffs and are seeking unspecified damages. The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee, claims that the NCAA did not establish proper protocol dealing with head injuries, did not provide education about the long-term risks of playing football and does not do an adequate job providing medical care for former players.      

Clark Stevenson and Walton are seeking class-action status. That would mean that more players could join the lawsuit against the NCAA if the federal judge approves the classification. However, the suit is limited to players whose careers did not extend to the NFL.

Memphis currently plays in the FCS. Saginaw Valley State is a Division II program. Neither school has a reputation for producing professional football talent, so Walton and Clark Stevenson seem to be making an effort to represent similar players.

News of the suit in Tennessee comes just one day after a similar filing was made in Minnesota's federal court. University of Minnesota linebacker Joey Balthazor and two former Vanderbilt players, Paul Morgan and Cliff Deese, are suing the NCAA for its lack of concussion protocol and seeking class-action status, per the Associated Press.

As noted in the AP report, multiple other suits have been filed in a similar vein.

The players who filed these suits are following in the footsteps of the hundreds of former professionals who sued the NFL seeking damages in the league's negligence dealing with concussions. In August, a majority of players named in the initial suit came to a $765 million settlement, in which the NFL agreed to pay for medical testing and provide other assistance for players suffering the most.

The payment is tiered so that those with the most severe conditions receive the most financial backing and medical assistance.

These suits are only the latest in a series of blows for the NCAA, which has found itself regularly in court due to complaints about its business practices. Earlier this month, a judge partially granted class-action status to the suit filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, which seeks compensation over the NCAA's use of player likenesses without their permission.

While that suit has been limited mostly to those at high-level programs, if the NCAA is found liable for concussion symptoms, it could be bad news for the universities. There are thousands of players—past and present—who could join these cases, creating a financial settlement that could even rival that of the NFL.

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