NCAA Sued over Deaths of 4 Former Football Players
The families of four deceased former college football players have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the NCAA.
The lawsuit claims that brain injuries caused by concussions led to the premature deaths of the players.
One of the parties is Jennifer Finnerty, whose late husband, Cullen Finnerty, played quarterback for Grand Valley State University from 2003 to 2006, leading the team to a record of 51-4 as a starter.
In May 2013, Finnerty, who was 30 at the time, went missing on a family fishing trip. Three days later, he was found dead in the woods.
On the trip, the lawsuit says Finnerty became “confused and anxious, calling his wife stating that he was being followed by two men and was getting out of the water,” ESPN reported.
Finnerty had suffered a similar incident before that, the suit claims.
“This call was unfortunately reminiscent of an earlier incident he had,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Finnerty was out with co-workers in Detroit, Michigan, when he began to believe he was being followed. In a bout of paranoia, Mr. Finnerty drove 150 miles to his brother’s house. When he arrived, there was nobody behind him.”
Finnerty died of pneumonia caused by inhaling his vomit after he became disoriented, the autopsy found. He was also found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that has been found in a number of ex-football players.
Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy studied his brain and determined that the severity of CTE in Cullen was moderate and that it was unlikely the disease alone led to his death, ESPN reported.
The lawsuit claims that “the NCAA failed to recognize and monitor concussive and subconcussive injuries during practices and games; failed to inform student-athletes about the dangers of such injuries; failed to implement rules about when players could return to play after suffering concussions; failed to monitor their health after suffering concussions; and failed to inform their families about the injuries.”
“For decades, the NCAA has been aware — through its own institutional knowledge, medical science, and news articles about former football players — that severe head impacts can lead to long-term brain injury, including memory loss, dementia, depression, and CTE,” the lawsuit said, according to ESPN. “Unfortunately, while the NCAA knew about the harmful and devastating effects of these subconcussive and concussive injuries, it recklessly ignored these facts and failed to implement reasonable concussion management protocols to protect its athletes, including Cullen Finnerty.”
Jennifer Finnerty is seeking damages in the form of past medical expenses, lost future earnings and lost time and interest, as well as litigation expenses, WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported.
Cullen Finnerty was diagnosed with the brain disease CTE after his disappearance and death in 2013. His wife says he ultimately died as a result of the NCAA’s “reckless disregard for his health and safety."https://t.co/TDkBxYv8Y4
— WOOD TV8 (@WOODTV) August 28, 2018
“This lawsuit was filed to help bring awareness to the severity and consequences of concussions. The goal is to assist in the movement to make the great game of football, and other contact sports, safer for all who compete,” she said in a statement, WOOD reported.
Edelson PC, the law firm representing Finnerty, also filed three similar lawsuits on behalf of the families of other NCAA football players who died and were found to have CTE.
Those players are Jeffrey Staggs, who played for San Diego State University in 1965-66 and died in 2014 at age 70; Rodney Stensrud, who played for UCLA and California State University from 1969 to 1973 and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, dying in 2011 at age 60; and Douglas MacKenzie, who played for the University of Southern California from 1978 to 1981 and died this year at age 59.
“Our family has filed this lawsuit against the NCAA to make a difference,” MacKenzie’s mother, Dorothy MacKenzie-Schmidt, said, according to ESPN. “Too many football players have gone on to develop brain disease, including my son Doug, and the time for change has come. We want football to be as safe as it can be, and we want student-athletes to be aware of the terrible consequences that concussions early on can have throughout their lives.”
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