The NCAA was found to be negligent in failing to warn a former South Carolina State football player about the long-term effects of concussions, a state jury ruled, resulting in a combined $18 million award to the former player and his wife.

An Orangeburg County jury delivered the verdict following a civil trial in which lawyers for Robert Geathers, 68, and his wife, Debra, argued that the NCAA was aware of the potential lasting dangers of concussions but did not share those safety concerns until after Geathers' career ended.

"All the information they knew, they withheld," attorney Bakari Sellers told jurors, per the Associated Press, claiming the NCAA had known about concussion risks since the 1930s.

Geathers was a defensive end at South Carolina State from 1977 to 1980.

During the tri

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