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🌅 The NCAA Will Pay for CTE Caused in the 1950s

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Sunrise Stat
May 06, 2026

$140 million - The jury verdict awarded against the NCAA in a landmark CTE lawsuit brought by the family of a man who played football in the 1950s.

AP

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SOURCE
WHAT TO KNOW

  • A Dallas jury has ordered the NCAA to pay $140 million to the family of John Thomas Davis, an offensive lineman at Southern Methodist University in the 1950s who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2016 and was subsequently diagnosed with Stage 4 CTE—the most advanced stage—in 2017. The award includes $30 million in compensatory damages and a staggering $110 million in punitive damages, underscoring the jury’s agreement with the plaintiff’s contention that the NCAA knew about the long-term consequences of head injuries and failed to warn athletes. The NCAA is expected to appeal the ruling and the verdict could be reduced by a higher court.

WHY IT MATTERS

  • A key piece of evidence against the NCAA appeared to be the organization’s 1933 medical handbook, which was distributed to all member institutions and discussed head injuries. The handbook stated they “are in a category by themselves and warrant special attention,” as they “may be, and often are more severe in their immediate and remote consequences.” The handbook recommended players with symptoms lasting longer than 48 hours should “not be permitted to compete for 21 days or longer, if at all,” and noted the condition described as “punch drunk,” explicitly stating recurrent concussions from football demonstrate the condition. It also recommended athletes who are repeatedly knocked unconscious from slight force should be “forbidden” from playing contact sports.

CONNECT THE DOTS

  • In 2019, the NCAA agreed to provide $75 million to settle lawsuits related to concussions, including a $70 million fund for medical monitoring and diagnosis for current and former athletes, and a $5 million fund for concussion research. However, the agreement didn’t preclude the possibility of future claims or class actions by former athletes suffering from brain injuries. In 2015, the NFL ensured it would avoid such an outcome by settling a class action that included all retired players at the time. Since then, the NFL has given $1.2 billion to more than 1,600 former players who’ve developed dementia and brain diseases related to concussions.