MORGANTOWN – A former West Virginia University football player is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association after he claims it did not protect him enough from head injuries.
Thomas Geishauser was a student at WVU and played football for the school from 1969 until 1972, according to a complaint filed in Monongalia Circuit Court.
Geishauser claims during his four-year collegiate football career, he experienced numerous repeated blows to the head and lost consciousness on four specific occasions while playing college football as a result of the blows to his head.
The NCAA assumed the duty to protect intercollegiate athletes at member institutions from being unnecessarily exposed to sports-related dangers and assumed a duty to protect student-athletes at its member institutions, according to the suit.
Geishauser claims the NCAA had a duty to protect football players like him from health and safety risks and held itself out as acting in his best interests.
Despite the recognition of a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect the well-being of the student-athlete at member institutions, the NCAA breached its duty by failing to exercise its powers to mitigate known risks or risks it should have known to exist, to student athletes from the long term, life-altering risks and consequences of head trauma sustained while participating in collegiate football, according to the suit.
Geishauser is seeking compensatory damages with pre-judgment interest. He is being represented by Leif J. Ocheltree of Goldberg, Persky & White.
Geishauser was a defensive back for the Mountaineers, and he had seven interceptions during his senior 1972 season. That was eighth best in the nation that season.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number: 15-C-723
