How did Matthew Gee die? Widow asks for $55M in suit against NCAA following ex-USC player’s death

How did Matthew Gee die? Widow asks for $55M in suit against NCAA following ex-USC player’s death
Former USC linebacker Matthew Gee died on December 31, 2018, at age 49 (Concussion Legacy Foundation)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Gee, a former USC football player, endured countless blows that caused permanent brain damage which led him to struggle with addiction abuse, and cognitive, mood, and behavioral issues that eventually killed him. Gee's family sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association and attorneys have asked the jury to award widowed Alana $55 million on Monday, November 21, in the landmark case accusing NCAA responsible for his death after they failed to protect Gee from repetitive head trauma. 

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Gee was a hard-hitting linebacker player who won two Rose Bowls and was named captain of the 1991 Trojans team. On December 31, 2018, Gee died at age 49 and his death was ruled as sudden cardiac arrest. It was only after his wife donated his brain to the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, that researchers diagnosed Gee with 'chronic traumatic encephalopathy' or 'CTE'. Attorneys in told Los Angeles Superior Court said the NCAA was aware of the effects of head trauma in sports since the 1930s but failed for decades to protect the players.