Schmitz v. National Collegiate Athletic Association

Between 1974 and 1978, student Steven Schmitz (plaintiff) played football for the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame) (defendant), a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (defendant). Notre Dame’s coaches encouraged players to use their helmeted heads in tackling and blocking maneuvers. As a result, Schmitz sustained repeated brain impacts. He was not, however, examined for concussions or warned of the potential long-term effects of concussions. In December 2012, long after his college football career ended, Schmitz was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease that caused progressive cognitive decline. Believing that Schmitz’s CTE was traceable to repeated, untreated head injuries sustained in college football, Schmitz and his wife, Yvette Schmitz (defendant) filed suit against Notre Dame and the NCAA in October 2014. Among other things, they asserted multiple claims based on bodily injury allegedly resulting from Notre Dame and the NCAA’s ignoring and aggravating medical risks. Notre Dame and the NCAA moved to dismiss, arguing that the claims were barred by the statute of limitations because they were filed more than two years after any football injuries occurred. The trial court granted the motion, but the court of appeals reversed, holding that there was a colorable argument that Schmitz’s cause of action did not accrue until December 2012, when he claimed to first become aware of his latent injuries. Notre Dame and the NCAA appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.