The National Collegiate Athletic Association faces a wrongful death suit in federal court over the death of a 20-year-old college football player from New Jersey who went into cardiac arrest at the end of a practice session.
Michael Mazza died after a two-hour practice at Mount Ida College in Massachusetts in February 2016, with “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” listed as the cause of death. The practice was an official team activity and was supervised by the school’s athletic director and the team’s assistant coach, the suit claimed. His parents seek compensatory and punitive damages from the school and the NCAA for negligence and infliction of emotional distress as well as payouts from insurance companies that issued policies on student-athletes.
