Maryland Pays $50K in Death of State University Football Player

Frostburg State University says it will work to raise awareness of risks to student-athletes as part of a $50,000 state settlement in the 2011 death of a school football player.

The university said in a statement that the Board of Public Works approved the deal with Derek Sheely’s family.

The family is also in settlement talks with the NCAA. The family’s $1.6 million wrongful death lawsuit is on hold while they negotiate.

The senior fullback from Germantown died from a head injury he suffered in practice. The school and the NCAA have denied that they were negligent in his death.

Frostburg State will partner with the NCAA and the University of Maryland, in conjunction with the Derek Sheely Foundation, to sponsor a symposium on reducing catastrophic risk to student-athletes.