CLEVELAND — A state appeals court in Cleveland has ruled that the widow of a former Notre Dame football player can proceed with claims in a lawsuit that said her husband was disabled by and ultimately died from concussion-related head injuries suffered during his college career in the 1970s.

Steve Schmitz was alive but suffering from dementia and early onset Alzheimer’s disease when he and his wife, Yvette, sued the NCAA and the university in Cuyahoga County in October 2014. The lawsuit alleged both institutions had shown “reckless disregard” for the safety of college football players and for their failure to educate and protect players from concussions.

The lawsuit said the link between repeated blows to the head and brain-related injuries and illnesses had been known for decades, but it wasn’t until 2010 that the NCAA required colleges to formulate concussion protocols to remove an athlete from a game.