He is considered one of the first APFA/NFL players to die, since the league's formation in 1920, and the first as a result of football-related head injuries.

[1] In 1922, Gepford and Adkins enrolled at Bethany College on the advice of a former Millikin coach.

[9] During a 1923 game against Butler, Gepford suffered multiple concussions but continued to play.

Due to the injury, he began experiencing headaches that persisted while he worked at Staley and prepared for his new job as athletic director and high school history teacher at Marion High School in Marion, Illinois.

On September 9, 1924, he committed suicide by gunshot, which his mother attributed to his concussion (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).