CTE Found In 110 Of 111 Brains Of Former NFL Players

[RealGM Wiretap]

An updated study published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association on football players and the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) reveals a striking result among NFL players.

The study examined the brains of deceased former football players (CTE can only be diagnosed after death) and found that 110 out of 111 brains of those who played in the NFL had CTE.

In the study, researchers examined the brains of 202 deceased former football players at all levels. Nearly 88 percent of all the brains, 177, had CTE. Three of 14 who'd played only in high school had CTE; 48 of 53 college players; 9 of 14 semiprofessional players; 7 of 8 Canadian Football League players.

Via Tom Goldman/NPR

[JGOJustin]

Sad man. Have seen this report all over social media today. Gotta figure out how to handle this issue.

[Jamaaliver]

The NFL's top health and safety official has acknowledged a link between football and CTE, and the league has begun to steer children away from playing the sport in its regular form.

This might be the first nail in the NFL coffin.

Future generations of kids are already being directed away from the game. In a decade or so, you'll see a dearth of elite talent as a result.


This doesn't even take into account the NFL's over saturation of the TV landscape.

[Trailbreaker]

I know it will have a huge effect on the NFL, but I imagine it would also make a large one on the NCAA. At least NCAA still has the NCAA basketball tournament though (for their own sake).

[colaroaster]

goodell will find a way to spin this into blaming the patriots

[mastermixer]

I wonder who the 1 NFL not to have it is.

[ElectricMayhem]

I wonder who the 1 NFL not to have it is.

A kicker or punter?

I remember back in the mid '80s being mad at my Mom for not letting me play football. She didn't want her baby to get hurt. Baby became a happy healthy with a fully functional brain so I'm finally thankful for that decision.

Seriously, playing football every day for years upon years is like .

I hope they find ways of ameliorating the problem because no amount of money is worth the agony, depression, and memory loss, and alienation of loved ones so many of these guys go through.

[donemilio21]

you have to also consider what the impact of this be to the current college and pro athletes?
Will some NFL players say "it's not worth it" and retire despite making a living?
Will some college players stop playing despite having scholarships?

If I were a high school or college athlete, I'd certainly move into another sport. Most real athletes can do that, whether its basketball, baseball, track etc.. But there is really no other sport that many football players who play DE or OT can play in college since they are not physically built to run.


I want to add that the brains that were donated were players whose families were already suspecting something was wring with their loved one. I doubt they had many donations from deceased players who did not have obvious mental issues. So the study cannot determine of likelihood of getting CTE.