This is terrifying. And it doesn’t help the National Football Association’s mounting lately-devolving public image.
An overwhelming number of football players in the N.F.L. end up with a degenerative brain disease—caused by “repeated head trauma” E.g., football. This is according to a New York Times report of a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association. For the study, neuropathologist Ann McKee looked at the brains of 111 deceased N.F.L. players (her study actually included 202 football players; 111 played in the N.F.L.). And of those 111, 110 had what’s called “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” (CTE).
Yes, 110 out of 111. That’s 99 percent.
According to the Times, CTE as several symptoms, including “memory loss, confusion, depression and dementia.” What’s even scarier is that the effects of CTE sometimes surface years after the head trauma. The players explained played a variety of positions, from quarterbacks, linemen and running backs to a placekicker and a punter.
McKee did make clear that in her research “there’s a tremendous selection bias,” because the families of deceased players mainly donated the brains because they suspected some form of brain trauma. Still, the percentage is staggering.
