Boston Study: CTE Found In 99 Percent Of Brains Donated By NFL Players

BOSTON, MA – A study of the brains of 202 deceased football players – 111 those of former professional athletes – detected CTE in nearly 90 percent of them. Among the former NFL players studied, all but one were diagnosed with the debilitating brain disease.

Dr. Ann McKee, chief of neuropathology at the VA Boston Healthcare System and director of the CTE Center at Boston University, published her findings Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The report examined brains of former athletes ranging from the high school level to the NFL and diagnosed 177 with CTE.

That included 110 former NFL athletes; 48 college players; nine semi-professional players; seven Canadian Football League players; and three high school players.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a debilitating disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. It is most commonly found in athletes participating in contact sports and can result in memory loss, confusion, depression and dementia, even years after an individual ceases to sustain blows to the head.

The NFL players McKee's report diagnosed with CTE included 44 linemen; 20 running backs; 17 defensive backs; 13 linebackers; seven quarterbacks; five wide receivers; two tight ends; one place kicker; and one punter.

Linemen made up the most of those tested by McKee. According to the New York Times, those who study brain trauma attribute the likely cause of CTE to a build-up of seemingly non-violent blows, rather than serious concussions alone. Linemen, in addition to sometimes pulling double duty on offense and defense, hit heads on most plays.

McKee, however, cautioned that the study is not a random sample size and studied brains mostly donated by concerned families of players who previously showed symptoms.

As news of the study spread, New England Patriots wide receiver Andrew Hawkins announced his retirement Tuesday and said he would donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for CTE study. Hawkins, who signed with the Patriots earlier this year after spending three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, said his body didn't respond the way he wanted it to entering training camp.

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