Alec Berger

UWRT

Campbell

11/1/18

Big Hits, Disease and Suicide, Welcome to Football

The average NFL player is 6ft 3inches tall and 247 pounds.(Male Body Image and the

Average Athlete. (n.d.) They are strong, fast, and agile all at the same time. They are modern day

warriors, beasts among men. Every Sunday since 1920 these players have lined up in front of one

another to smash each others heads into the dirt for the entertainment of millions. Players like

Jerome Bettis, Lyle Alzado, Ray Lewis and Junior Seau seem like they are unstoppable

superhumans living amongst us. Little did they know that throughout their careers a deadly

disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE could have been forming in their

brains.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a disease caused by a buildup of proteins called

Tau. This tau forms from repetitive brain trauma such as hits to the head while tackling, from a

car accident, or a punch to the head in boxing. Eventually once a substantial amount of these

proteins have built up it will slow down brain function by almost suffocating it, eventually

killing the brain. These symptoms have shown up in mostly athletes competing in contact sports

such as football, boxing, hockey and in military veterans.(What is CTE? (2018, October 23) CTE

disease lays dormant in most patients and is unnoticed until they are in their 40’s. The disease

will then slowly progress as it builds and is associated with numerous symptoms such as
problems with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, and eventually dementia. Cognitive

problems tend to appear later than mood and behavioral symptoms. (What is CTE? (2018,

October 23) Many patients also experience personality changes such as increased aggression,

paranoia, depression and impulse control problems. Although most players do not experience

these symptoms until they are over the age of 40, the youngest case of CTE was in a 17 year old

high school football player. However CTE can not be tested for at this time until the patient has

passed away, meaning children younger than 17 may have developed the disease unknowingly.

The symptoms of CTE are terrifying and debilitating to both the patient and their families

around them, but what might be even scarier is the prevalence of CTE in retired NFL players. A

study on 202 donated brains of ex-football players showed that nearly 90% (177) of the brains

showed varying levels of CTE development. Out of the 177 brains diagnosed with CTE, 110 out

of 111 were NFL players, 48 out of 53 were college players, 9 out of 14 were semi-professional

players, 7 out of 8 were Canadian football players and 3 out of 14 were high school players. Out

of the 202 deceased brains examined the average age of was 66 years old, with the youngest

being 18 years old. Most players diagnosed with CTE are not been killed directly by the disease,

however many are killed by associating factors such as the development of dementia or suicide

due to depression. Out of the 202 brains examined 18 of the deaths were suicide which is almost

9%. (CTE found in nearly 90 percent of brains donated by football players. (2017, July 26)

Some of the most iconic names in the history of the NFL have lost their lives or taken

their own as a result of CTE such as Mike Webster who was the first player to ever be diagnosed

with CTE in 2002. Mike Webster played center for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1974-1988, he

died at the age of 50 years old due to a heart attack. His brain was examined by Dr. Bennet

Omalu, when it was discovered that he had a buildup of protein in his brain which was later
diagnosed as CTE.(Laskas, J. M., & Veasay, N. (2009, September 15). Bennet Omalu,

Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever.) Other well known NFL

stars such as Junior Seau, who committed suicide at the age of 43, Seau played linebacker for the

San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots from 1990-2009. Seau suffered from

depression shortly after retiring from the NFL, and reportedly committed suicide by shooting

himself in the chest so that his brain could be studied for CTE.(Fainaru-Wada, M., Avila, J., &

Fainaru, S. (2013, January 11). Doctors: Junior Seau's brain had CTE. ) Another highly

controversial case of CTE was in New York Giants safety Tyler Sash. Sash was only 27 years

old when he died of an accidental overdose of methadone and hydrocodone, two prescription

pain relief drugs which he was using to cope with injuries sustained during football. His wife

said in an interview that “Tyler became a different person over the last few years of his life and

would get easily aggravated and aggressive which was very uncharacteristic of him”. His mother

also stated that he would become increasingly forgetful and would constantly lose his keys and

his wallet which was never a problem in his younger years. After examining Sash’s brain

researchers found that he had a very severe case of CTE, on a scale of 0-4 Sash rated a 2, which

was the same as Junior Seau even though Sash was 16 years younger than Seau.(Graziano, D.

(2016, January 27). Tyler Sash CTE level 'had advanced to stage rarely seen' at age 27) Possibly

the most famous player worldwide diagnosed with CTE was Aaron Hernandez, a tight-end for

the New England Patriots who was on trial for 3 accounts of murder. Hernandez was only 27

years old when he committed suicide in his jail cell, but when researchers examined his brain it

was discovered that he had one of the worst cases of CTE ever studied. No player had ever had

worse than stage 2 CTE before the age of 46, but Hernandez's brain was “riddled with stage 3
CTE” stated Anne Mckee (head of BU CTE center). (Barlow, R. (n.d.). Aaron Hernandez's CTE

Worst Seen in a Young Person.)

The NFL has responded to these studies and findings by pledging $100 million towards

CTE research in 2016. The NFL has also issued education to both players and team personnel to

raise the awareness of CTE and the dangers of playing football. Currently the NFL has 29

medical professionals monitoring every game and has doctors watching players specifically to

recognize if they show concussion symptoms and to get them checked and taken out of games..

The NFL has also made over 50 rule changes since 2002 to try and limit head to head contact

and make the game safer for players. (NFL issues response to CTE research report. (2017, July

26). ) These rules have included much stricter calls for targeting and immediate protocol after a

collision involving the head. If a player is diagnosed with a concussion he must go through a

concussion protocol to return to play. This protocol can take anywhere from 1-6 weeks,

depending on the severity of the concussion and how long the symptoms last.

Overall the NFL will have to change the way the game of football is played before a

significant change will be seen in the number of CTE cases. Players currently in the NFL and in

college have been playing the current style of aggressive football for too long to suddenly change

what they’ve been taught since they were young kids. Eventually football players will no longer

instinctively go for the head to head contact and will be conscious about the dangers of head

injuries. This will come down to the younger generations being raised to play in a different way

then is currently being taught in youth and high school organizations. For those that think that

football could never change you may be surprised to find out it already has. In the early days of

professional football there was no passing, 100% of plays were running plays which resulted in

mass amounts of injury and 18 deaths. The first “forward passes” were allowed to go no longer
than 5 yard to each side of the field, an incomplete pass was a 15 yard penalty, and if a pass hit

the ground without being touched it was an instant turnover. (Morrison, Jim. “The Early History

of Football's Forward Pass.”) Far from how football is played today. High school football has

also changed from 20 years ago with the elimination of two a day practices in high schools and

much stricter guidelines of when and how much a team can practice over the summer. The same

must happen with the way players are taught in the sense that coaches must focus more on the

technicality of the sport when it comes to tackling and blocking and less on the physical attribute

of just running a player over, out of the safety concerns of both the opponent and their own

players. When looking at the NBA in the 1980’s the game was played much more aggressively

overall but especially when talking about the play of forwards and centers, players were much

more aggressive down low and were taught to throw elbows and push and shove and do

whatever it took to get the ball. The NBA today is no longer like that because of how harsh NBA

officiating got on these aggressive players. Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s players who

were overly aggressive found themselves out of the league because they couldn't stay out of foul

trouble, eventually players completely eliminated this style of play so that they could succeed in

the modern era of basketball. The same thing must happen in the NFL or else players will

continue to be fined thousands of dollars on “illegal hits” and the CTE epidemic will continue to

rise.

Barlow, Rich. Aaron Hernandez's CTE Worst Seen in a Young Person.

www.bu.edu/research/articles/aaron-hernandez-cte-worst-seen-in-young-person/.
CTE Found in Nearly 90 Percent of Brains Donated by Football Players. 26 July 2017,

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20153831/cte-found-nearly-90-percent-brains-donated-

deceased-football-players.

Fainaru-Wada, Mark, et al. Doctors: Junior Seau's Brain Had CTE. 11 Jan. 2013,

www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8830344/study-junior-seau-brain-shows-chronic-brain-

damage-found-other-nfl-football-players.

Graziano, Dan. Tyler Sash CTE Level 'Had Advanced to Stage Rarely Seen' at Age 27. 27 Jan.

2016, www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/14655379/tyler-sash-former-new-york-giants-safety-

had-high-level-cte.

Laskas, Jeanne Marie, and Nick Veasay. Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One

Doctor Changed Football Forever. 15 Sept. 2009, www.gq.com/story/nfl-players-brain-

dementia-study-memory-concussions.

Male Body Image and the Average Athlete. www.psychguides.com/interact/male-body-

image-and-the-average-athlete/.

Morrison, Jim. “The Early History of Football's Forward Pass.” Smithsonian.com,

Smithsonian Institution, 28 Dec. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-early-

history-of-footballs-forward-pass-78015237/.

NFL Issues Response to CTE Research Report. 26 July 2017,

www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000822159/article/nfl-issues-response-to-cte-research-

report.
What Is CTE?23 Oct. 2018, concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE.