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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source">Getty Images</p></div><p></p></div>In the PBS documentary, "<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/">League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis</a>,"one of the most troubling allegations is that the <keyword id="103436" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NFL">NFL</keyword> actively worked to keep the brain of <keyword id="1035888" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Junior-Seau">Junior Seau</keyword> out of the hands of research teams that have been critical of the league's efforts in the past.</p>
<p>Seau is arguably the most famous face in the NFL's concussion crisis, having committed suicide with a gun shot wound to the chest - leaving his brain intact.</p>
<p>After he passed away, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who was the first researcher to discover Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in the brain of an ex-NFL player, received consent from Seau's son to sample Seau's brain to search for signs of brain disease.</p>
<p>However, according to "League of Denial" author Steve Fainaru, once the NFL learned that Omalu was going to autopsy the brain, they contacted Seau's son and informed him that "Omalu's research is bad ... and that he is essentially unethical."</p>
<p>At that point, Tyler Seau changed his mind and donated the brain to the National Institutes of Health and a concussion research group which has been <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/concussion-watch/in-brawl-for-seau-brain-a-proxy-war-over-concussion-science/">funded, in part, by a $30 million donation from the NFL</a>. Omalu, who was literally <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/concussion-watch/in-brawl-for-seau-brain-a-proxy-war-over-concussion-science/">slicing into Seau's brain in a lab before testing it</a>, was forced to give the organ to the NFL's preferred recipients.</p>
<p>In the documentary, the NFL defended its recommendation of donating the brain to NIH based on "getting it into the hand's of good science." However, in addition to bypassing Omalu's group, the NFL also bypassed the CTE research team at Boston University, the same group the NFL had previously declared as the "preferred" brain bank of the NFL.</p>
<p>According to author Mark Fainaru-Wada, the NFL allegedly "very directly worked" to keep the brain out of the hands of those groups and accomplished this by "speaking badly" about them.</p>
<p>In addition to CTE research in NFL players, the one thing Omalu's group and the Boston University group have in common is that they clashed with the NFL in the early days of concussion research.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the NIH group did find that Seau <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/10/health/seau-brain-disease/index.html">suffered from CTE</a>.</p>
<p>But the question remains: At what point does the NFL's donation of millions to concussion research go from good-hearted effort to fix a problem to money being used to keep the story under control and the important voices under the league's influence?</p>

NFL Wanted Junior Seau's Brain Kept Away From Concussion Researchers It Didn't Like, Documentary Alleges

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I'm from the Midwest and grew up with football everywhere. </li><li>I also played football when I was in high school — and broke some bones  doing so.</li></ul><p>As a red-blooded, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/new-york-city-midwest-life-differences-2019-8">Midwestern</a> boy born into Generation X, I grew up eating, sleeping, and breathing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-guide-to-football-swifties-nfl-2023-9">football</a>. I vividly remember, at age 10, watching the San Francisco 49ers hammer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/1983-nfl-draft-first-round-quarterbacks-2018-4">Dan Marino</a> and my beloved Miami Dolphins in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/best-usher-songs">Super Bowl</a> XIX.</p><p>I loved to play, too. I sweat, bled, and broke bones between the lines in high school. I nearly walked on with the local Big Ten program, but I wound up covering the team for the school paper. I grew into a career as a sportswriter, and, to my delight, I was handed the keys to the kingdom: press-row seats covering college football and the NFL for national publications.</p><p>So years later, when my own boys — spoon-fed fantasy football, Sunday Ticket, and all the lore of the game that I could pass down to them — came bounding into my basement office one day to ask whether they could join a youth football league, my answer should have been as emphatic as an end-zone dance.</p><p>Instead, I surprised even myself. "I'm sorry," I said. "But no."</p><h2>I would knock heads and see stars</h2><p>As a kid, I watched games with my dad, tossed wobbly spirals to buddies in the backyard, and relished every autumn Friday night I got to stick my cleats in the grass and my shoulder pads into some other pimply teenager.</p><p>Every so often, though, it wasn't my pads doing the sticking. I can recall one occasion when, with our school facing its cross-town rival, I wound up in what amounted to a one-on-one smackdown with the opponent's safety, each of us chugging full speed at the other, play after play — and too often colliding helmets-first.</p><p>Knock heads, see stars, rinse, repeat. It was all part of the game, right? And I couldn't get enough of it.</p><p>Even now, I distinctly remember the all-day anticipation of game night, the full-body tingle I felt before every snap, and the primal gratification of a clean, lungs-emptying hit. Didn't I want my boys — my athletic, red-blooded Midwestern boys — to experience the same gridiron thrills their old man once lived for?</p><h2>It's my obligation as their dad to keep them safe</h2><p>As it turns out, no. By the time my kids were old enough to begin participating in organized sports, the curtain had begun to be pulled back on the game — and what we saw was ugly. Rampant head-impact injuries, concussions, and a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Better helmets, contact-dampening rule changes — none of it could fully remove the blunt force from the game.</p><p>Many former NFL players, we learned, were being greeted in retirement by titanic physical, mental, and emotional struggles, which a growing body of research increasingly associated with CTE. A raft of former NFL tough guys — Andre Waters, Ray Easterling — were suddenly killing themselves. Dave Duerson shot himself in the chest so that his brain could be studied after his death. Junior Seau ended his life similarly. Jovan Belcher, while still an active player, fatally shot his girlfriend before taking his own life.</p><p>Of course, not every NFL player winds up with CTE. And though it has been found in a vast majority of those tested, not all of them turn to violence or self-harm. Still, many suffer from debilitating symptoms. And the risks start well before a player turns pro.</p><p>CTE has been found in college and high-school players. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-football-raises-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy#:~:text=Every%20additional%20year%20playing%20football,odds%20of%20developing%20severe%20CTE."><u>latest research</u></a> paints a grim picture: Experts commissioned by the National Institutes of Health recently found that "every additional year playing football was associated with 15% increased odds of a CTE diagnosis and, for those with CTE, 14% increased odds of severe CTE."</p><p>When the film "Concussion" was released in 2015, we saw it as a family. Based on the real-life findings of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is credited with discovering the link between CTE and NFL players, the movie left an impression on my boys.</p><p>I don't know that they fully absorbed the narrative in that moment, but I used it as an opportunity to help them understand why I had declared the game off-limits. "It's my job — it's my obligation — as your dad to keep you safe," I told them. "I wouldn't let you walk into traffic. And I wasn't going to let you play football, either."</p>

I grew up playing football, but I won't let my kids play it

<p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Elise Amendola</span></p><p class="caption">Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in September 2012 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix released <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-hernandez-documentary-reveals-double-life-crime-nfl-2020-1">"Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,"</a> a documentary looking into the rise, fall, and death of Aaron Hernandez, on Wednesday. </li><li>The documentary chronicles the story of Hernandez, a former New England Patriots player who died by suicide while serving a life sentence for killing Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée's sister. </li><li>After his death, researchers found that he had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-nfl-players-brains-high-rates-cte-2017-7">severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)</a>, a brain disease caused by repetitive brain trauma. </li><li>"Killer Inside" features long segments on the brain disease, including interviews from other football players. It does not tie Hernandez's crimes specifically to the disease. </li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>A new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-hernandez-documentary-reveals-double-life-crime-nfl-2020-1">Netflix documentary about former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez</a> highlights how brain trauma is affecting the NFL's players.</p><p>While "Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez" does not blame <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-nfl-players-brains-high-rates-cte-2017-7">chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)</a> for Hernandez's criminal behavior - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-aaron-hernandez-2017-4">or the murder of Odin Lloyd, which Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for</a> - the documentary does give insight into how the untreatable disease affects NFL players for the rest of their lives.</p><p>Through interviews with lawyers, Hernandez's friends, and former NFL players, the documentary tells stories of CTE, which can only be diagnosed after death.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-concussion-protocol-2018-4">Chris Borland</a>, a former 49ers linebacker who retired after just one year in the league over fears of the longterm effects of head injuries, said in an interview that he was experiencing symptoms of concussions - including ringing in the ears and imbalance - every day.</p><p>"In my minimal interactions with folks high in the NFL, I think there's a certain degree of hubris. You know, they own a day of the week," he told "Killer Inside" filmmakers. "Football's a religion."</p><p>"No matter whether or not they're throwing a flag, or claiming concussions are down, or taking players into the blue tent, the reason football is the most popular sport is because it's violent," he added, referencing penalty flags for helmet hits, and the blue medical evaluation tents on the sidelines of NFL games. "They're not in the health business. They're in the violence business."</p><h2>The documentary covers the CTE diagnoses of Mike Webster and Junior Seau</h2><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File</span></p><p class="caption">Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster pictured in the 1988 season.</p><p>Before delving into Hernandez's own CTE diagnosis, the documentary highlights the diagnoses of <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/mike-websters-family-fighting-for-nfl-concussion-settlement/">Mike Webster</a>, who was the first former NFL player to be diagnosed with the disease after he died of a heart attack in 2002, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/sports/junior-seau-suit-nfl.html">Junior Seau</a>, who was diagnosed after he died by shooting himself in the chest in 2012.</p><p>Retired Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden told filmmakers he wasn't shocked at Hernandez's CTE diagnosis because he had already known what happened to Seau, another Patriots teammate.</p><p>"Having CTE be the kind of thing they both shared is eye-opening to athletes and to everybody in the football world," he said.</p><p>As more people learn about the problems CTE can cause, more players are retiring from the NFL early. </p><p>Researchers have shown that head hits in youth sports <a href="https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/141/2/422/4815697">increase the risk of</a> <a href="https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/2018/01/18/study-hits-not-concussions-cause-cte/">developing</a> CTE. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2739480">Another study</a> has shown that players are at a higher risk if they play longer.</p><p>Carolina Panthers linebacker <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/15/luke-kuechly-retirement-concussions">Luke Kuechly</a> announced his retirement on Wednesday <a href="https://twitter.com/Panthers/status/1217257977352204294">at just 28</a>, saying it was the "right thing to do."</p><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Luke MacGregor</span></p><p class="caption">New England Patriots Junior Seau speaks to reporters before training at the Oval Cricket Ground ahead of their NFL game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London October October 23, 2009</p><p>The NFL says it supports scientific research into CTE, pledging $100 million into independent studies in 2016. After Boston University's CTE Center released a study in 2017, which found evidence of the disease in 110 out of 111 former players, <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000822159/article/nfl-issues-response-to-cte-research-report">the NFL issued a statement</a> saying the research added value "in the ongoing quest for a better understanding of CTE" but said there are "unanswered questions relating to the cause, incidence, and prevalence of long-term effects of head trauma such as CTE."</p><h2>Hernandez had 'advanced' CTE when he died by suicide in 2017</h2><p>When Hernandez's brain was examined after his death in 2017, Ann McKee, a neuropathologist and expert in neurodegenerative disease at Boston University's CTE center, said his diagnosis was advanced.</p><p>"He had a very advanced disease. And not only was it advanced microscopically, especially in the frontal lobes, which are very important for decision making, judgment, and cognition," she said in "Killer Inside."</p><p>Patrick Haggan, the prosecutor on Hernandez's second trial told interviewers in "Killer Inside" that he researched CTE after hearing about Hernandez's diagnosis.</p><p>"I started to look at the signs of CTE - impulsiveness, rash decisions, sometimes propensity to be violent. It was Aaron Hernandez," he said in the documentary. "And if you look at everything that this young man had going on - not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, from what had happened when he was a child, and what had happened in his own life, then on top of it you add the CTE - it all made sense that this tragedy had probably begun, or the seeds of this tragedy had started many, many years earlier."</p><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/CJ Gunther/Pool</span></p><p class="caption">Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez and defense attorney Charles Rankin wait in the courtroom during the jury deliberation in his murder trial at the Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts, April 10, 2015.</p><p>Jermaine Wiggins, a former New England Patriots tight end, believes there was something worse going on with Hernandez, and that CTE wasn't to blame for his crimes.</p><p>"I think it's a cop-out [to blame CTE]," he said in "Killer Inside." "There are thousands of former football players out there that might have dealt with concussions. I've dealt with them. So to use that as a cop-out? No, we're smarter than that, people."</p><p>In the "Killer Inside" segment on CTE, filmmakers included an old local TV interview of Patriots owner Robert Kraft where he encourages people to still play football.</p><p>"My sons and grandson played, I played, and I'd recommend to every other mother out there who wants their son to grow up special that they should play too," he said.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-hernandez-documentary-reveals-double-life-crime-nfl-2020-1">Aaron Hernandez's casual prison behavior 'chilled' guards, according to a new Netflix documentary showing how he lived a double life of NFL stardom and murderer</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-nfl-players-brains-high-rates-cte-2017-7">Aaron Hernandez had a severe form of the brain disease that impacts a wide swath of NFL players - here's what it does</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-aaron-hernandez-2017-4">The rise and fall of Aaron Hernandez: How he went from a rising star to a convicted murderer and the newest face of football's concussion crisis</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-aaron-hernandez-lawyer-brain-showed-severe-case-of-cte-2017-9">Aaron Hernandez had CTE, the brain disease associated with repeated concussions</a></li></ul><p class="tagline">If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. <a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/">The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline</a> (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.</p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fireworks-blue-pyrotechnics-chemical-hard-make-2019-7">Why you won't see any blue fireworks at your New Year's Eve celebration</a></h3>

'They're in the violence business': The Aaron Hernandez documentary highlights how the brain disease CTE has affected the entire NFL

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>A powerful new commercial from the New York Times highlights the effects reporting can have on the real world by highlighting the paper's coverage of concussions.</strong></li><li><strong>The minimalist ad uses headlines to tell the story of Junior Seau, from his rookie year to his tragic suicide, and concludes on the NFL's changing of the concussion protocol.</strong></li><li><strong>The ad comes just days before the biggest day for both football and commercials of the year - Super Bowl Sunday.</strong></li></ul><p><br>A new commercial from the New York Times aims to highlight the power of reporting by reminding its audience of the progress that has been made in the NFL with regard to how the league treats concussions now that the effects of CTE are more widely known.</br></p><p>With a minimalist layout that's reminiscent of previous ads from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-times-want-to-fuel-political-debate-with-newest-tv-ad-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Times' "The Truth is Hard" campaign</a>, the ad begins by showing headlines that highlight the start of Junior Seau's career, soundtracked by a cheering crowd. The ad flips through headlines as Seau continues his career, making a Super Bowl and coming back from injury for his 18th season.</p><p>Then, the cheers stop, as the next headline reveals the news of Seau's suicide, with subsequent stories revealing that Seau had suffered from CTE. The final headline lands on the NFL changing its concussion protocol, signaling a shift in the seriousness with which the league takes concussions, and how they come as a direct result of reporting.</p><p>The ad comes just days before the biggest day for both football and commercials of the year - Super Bowl Sunday.</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/vince-stephanie-shane-mcmahon-wwe-successor-triple-h-jim-ross-wrestling-2018-1">JIM ROSS: Here's who will take over WWE after Vince McMahon</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

Powerful New York Times commercial highlights concussion reporting on the eve of the Super Bowl

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Seth Wenig/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Tom Brady said his body is "wired" for contact and that he has become "calloused" to some hits he takes.</strong></li><li><strong>Brady said he doesn't even feel some hits because his pliability training helps his muscles absorb the contact and re-disperse it.</strong></li><li><strong>Brady is not immune to injury, but at 41, he's been remarkably healthy, and he says his body hurts less now than when he was in his 20s.</strong></li></ul><p>Tom Brady has dedicated his life, from his diet to his training regimen, to playing football into his 40s, an age when most other players are retired.</p><p>Brady has said numerous times that his body feels better now than he did in his 20s. In an <a href="https://westwoodonesports.com/2018/12/tom-brady-on-moving-on-after-miami-retirement-talks-with-gisele-and-more/">interview with Jim Gray of Westwood One in December</a>, Brady said his body had become "calloused" to hits.</p><p>"Your body gets used to the hits," Brady said. "The brain understands the position that you're putting your body into. And my brain is wired for contact. I would say in some ways it's become calloused to some of the hits."</p><p>Brady said when reviewing film, he's sometimes asked if the hits he takes hurt. He said he doesn't even feel some of them anymore.</p><p>"I look at certain hits in the game that I see on film, and people go, 'God, did that hurt a lot?'" Brady said. "And I'll say, 'No, I didn't even really feel it.'</p><p>"It's just from all of the work that I'm putting in, understanding the things I need to do to prepare my body."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-cold-the-afc-championship-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter King explains why Tom Brady wants it to be 'stupidly, ridiculously, awfully cold' when the Patriots take on the Chiefs on Sunday</a></em></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Dannie Walls/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Pliability is an important part of Tom Brady's body maintenance.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Brady's methods revolve around the idea of pliability and keeping his muscles loose and soft. He said because of his training, particularly with his coach, friend, and business partner, Alex Guerrero, his body now absorbs the blows.</p><p>"Based on all of the pliability treatments that I do, my muscles just absorb the forces and disperse the forces as well as they ever have. I take hits better now at 41 than I did when I was 25."</p><p>That's not to say Brady doesn't get hurt. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported last Sunday that Brady had been playing through an MCL sprain for some of the 2018 season, but eventually got over it.</p><p>Not everyone agreed with Brady's assessment. Former Patriots linebacker <a href="https://985thesportshub.com/episodes/felger-mazz-ted-johnson-on-chargers-patriots-the-patriots-running-game-and-josh-mcdaniels-hour-2/">Ted Johnson said on the "Felger and Mazz" show</a> that Brady's comments made him "throw up in [his] mouth a little bit," calling them "irresponsible."</p><p><span>So, what, Kevin Turner's wasn't? Junior Seau's wasn't? Justin Strzelczyk's brain wasn't? Andre Waters' brain wasn't wired for contact? But yours is? It was very insensitive, and I thought irresponsible to talk like that."</span></p><p><span>Brady told Grey that he thinks he has an advantage on other players from his training. He said he thinks about what he can do to improve on a daily basis and works at it year-round.</span><span></span></p><p><span>With Brady and the Patriots seemingly rounding into form as soon as the playoffs began, it's hard to argue that he must be onto something.</span></p><p><a href="https://westwoodonesports.com/2018/12/tom-brady-on-moving-on-after-miami-retirement-talks-with-gisele-and-more/">Listen to the entire interview here &gt;</a></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-cold-the-afc-championship-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Peter King explains why Tom Brady wants it to be 'stupidly, ridiculously, awfully cold' when the Patriots take on the Chiefs on Sunday</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-contract-discounts-patriots-bargain-2018-7" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Tom Brady sacrificed at least $60 million in his career with discounted contracts for the Patriots</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-conference-championship-teams-offenses-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The 4 remaining NFL teams have one thing in common and it may be a sign of where the league is headed</a></li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-north-south-poles-flip-magnetic-field-2018-4">What will happen when Earth's north and south poles flip</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Tom Brady says he can't even feel some of the hits he takes anymore because his body is 'wired' for contact

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Former NFL quarterback Ken Stabler died in July from colon cancer at the age of 69. However, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/sports/football/ken-stabler-nfl-cte-brain-disease.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">a report by John Branch of the New York Times</a> reveals that research since then has shown that Stabler suffered from an advanced stage of <span>chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease that has been linked to concussions.</span></p><p><span>Stabler played 15 seasons in the NFL, including ten with the Oakland Raiders, where he led that franchise to their first Super Bowl victory following the 1976 season.</span></p><p><span>According to the report, Stabler suffered from Stage 3 CTE, on a scale of 1 to 4. </span></p><p><span>CTE is caused by a <span>buildup of tau in the brain. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-players-concussion-2015-9" target="_blank">According to researchers at Boston University</a>, tau is a protein that "forms around the brain's blood vessels, interrupting normal functioning and eventually killing nerve cells." It is believed that CTE can be caused </span><span><span>by repetitive trauma to the brain, such as the collisions that occur during football games.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span></span></span></span><span><span><span>The group at Boston University, led by <span>Dr. Ann McKee, recently announced that they studied the brains of 91 former NFL players and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 87 (96%) of them.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>McKee, who conducted the examination on Stabler, described his case as "moderately severe,"</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>"Pretty classic," she told the Times. "It may be surprising since he was a quarterback, but certainly the lesions were widespread, and they were quite severe, affecting many regions of the brain."</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>Of the more than 100 former NFL players shown to have CTE, Stabler is the seventh quarterback. The list also includes seven Hall of Famers, including Junior Seau and Frank Gifford.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>According to Branch, Stabler wanted his brain examined because "his mind seemed to slip so precipitously in his final years."</span></span></span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/concussion-doctor-oj-simpson-has-cte-nfl-brain-2016-1">The doctor who inspired the movie 'Concussion' is convinced OJ Simpson has a brain disease</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Y4b2FpMDE68xfQdfCG2Op2J_Pr4oZuke" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Evidence shows that another NFL legend had a brain disease linked to concussions

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jonathan Daniel /All</span></p><p class="caption">Dave Duerson's brain was one of those examined and diagnosed with CTE at BU.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The latest study from an ongoing Boston University examination of the brains of former football players has yielded more ominous results.</p><p>In a <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2645104">study published July 25</a> in the Journal of the American Medical Medical Association, investigators reported that 177 out 202 brains of deceased American football players showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/football-brain-disease-what-is-cte-2016-9/">CTE, the degenerative brain disease</a> that's strongly linked to repeated blows to the head.</p><p>For former NFL players, the results were even more stark: 110 out 111 players' brains were diagnosed with the disease.</p><p>At varying levels of severity, CTE manifests with memory problems, mood disorders, depression, and dementia. There's still a lot we don't know about the disease and its causes, but this new data gives scientists even more reason to think professional football players are likely to suffer from CTE. It also suggests that these athletes are likely to have more severe forms of degenerative brain disease than the average patient.</p><p>That's a big deal when talking about <a href="http://www.theharrispoll.com/sports/Americas_Fav_Sport_2016.html">America's favorite sport</a>. The NFL has been <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/">accused of denying or concealing the risks</a> of head injuries in the past, which led to a $1 billion lawsuit between the league and thousands of former players. Football players like Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, who both committed suicide, asked that their brains be examined for signs of the disorder and were diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.</p><p>Chris Nowinski, the executive director of the <a href="http://concussionfoundation.org/">Concussion Legacy Foundation</a> and author of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/HEAD-GAMES-GLOBAL-CONCUSSION-CRISIS/dp/B00L8B729C?tag=bisafetynet2-20">Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis</a>," previously <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/football-brain-disease-what-is-cte-2016-9/">told Business Insider</a> that it's hard to understand just how bad this sort of disease can be "until you live this every day and really hear the horror stories of what happens to families when things go wrong." </p><h2>What the new study tells us</h2><p>The longer and more seriously someone played football, the study found, the more likely they were to have severe CTE. People who stopped playing after high school all had mild pathology, while those who played in college, semiprofessional, and professional leagues mostly had severe CTE.</p><p>Even the individuals posthumously diagnosed with "mild" CTE had showed signs of behavior problems, cognitive issues, and mood disorders when they were alive. Substance use disorders, a likelihood of committing suicide, and impulsivity were also common. In addition to those traits, those with severe CTE were frequently diagnosed with dementia.</p><p>"It is no longer debatable whether or not there is a problem in football - there is a problem," Dr. Ann McKee, who led the study, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/25/sports/football/nfl-cte.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;_r=0">told The New York Times</a>. Even if CTE was expected to be somewhat common, the fact that 99% of NFL players in the study showed signs of the disease indicates that it's extremely prevalent among former players.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Doug Pensinger/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">How risky are concussions?</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The brains that BU's CTE Center studied were all donated for research based on suspicions that the individuals they once belonged to might have developed the disorder. Unfortunately, CTE can only be diagnosed after death, but many of the players whose brains were examined displayed symptoms before death that are linked to the disorder.</p><p>So it's not a surprise that CTE was so common among this sample.</p><p>However, as the Times reports, approximately 1,300 former NFL players have died since the CTE Center began this research. Even if <em>zero</em> of the brains that were not examined in this study showed signs of CTE, that would still make the minimum CTE prevalence for former NFL players approximately 9%. The researchers suggest that's significantly higher than the rate in the general population. And it's likely the incidence is even higher than that.</p><h2>What we still don't know</h2><p><a href="http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14972296/top-nfl-official-acknowledges-link-football-related-head-trauma-cte-first">The NFL has already admitted</a> that there's a link between playing football and developing CTE. But we still don't know what causes CTE in the first place.</p><p>It's possible that concussions, the bell-ringing hits that leave players confused and potentially knocked out, play a role. But it's perhaps even more likely that the degenerative condition is triggered by the hundreds or thousands of smaller hits to the head that players endure. </p><p>As the new study points out, the vast majority of football players aren't college or professional players. Most people who play football play at some point as kids or high school students but then stop. We don't yet know how risky that exposure is, but it could be dangerous.</p><p>"It's an ethical question, what is our culture comfortable with," Nowiski <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/football-brain-disease-what-is-cte-2016-9/">told Business Insider</a>. "Is government underwriting brain damage for children through school sports?"</p><p>Oher sports may be risky as well. CTE was first identified as "dementia pugilistica" in former boxers, and at least <a href="http://www.nature.com/labinvest/journal/v95/n6/full/labinvest201554a.html">one study found</a> that 17% of former boxers' brains showed the disease. Concerns have also been raised about the consequences of heading the ball in soccer and about contact sports like hockey and rugby.</p><p>It's important to understand these overall risks and to compare them to the health and social problems associated with avoiding sports. Perhaps the games can be changed in ways that make them less dangerous - youth football leagues have already made an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/football-brain-disease-what-is-cte-2016-9/">effort to do boost safety and have reduced concussion rates</a>. But how do we decide when an activity is safe enough?</p><p>No one wants to suffer the effects of a degenerative brain disorder. If there's a way to help athletes avoid that, we need to figure out the best way to do so.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-superstar-tom-brady-makes-spends-money-millions-new-england-patriots-football-2017-2">Here's how Tom Brady - one of the NFL's richest stars - makes and spends his millions</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M0ZWFkOTE6hhAckXR2uJoDfY5VqpGtTE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A study on former NFL players' brains found that 99% had signs of degenerative disease

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Denver Broncos' Miller strips the ball away from Carolina Panthers' quarterback Newton on a sack leading to a Denver recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in the first quarter during the NFL's Super Bowl 50.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The 2016 NFL season kicks off with a hell of a game on the night of September 8: The Carolina Panthers take on the Denver Broncos in a rematch of last season's Super Bowl, which the Broncos won 24-10, largely due to their hard-hitting defense.</p><p>But along with the return of the pro and college seasons, with Saturdays and Sundays spent tailgating and tallying fantasy points, come the stories of what's happening to players whose brains have been repeatedly battered.</p><p>This year one of the high profile cases is that of Tre Mason, a 23-year-old running back for the Los Angeles Rams. Mason has <a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/06/as-rams-finalize-regular-season-roster-tre-mason-still-missing-from-team/">yet to report to training camp</a> after a troubled offseason that included multiple encounters with police. A stun gun was used on him in one encounter. He was checked into the hospital after another for his strange behavior. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tre-mason-mom-says-hes-suffering-from-concussions-2016-8">His mother, Tina, has said</a> that head injuries have given him the mindset of a 10-year-old.</p><p>"As much as he's accomplished, as hard as he's worked, as much as he's built his character, in record-breaking time it's going downhill because of what's going on," she said, <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2016/08/23/tre-mason-cops-mom-football-head-trauma/">according to audio obtained by TMZ</a>. "He doesn't even know. He's not conscious enough."</p><p>If Mason's story was one isolated incident, it could be treated as an outlier, but clearly, it's not. Look at <a href="http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;site=businessinsider.com&amp;xs=1&amp;isjs=1&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F03%2F08%2Fsports%2Fncaafootball%2Fryan-hoffman-a-unc-football-player-two-decades-ago-is-now-homeless.html%3F_r%3D0&amp;xguid=ab27653949c07042b455f127fd8b9c28&amp;xuuid=d03f0372e1bda72d14251019fbfa3b5c&amp;xsessid=a2797ae3d4934e481512ab06954b025e&amp;xcreo=0&amp;xed=0&amp;sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fhow-dangerous-is-football-2015-3&amp;pref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&amp;xtz=240">The New York Times story</a> from last year profiling former UNC lineman Ryan Hoffman, whose mental decline left him homeless, struggling with depression, substance abuse, and memory problems. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/sports/ncaafootball/ryan-hoffman-north-carolina-tar-heel-dead.html">Hoffman died</a> last December after riding his bike the wrong way into traffic at night. And that's before beginning to list now-deceased NFL players like Junior Seau, Mike Webster, or Dave Duerson, famously diagnosed after their deaths with a condition that causes a breakdown in the brain known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.</p><p>"Until you live this every day and really hear the horror stories of what happens to families when things go wrong," it's hard to understand these stories, says Chris Nowinski, co-founder and executive director of the Concussion Legacy Institute, author of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/HEAD-GAMES-GLOBAL-CONCUSSION-CRISIS/dp/B00L8B729C">Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis</a>," and co-founder of the Boston University CTE Center, which is largely responsible for demonstrating the connection between football and the degenerative brain disease.</p><p>"Until the last 10 years these stories haven't been told," Nowinski tells Business Insider.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Win McNamee/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Chris Nowinski (left) testifies before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on the 'State of Play: Brain Injuries and Diseases of Aging.'</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>These stories are not even necessarily about concussions, despite the fact that it's those bell-ringing hits that leave someone unable to focus, control emotional reactions and balance, or properly process what's happening around them that get the most attention. The bigger, still wide-open question is about the impact of the hundreds or thousands of smaller hits to the head that people - ranging from kids to adults - take while playing football and other sports all the time.</p><p>We're now in a weird situation. We know more about CTE than we ever have before. At this point, <a href="http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14972296/top-nfl-official-acknowledges-link-football-related-head-trauma-cte-first">NFL officials say they understand</a> there's a link between the game and the degenerative disease.</p><p>But even though there are theories, scientists don't know exactly how people develop CTE. Is it 750 mild hits to the head? A few thousand hits to the head? A couple of concussions and a few hundred other hits? We can't ethically test these things, and they would vary for each individual anyway.</p><p>We don't know the point at which we cross the line to inevitable brain damage. It's urgent that we support the research that can try to answer that question. But in the meantime, how do we decide the right approach to sports like football?</p><p>The question goes beyond football too - concerns have been raised about heading the ball in soccer and of course about contact sports like hockey or rugby. But football is the arena where we have to confront this question most directly, as it's perhaps the most linked to these injuries and it's the <a href="http://www.theharrispoll.com/sports/Americas_Fav_Sport_2016.html">most popular sport</a> in the United States.</p><p>First, perhaps, we have to decide whether it's right to encourage kids to play. But if kids don't play, eventually, adults won't either. And that leaves us in an awkward spot: If we determine that brain damage is inevitable, should the sport be played at all?</p><p>More and more fans wince now when they see a player go down and not get back up. That's when the specter of brain damage starts to shine through. Professional sports are entertainment, and there'd be no reason to play without an audience that's worth billions. So should we <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2014/08/07/why-you-should-stop-watching-football/FYbCW73jay4MzeMQ6pC5TK/story.html">stop watching</a>? Writing as a conflicted fan, there's no easy answer.</p><p>As Sports Illustrated recently suggested, <a href="http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/08/31/future-of-football-nfl-safety-concussions">football could very well die</a>. Can it be saved? Should it?</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Donald Miralle/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Some of the biggest questions are what to do about youth football.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Can the game be made safer?</h2><p>Even bringing this conversation up tends to bring out two different groups: those who think it's obvious that games like football are stupid and those who think it isn't manly to suggest that there's anything wrong with the current state of affairs.</p><p>"People talk about this at the edges," says Nowinski. "It's either 'every man for himself' or it's a 'nanny state with everyone in bubbles.'" We have to get beyond that to have a productive conversation.</p><p>Nowinski knows head injuries. After playing defensive tackle for the Harvard football team, he became a professional wrestler. One particular mismanaged concussion ended that career, but he also experienced repeated blows to the head throughout that time, something that we now know is far more dangerous than we once thought.</p><p>Most people don't want to eliminate contact sports entirely, as there are clear psychological and physical benefits to playing. But for Nowinski at least, the current state of affairs is untenable.</p><p>"There's never a reason to hit a child in the head before high school" - at the very least, he says. "It's an unnecessary activity."</p><p>And while that position goes further than many others advocate, there are movements in that direction.</p><p>This year, the Pop Warner football organization, the largest youth program in the country, eliminated kickoffs for their youngest divisions.</p><p>"It seemed to make sense to us, particularly on the advice of our medical advisory committee," says Jon Butler, the executive director for Pop Warner. Butler says that other decisions that they've made to limit contact, including rules drastically reducing hits in practice and regulations requiring medical professionals to clear kids to return to play after a head injury, have sharply <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/sports/football/nfl-concussions-youth-program-heads-up-football.html">reduced concussions among its players</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Doug Pensinger/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Strong safety David Bruton #30 of the Denver Broncos is attended to by trainers after a play that would force him out of the game with a reported concussion during a game against the Oakland Raiders.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"If we find that there is a reduction in injuries and the overall feedback is positive, we would gradually move this [elimination of kickoffs] up through our other divisions of play," he says, pointing out that by moving moving the kickoff line forward, the NFL essentially eliminated the chances of hard hits occurring on kickoffs for pros, since most now result in a touchback.</p><p>When we talk about whether or not "we" should play football, there's of course a big distinction between kids who play for glory, acceptance, and fun; and adults, who if they still play, probably do so for money. But of course, any changes to the game for kids are going to affect adults eventually too, as these are the kids who will or won't play the game in the future. If you are going to talk about the college and pro level of the game, you have to talk about kids too.</p><p>Some think that changes to the game will make a huge difference. In 2015, <a href="http://auxiliary.georgiasouthern.edu/healthservices/staff/chad-asplund-m-d/">Dr. Chad Asplund</a>, medical director of athletics sports medicine at Georgia Southern University, co-authored a provocative editorial in the <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/15/1015.extract">medical journal BMJ</a>, asking "if brain damage is an inevitable consequence or an avoidable risk in American football."</p><p>Asplund tells Business Insider that he thinks both rule changes and proper medical care can be transformative. "A lot of the reason why these prominent players from the 70s and 80s got CTE is they sustained a concussion and didn't inform anybody, they didn't stop playing," he says. Now, "people are realizing that concussions are serious, they should stay out." Treating head injuries carefully, teaching people safer techniques, all of these things can definitely reduce the number of injuries, he says.</p><p>Clearly, the game can be made safer, as Butler and Asplund point out.</p><p>Whether or not that'll be enough is still unknown.</p><h2>Is it worth it?</h2><p>Nowinski isn't sure. It's hard to figure out the level of "acceptable risk," especially for kids.</p><p>"It's an ethical question, what is our culture comfortable with," he asks. "Is government underwriting brain damage for children through school sports? What is fair to do to a child? Adult sports can be dangerous, especially if they have informed consent and a union looking out for them, but children don't have those opportunities."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ezra Shaw/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Jonathan Stewart #28 of the Carolina Panthers is tackled by Danny Trevathan #59 of the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Santa Clara, California.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>He does say that the pursuit of a middle ground is a good goal - advocating for rule changes, like those that have occurred at the Pop Warner level. And that's something that most people who stop and think about the sport agree with.</p><p>"If you look back at the history of the game ... the game evolved and it continues to evolve," says Butler. "It's going to have to, we know so much about the <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> now and it'd be foolish not to change it."</p><p>At the same time, Nowinski and others are pushing for more research, especially studies into CTE. Many, like Asplund, point out that we still have a lot to learn about CTE, and perhaps the specific brains that we've studied make it seem like football is riskier than it is. We still have a lot to learn.</p><p>But it's possible that that research will confirm something that deep down, we all know is a possibility. Maybe there's no safe way to get hit in the head repeatedly.</p><p>If so, should we play football at all? Should we watch?</p><p>When Nowinski gives talks, he likes to ask the audience how many times they've been hit in the head in the past year. A few people might raise their hands. Then he asks how many have been hit in the head more than ten times. The hands go down.</p><p>"No adults expose themselves to brain trauma unless they are being paid for it," he says. "The only people who get hit in the head thousands of times are kids." In his opinion, the fair number of hits might be the number that naturally would happen without the culture created in sports like football - there would probably be a few serious knocks to head, as happens to a large percentage of the population, but the overall number would drastically decrease.</p><p>Maybe the game can be made safer. As a fan, I love that idea. But I don't know if it's possible. Maybe not.</p><p>Nowinski argues that sometimes you can make changes to something that make it safer, but that doesn't mean that thing is a good idea. He uses adding filters to cigarettes as an analogy.</p><p>"You could argue that cigarettes today have never been safer, but they are still going to cause lung cancer," he says. "I would argue that football is in that position ... Once you start hitting kids in the head hundreds of times, maybe you're doing something wrong."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kid-quits-football-after-concussion-movie-2016-2">A high school football star turned down 6 college scholarships after seeing 'Concussion'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5vamF2MDE6w98Oh9ODBM_fGQFM-E1UbP" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "Junior Seau" and got 8 results

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