Chronic traumatic encephalopathy and its relationship with the NFL

The topic we are discussing today is more open than ever in the National Football League (NFL). Although chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) affects other sports, such as boxing or wrestling, in which the head area receives serious blows, its relationship with the American football league is very close.

After ignoring the recommendations for years and denying the various investigations on the matter, in 2016 everything began to change. For the first time, The NFL admitted the relationship between playing one of the most popular sports in the US, American football, and suffering serious brain damage.

The truth is that the continuous investigations carried out for years, as well as news about serious events in which former NFL players have been involved, strongly stir up the debate about the safety of this sport.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE, is a degenerative brain disease induced by repeated blows to the head. This disease was originally known as pugilistic dementia, given its connection to the world of boxing and identified in boxers in the 1920s.

CTE causes serious behavioral problems, such as aggression and lack of emotional control, as well as serious cognitive problems. It differentiates four levels of severity, and generally increases as the person ages. Furthermore, serious consequences can appear years after the blows received.

The safety and support measures are the same as those recommended for other types of dementia. Currently there is no specific treatment for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The link between CTE and the NFL

Until 2016, the NFL had only accepted that hits to the head of players were associated with a high risk to their long-term health. However, in that same year, everything changed. For the first time in history, the NFL admitted that this sport represents a health risk, as well as the serious problems it can cause due to repetitive trauma to any part of the head.

According to The New York TimesAfter years of denial by the NFL, the news was perceived in a similar way to the acceptance by the tobacco industry in 1997 regarding the fact that smoking is closely related to the future probability of developing cancer and suffer from heart problems. This statement has raised a new scenario, since the NFL is forced to somehow modify the way it proceeds in many aspects.

What is the NFL?

The National Football League (NFL), in Spanish known as the National Football League, is the largest professional American football league in the United States. This sport is characterized by the aggressiveness with which it is played, where there are frequent pushes and blows that an athlete suffers in just a single match.

Currently, The NFL implements awareness programs about the risks that playing American football can cause. Safer playing techniques are taught, but this is not enough and there is doubt about even changing the rules of the game, in this way it would imply at least a lower level of violence.

In 1994, the first Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee was created, with the Jets doctor as chairman. In all his interventions he downplayed any connection between the CTE and the NFL.

Everything started to change when Michael Webster, an American football legend, four-time NFL champion and Hall of Fame member, filed a disability application with the NFL Retirement Board. She alleged that her professional career had caused her dementia. In 1999, and privately, the NFL accepted it and compensated Webster with 2 million dollars.

The discovery of Dr. Bennet Omalu

In 2002, Mike Webster died after suffering a heart attack. Dr. Bennet Omalu, a specialist in neurology and forensic pathology, was in charge of performing his autopsy. Once he made public his findings after analyzing Mike Webster’s body, everything changed. Mike Webster lived the last years of his life alone and destitute. It was the first time that this disease transcended beyond the ring.

Many investigations continued. A study carried out in 2017 examined 202 brains of people who had died and who had also played in some category of American football after the 1960s. The results showed that CTE was present in 87% of them, that is, 177 brains. Another fact that even more related CTE to the practice of this sport: 99% of them had gone on to play professionally in the NFL.

All the brains studied come from people who donated them to science precisely because they suspected that something serious could happen to them.. The report concludes “in a sample of deceased American football players who donated their brains for research, a high proportion had neuropathological evidence of CTE, suggesting that this disease may be related to participation in American football.”

Featured cases, the tip of the iceberg

There have been many former players diagnosed with CTE. The case of Mike Webster is the paradigmatic case for the NFL. When the investigation ended, the family of the former Steelers player sued the NFL, receiving $1.8 million in order to repair the damages caused.

Some of the best known cases are the following:

Justin Strzelczyk36 years old, who died after suffering a traffic accident in which he collided head-on with a truck in 2004.Terry Long45, who committed suicide after ingesting antifreeze in 2005.Andrew Waters44, who also committed suicide after shooting himself in the head in 2006.Junior Seau, 43, ended his professional career in 2009, after almost two decades in the NFL. A few years later, he committed suicide.Ken Stabler69, who died of colon cancer in 2015. A year later, Boston University would reveal that he suffered from stage 3 CTE.Dwight Clark61, who died in 2018. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease recently linked to CTE.

The most important to date: Aaron Hernández

One of the most striking cases was that of Aaron Hernández, former New England Patriots player. Even the Netflix platform has released a documentary that tells his story, titled “The Mind of a Murderer: Aaron Hernández” (2020). Aaron Hernandez, 27, He saw his career in the world of American football cut short after being convicted of the murder of one of his friends and also a player.Odin Lloyd, in 2013. In 2017, while serving a life sentence, he committed suicide in prison.

The autopsy, carried out at Boston University, revealed that his brain, apparently healthy, hid a CTE of such severity never seen before. In the image shown below you can see the comparison between the brain of a healthy person and the brain of Aaron Hernández, both at the same age: 27 years old.

When the brain was dissected into 1.3 centimeter pieces, They discovered “caves” of unusual size that expanded as brain tissue shrank. Perforation of the membrane that divides the two sides of the brain, called the septum pellucidum, was also observed.

Subsequently, Aaron Hernández’s legal representatives announced that they would initiate proceedings against the NFL. In response to this statement, the league responded that “any attempt to make Aaron Hernández appear to be a victim is misguided.”

Latest known cases

One of the latest cases has been that of Vincent Jackson, 38, who died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in Florida in February 2021. His family had reported him missing days before, in this way the police located Vincent at said hotel and verified that his health was good, and closed the investigation.

Days later, the former Chargers and Buccaneers player would commit suicide. His family decided to donate his brain to science and he is currently at Boston University.

In this same center, the brain of another former player was investigated: John Mackey, former Colts player, in 2011, determining that he also suffered from CTE. Just a few months ago, in April 2021, 32-year-old former NFL player Phillip Adams allegedly shot and killed five people. Later, he would have committed suicide. The investigation remains open.

The truth hurts

Finally, the story of Omalu and the beginning of all this trouble was brought to the big screen in a film starring Will Smith: Concussiontranslated into Spanish by The truth hurts (2015). With the broadcast of this film, the debate gained space in the media.

After all the findings and investigations, The fear of suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy began to take its toll on the NFL. There have been several players who began to announce their retirement early. One of them was Chris Borland, 24 years old; We are talking about one of the most promising rookies, who announced his retirement, showing his concern for his safety.

The NFL had to admit the truth, and it did. Now he must improve protection measures for his players.

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