Having studied the brains of 79 deceased NFL players, one of the nation's largest brain banks has come to the conclusion that 76 suffered from some form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.
According to PBS's Frontline, a total of 128 former football players were studied -- professionals, semi-professionals, college players and high school players -- and from that sample, 101 players tested positive for CTE.
That means 78.9 percent of the football players and 96.2 percent of the former NFLers suffered from the disease.
"Obviously this high percentage of living individuals is not suffering from CTE," said Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs' brain repository in Bedford, Mass. "[But] playing football, and the higher the level you play football and the longer you play football, the higher your risk."
This news comes a day after it was revealed that former Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend and then himself in December 2013, likely suffered from CTE.
Other former NFLers who were found to have suffered from CTE include Hall of Fame Steelers center Mike Webster, legendary linebacker Junior Seau, former Bears defender Dave Duerson and former Bengals receiver Chris Henry. Seau and Duerson both shot themselves in the chest, presumably so their brains could be studied after their deaths.
As Frontline notes, the NFL did not respond to several requests for comment.
