Fred McNeill’s story is a familiar one. He played football for 22 years, 12 in the NFL as a linebacker. Years after he retired, CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, symptoms started including: depression, memory loss and eventually, deterioration in motor skills and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He died at 63.
Yet McNeill’s case is different than the many other NFL players linked to CTE. Up until McNeill, every player associated with CTE had the disorder diagnosed only after their death, when the athletes’ brains could be examined for the presence of a buildup of tau, a protein associated with the disease. In McNeill’s case, however, researchers were able to detect presence of the protein in McNeill’s brain while he was still …show more content…
It also represents yet another sign of the dangers posed by CTE, and highlights the need for the institutions behind football to make the game much safer than it is now.
The NFL has tried to make the case that it understands the gravity of CTE, and will do its part to safeguard players. It now requires players who show signs of disorientation to be checked immediately, and to be kept out of the game if diagnosed with a concussion. It’s working to develop safer helmets. And last year it said it would set aside more than $100 million for concussion research.
The research into CTE continues to uncover more about football’s risks. Earlier this year, research at Boston University’s CTE Center linked CTE to all but one of 111 former NFL players’ brains examined posthumously. CTE was also found in 48 of 53 deceased players who played in college, and three of 14 deceased former high school football players. Those brains were donated by families of players who had symptoms of CTE. The results are too striking to ignore. A Boston University study also found that youths who started playing tackle football before they were 12 suffered more cognitive and behavioral problems later in life than kids who began playing football after age
Yet McNeill’s case is different than the many other NFL players linked to CTE. Up until McNeill, every player associated with CTE had the disorder diagnosed only after their death, when the athletes’ brains could be examined for the presence of a buildup of tau, a protein associated with the disease. In McNeill’s case, however, researchers were able to detect presence of the protein in McNeill’s brain while he was still …show more content…
It also represents yet another sign of the dangers posed by CTE, and highlights the need for the institutions behind football to make the game much safer than it is now.
The NFL has tried to make the case that it understands the gravity of CTE, and will do its part to safeguard players. It now requires players who show signs of disorientation to be checked immediately, and to be kept out of the game if diagnosed with a concussion. It’s working to develop safer helmets. And last year it said it would set aside more than $100 million for concussion research.
The research into CTE continues to uncover more about football’s risks. Earlier this year, research at Boston University’s CTE Center linked CTE to all but one of 111 former NFL players’ brains examined posthumously. CTE was also found in 48 of 53 deceased players who played in college, and three of 14 deceased former high school football players. Those brains were donated by families of players who had symptoms of CTE. The results are too striking to ignore. A Boston University study also found that youths who started playing tackle football before they were 12 suffered more cognitive and behavioral problems later in life than kids who began playing football after age