Study suggests at least 25 percent of NFL players get CTE
The Hill · C · trust 67/100
Comments: by Mira Bhakta - 08/25/26 12:03 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Mira Bhakta - 08/25/26 12:03 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING A Tuesday report found that at least 25 percent of deceased NFL players who were studied suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in their lives.
A team of researchers published a report in the British Medical Journal analyzing the brains of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021.
Over the last six years of the study, researchers received 235 brains of the 878 NFL players who died. In that sample, 215 brains — 24.5 percent — were diagnosed with CTE. They estimated the prevalence of the disease could be far higher in those years as researchers were unable to analyze the other 643 brains that were not donated.
“The possible prevalence at death [of CTE] during 2016 to 2021, when brain donation was most frequent, ranged between 24.5 percent and 97.7 percent,” they wrote.
The study also noted that late-stage CTE is more prevalent in donors with dementia as research continues to trace the exact causes of the disease.
Another 2017 study in the Journal of American Medical Association reported similar results in the brains of 111 deceased NFL players; all but one were found to have CTE in the study.
The Mayo Clinic calls CTE a brain disease that can likely be caused by repeated head trauma and can cause emotional distress, mood swings and impact an individual’s behavior. The only way to be diagnosed with the disease is posthumously during a brain autopsy.
It outlined that CTE “appears to be related to repeated head injuries, often occurring in contact sports or military combat.”
The league most notably faced criticism when former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was diagnosed with the condition after dying by suicide in 2025.
Researchers at Boston University also found that former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, who died by suicide at 27, had the worst case of CTE seen in a young person, with his brain resembling that of a 60 year old.
The NFL Players Association, in a statement to ESPN , said that the study was “a sobering reminder that football carries real risks, and those risks can have lasting consequences for players and their families.”
“The findings should serve as a call to action across the entire football ecosystem. We all share a responsibility to advance research, improve access to care, develop better treatments, and support those affected by the long-term impacts of the game,” the association continued.
According to the British Medical Journal, 1,712 former NFL players died between 2008 and 2021, with 338 brains donated for research.
Read the original at The Hill →
Open in TruthVane →