A new study is shaking the foundations of professional football, revealing that a staggering 74.5 percent of former NFL players who passed away between 2008 and 2023 were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. This isn’t just a number, folks, this is a gut punch to the game we all love.
The Study’s Alarming Findings
The neurodegenerative brain disease, commonly linked to high-impact sports like football, is no stranger to headlines, but these latest findings published in JAMA Network Open by researchers at Boston University, Mass General Brigham, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, are impossible to dismiss. The cross-sectional study looked at 2,362 former NFL players over that 15-year period. What did they find? A shocking 93.5 percent of the players who actually donated their brains for neuropathologic evaluation had CTE. When they adjusted for the differential brain donation, that estimated prevalence across *all* the decedents still landed at that eye-popping 74.5 percent. Think about that for a second.
What This Means and What Comes Next
Now, the researchers were clear: these findings are specifically for deceased NFL players and don’t predict how many living players might have CTE. It also doesn’t touch on college or youth football, which is a whole other can of worms we’re probably not ready for. But this isn’t the first warning shot. Just this past August, some of these same researchers published a paper that estimated 1 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE. The problem? CTE is still only diagnosable after death, though ESPN’s Samantha Surendran noted that a solution for testing during life is actively being sought. We need that breakthrough, and we need it yesterday.
Julia Gallini, the lead author of this latest paper, called the 74.5 percent estimate “concerning.” And she’s absolutely right. She stresses that measures *must* be taken, not just to diagnose CTE during life, but to support families dealing with its impact and to treat CTE-related symptoms. This isn’t going away. The league, the players, and frankly, all of us who love this game, have to confront these numbers and demand real solutions.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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