A number of the brains studied by doctor Ann McKee and her researchers. Almost all of the brains McKee has studied were found to have CTE. (Photo: BU Photography)
A new study out of Boston diagnosed a startlingly high percentage of deceased NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and the numbers don’t get much better when you move on down to college players.
Researchers from VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS) and Boston University School of Medicine looked at the brains of 202 deceased American football players. All told, the researchers found 87 percent of the players to have CTE, a degenerative brain disease commonly found in athletes and military veterans with a history of head trauma.
Among NFL players, that percentage shot all the way up to 99 percent. In fact, only one of the 111 deceased NFL players analyzed did not have CTE.
“It is no longer debatable whether or not there is a problem in football; there is a problem,” Ann McKee, director of BU’s CTE Center, said in a statement. ”[I]t is time to come together to find solutions,”
But it’s not just NFL players who are at risk. Among college football players involved in the study, 91 percent were diagnosed with CTE. Even among those subjects that only played high school football, 21 percent were found to have CTE.
Researchers believe repeated hits to the head, whether concussive or sub-concussive, can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy. (Photo: Scott Cunningham via Getty Images)
“The finding of early CTE pathology in high school and young collegiate players emphasizes the urgent need for longitudinal, prospective, multicenter studies to identify young players at risk for CTE as well as treatment strategies,” McKee said.
Symptoms of the brain disease include memory loss, mood swings and impulsive behavior, depression and suicidal thoughts. A number of NFL players have committed suicide in recent years, only to later be found to have had CTE, which can only be posthumously diagnosed as of now.
Last year, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety, admitted that there is a link between football and brain disease ― a first in the league’s history.
Despite that public acknowledgement and growing evidence of football’s potential dangers, the NFL has increased its efforts to hook new fans ― especially children ― into the game with marketing tactics that at times seem to come straight from Big Tobacco’s playbook, as George Dohrmann detailed in Highline last year.
“The NFL has initiated a campaign to secure the next generation of fans that is unprecedented in the history of professional athletics,” Dohrmann wrote. “The NFL has infiltrated the school system, it has produced a football-themed animated television show that aired on NickToons and it is currently executing a multi-dimensional plan to convince concerned moms to let their kids play. There’s a team of people working out of NFL headquarters in Manhattan whose professional lives revolve around getting kids interested in the game.”
Few of those efforts, however, mention the prevalence of CTE in former football players or the dangers that are increasingly associated with the sport.
Researchers behind the new study reminded people that since the brains had to be donated by the families of the deceased, many of whom suspected their athlete might have CTE, the rate of CTE across the general football population might be lower.
The findings of the study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“When we think about the legacy of Muhammad Ali, what he did in the ring is not what we think about. For nearly two years I worked to transform myself into the man who changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and shook up the world. That’s really what makes my job so beautiful as an actor -- for four, five months at a time, I get to wear people’s lives. So I got to wear Muhammad Ali’s greatness. I got to study and feel and embody the soul of the man. From the foundations of Islam and the strength of his Muslim faith in his life to the beautiful wake that he always leaves in his magnificent path. And what I learned about the word "legacy" is that it extends far beyond our professional accomplishments. It extends far beyond accolades. Muhammad Ali is a champion for civil rights, he’s a champion in the fight against injustice, he’s a champion for utilizing whatever tools he has to make the world a better place.” (Sports Illustrated)
Mike Tyson on meeting Ali for the first time
“Muhammad Ali meant so much not only to me, but so many other people in the world, different nationalities and different races. When I first had an encounter with Muhammad Ali, this is really strange, I was a young kid in a detention center in New York City, the Bronx, and I forget if it was '77, we watched a movie first, and then he came in. It was totally overwhelming. I had never in my life experienced that feeling before, that particular stage of my life. It inspired me to want to go truly in that direction.” (Deadspin)
"The reason why he's the GOAT is not because of what he did in the ring, which was unbelievable. It's what he did outside of the ring, what he believed in, what he stood for, along with Jim Brown and Oscar Robertson, Lew Alcindor -- obviously, who became Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] -- Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson. Those guys stood for something. He's part of the reason why African-Americans today can do what we do in the sports world. We're free. They allow us to have access to anything we want. It's because of what they stood for, and Muhammad Ali was definitely the pioneer for that." (ESPN)
Barack Obama on Ali's philanthropic efforts
“We admire the man who has never stopped using his celebrity for good — the man who helped secure the release of 14 American hostages from Iraq in 1990; who journeyed to South Africa upon Nelson Mandela's release from prison; who has traveled to Afghanistan to help struggling schools as a United Nations Messenger of Peace; and who routinely visits sick children and children with disabilities around the world, giving them the pleasure of his presence and the inspiration of his example ... This is the Muhammad Ali who inspires us today — the man who believes real success comes when we rise after we fall; who has shown us that through undying faith and steadfast love, each of us can make this world a better place. He is, and always will be, the champ.” (USA Today)
Kanye West on Ali inspiring him to speak his mind
“Before [College Dropout] came out, I talked my little shit just to let people know that there’s a new dude in the league running down the court talking shit, but backing it up. That’s my whole niche right now. People either love it or hate it. People loved and hated Muhammad Ali. My grandfather loved Muhammad Ali and my grandmother hated him. But I bet you that more people love and remember Muhammad Ali than less. Because he used to talk shit -- ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ -- and I think I say the same kind of things in my own statements.” (Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up!)
Lenny Kravitz on Ali being a hero
"He's a hero, he's a hero of all sorts, he became a hero of the planet because of what he stood for ... He fought with dignity and class and I love him." (E Online)
Lennox Lewis Ali's influence in his life
“Do I feel emotional when I am around him? No, not emotional, just honored to be in his presence. Muhammad Ali inspired me -- from when I was a young boy growing up -- he motivated me to chase my dreams inside and out of the ring. I admired the fact that he was concerned about people, enough to oppose the war in Vietnam and young men going there to fight. He is a religious man and he captured my attention because he was always helpful to people.” (The Telegraph)
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!["The reason why he's the GOAT is not because of what he did in the ring, which was unbelievable. It's what he did outside of the ring, what he believed in, what he stood for, along with Jim Brown and Oscar Robertson, Lew Alcindor -- obviously, who became Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] -- Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson. Those guys stood for something. He's part of the reason why African-Americans today can do what we do in the sports world. We're free. They allow us to have access to anything we want. It's because of what they stood for, and Muhammad Ali was definitely the pioneer for that." (<a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15940708/lebron-james-says-muhammad-ali-big-reason-why-african-american-athletes-enjoy-fame-opportunities" target="_blank">ESPN</a>)<strong></strong>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/OvI1tlGQ.2P6uMFzWEUBdg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5752f6e31600002a00f9557d.jpg)
![“Before [College Dropout] came out, I talked my little shit just to let people know that there’s a new dude in the league running down the court talking shit, but backing it up. That’s my whole niche right now. People either love it or hate it. People loved and hated Muhammad Ali. My grandfather loved Muhammad Ali and my grandmother hated him. But I bet you that more people love and remember Muhammad Ali than less. Because he used to talk shit -- ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ -- and I think I say the same kind of things in my own statements.” (<i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=48wgJMUal-EC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=muhammad+ali+kanye+west&source=bl&ots=yk1HnYGkdv&sig=cxQR0DeSHAaLpVnYfH1Fy5zOavE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjtk5jCxozNAhUMKiYKHdeCCN44ChDoAQgpMAI#v=onepage&q=muhammad%20ali%20kanye%20west&f=false" target="_blank">Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up!</a></i>)](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/A7OKT.DVFBSF..OTMWa4sA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5752f6e3130000d605383981.jpg)
