Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots will get tackled along with his helmet by Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens in the course of the 2013 AFC Championship recreation at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 20, 2013, in Foxboro, Mass. Hernandez died by suicide in 2017, and researchers discovered he had a extreme case of CTE.
Jared Wickerham/Getty Photographs
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Jared Wickerham/Getty Photographs
The gunman accused of strolling right into a Park Avenue skyscraper in Manhattan and killing 4 individuals suspected he had power traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — a degenerative mind illness typically related to soccer gamers.
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams stated 27-year-old Shane Tamura was probably concentrating on NFL places of work situated within the constructing the place police say he shot and killed 4 individuals, critically injured one other after which fatally shot himself on Monday night time.
Tamura performed soccer in highschool in California. A 2014 article within the The Santa Clarita Valley Sign referred to as him a notable working again who got here “out of nowhere to change into some of the electrifying gamers within the league.”
Police say a three-page word present in his pockets on the scene requested that his mind be studied for CTE and blamed the NFL for concealing the risks of soccer to the mind. Tamura didn’t play within the NFL.
What’s CTE?
CTE is a degenerative mind illness that includes the buildup of irregular tau proteins, typically resulting in violent temper swings, suicidal ideas, dementia and different damaging results.
The situation is usually related to athletes in full-contact sports activities, significantly soccer, because it has been linked to frequent concussions and blows to the top.
Docs should not but capable of diagnose the illness in dwelling sufferers. However a 2017 research to look at the brains of former soccer gamers of all ranges revealed that 177 out of 202 had CTE, almost 88%.
A not too long ago printed Harvard College survey of 1,980 retired skilled soccer gamers who performed between 1960 and 2020 discovered that one-third of them believed that they had CTE. Greater than 230 of the previous gamers reported experiencing suicidal ideas, and 176 reported a prognosis of Alzheimer’s illness or one other type of dementia.
Researchers in each research acknowledged that choice bias might have been an element, in that households of deceased gamers with well being issues or former gamers with well being points might have been extra motivated to take part.
Boston College researchers stated in 2023 that that they had posthumously recognized 345 former NFL gamers with the illness.
The NFL and CTE
Former gamers and advocacy teams have been vital of the NFL for the position the group has performed in allegedly suppressing CTE analysis. In 2016, a congressional committee discovered the NFL “tried to affect the grant choice course of” for a research on mind damage.
Forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu gained consideration for his findings of CTE in a 2002 post-mortem of a former NFL participant. He informed NPR that the NFL responded to his analysis by accusing him of fraud.
A 2009 GQ Journal Uncovered reported on Omalu’s analysis and the pushback he acquired. In 2015, the story was changed into a Hollywood movie that helped mainstream the difficulty and triggered many followers to query the security of the nation’s hottest sport.
Former gamers who sued the NFL have accused the league of making an attempt to attenuate the general public’s notion of the dangers of head trauma. In 2016, a federal appeals court docket upheld a significant settlement between the NFL and 1000’s of retired soccer gamers with neurological issues.
Within the word left behind on the scene of the Manhattan taking pictures, Tamura referenced the 2005 suicide of former NFL participant Terry Lengthy who was revealed to have been dwelling with CTE.
“You’ll be able to’t go towards the NFL,” Tamura wrote, in line with police. “They’re going to squash you.”
The NFL has responded to criticism about the way it protects its gamers from head trauma by instituting guidelines for when a participant is suspected of getting suffered a concussion. The league says it enforces a five-point protocol earlier than gamers can return to the sphere after a concussion, and the guidelines is reviewed yearly.
It is also increasing the use of recent helmets that the league says scale back concussions.
A spokesperson for the NFL didn’t instantly return a request for touch upon the taking pictures and CTE.
Violence and CTE
Many brains of former NFL gamers who’ve died by suicide have been discovered to point out indicators of CTE.
In 2011, former NFL participant Dave Duerson killed himself, forsaking a request that his mind be studied for indicators of CTE. Researchers on the Boston College Middle for the Examine of Traumatic Encephalopathy discovered Duerson had suffered from a sophisticated type of the situation.
A yr later, retired linebacker Junior Seau died in the identical method, and his household requested that his mind be studied for the illness. Researchers stated his mind had “mobile adjustments in step with CTE.”
In a single high-profile case, former New England Patriots participant Aaron Hernandez, who had a historical past of violent and aggressive habits, was discovered responsible in 2015 of first-degree homicide.
Two years later, he was discovered having killed himself in his jail cell at age 27, and his mind revealed some of the excessive circumstances of CTE documented in an individual his age.
In case you or somebody you already know could also be contemplating suicide or is in disaster, name or textual content 9 8 8 to achieve the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline.
