In December 2020, Scott Vermilion, former MLS soccer player, passed away on Christmas Eve. Everything pointed to alcohol and drugs, however, the Boston doctors announced in 2021 that it was a chronic traumatic encephalopathy. A degenerative brain disease that causes symptoms such as depression or impulsive behaviors. It was the first case of its kind in a professional soccer player, but there are other sports, especially contact sports, that have had similar cases.
In 2002 the doctor Bennet Omalu uncovered a truth that until then remained unknown to most contact sports players. After the autopsy performed on former NFL member Mike Webster, the doctor put chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) on the table, a disease that afflicts 99 percent of former football league players. For this reason, some of the most important cases of this condition in sports in the USA are reviewed.
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Aaron Hernandez
Former Patriots tight end He looked like one of the most prominent figures in the NFL after his recruitment in 2010. However, his career ended in 2012 after being accused of murder of two people. In 2017, after five years in prison, the player was found dead in his cell and after the autopsy he was diagnosed with CTE, one of the reasons for his erratic behavior.
Dwight Clark
clark lives in memory of all the fans of the 49ers (and the NFL in general) for ‘The Catch’, a reception that ended up cementing the dynasty of Joe Montana and San Francisco. In 2017, 30 years into his retirement, the wide receiver was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that has recently been linked to CTE.
Junior Bucket
one of the linebackers dominant players of his generation ended his career in 2009, after nearly two decades in the league. Two years later, Seau was found dead in his California home. and after multiple investigations, all the player’s psychological disorders were revealed, a product of the CTE that he developed due to all the contacts he received in the head.
Brett Favre
Despite ‘The general’ he looks physically healthy, a couple of years ago he revealed that during his career he suffered countless concussions that have affected his brain function (stuttering and short-term memory loss). This could translate to CTE-like damage.
Ken Stabler
The quarterback who handed the Raiders their first title passed away in 2015 from colon cancer. However, a year later Boston University revealed that the former passer suffered from CTE in its number 3 stage (the disease has four levels of severity).
Tony Dorsett
Dorsett’s career she is remembered for being part of the trade that helped the Cowboys build a dynasty in the 1990s. But the running back took so many hits he developed CTE (revealed the diagnosis in 2013). The former player highlighted the inability of the NFL to react to this disease.
Joe Perry
The fullback passed away in 2011 and after his death his family decided to donate his brain for research. Boston University determined that Perry developed CTE. His widow explained that when he suffered concussions in the games, salts were administered to him to keep him playing.
Mike Webster
Webster’s It is the paradigmatic case for the NFL. After he died in 2002, Omalu studied his brain to determine the damage he had suffered as a result of his NFL career.. The doctor determined a relationship between concussions and brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. At the end of the investigation, the family of the former Steelers player sued the NFL and received 1.8 million dollars to repair the damages.
Andre Waters
The defender passed away in tragic conditions. The former Eagles and Cardinals member committed suicide, and posthumous studies of Waters determined that CTE was present in his brain mass.
WWE
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Chris Benoit
In June 2007 the world of professional wrestling was shaken by the news that Benoit had murdered his wife and son and then committed suicide. prior to the crime, the former wrestler he had struggled with multiple personal problems and was on medication. During the police investigation it was determined that the multiple blows received in his career led him to develop CTE.
Ashley Massaro
In May 2019, Massaro took his own life as a result of the depression he suffered. Before her death, the fighter who only spent three years in WWE, sued the company for the possible consequences she could suffer from the company’s practices. Although her fight was not in vain and donated his brain to the studio to combat CTE.
Daniel Bryan
Despite losing prominence in recent years, Bryan is one of the most important faces of WWE in the past decade. In 2016, the fighter decided to put his career on hold due to the havoc he experienced after multiple concussions. Two years later he was discharged to rejoin the company’s ranks.
Balls Mahoney
Mahoney gained prominence in professional wrestling by leaning into its most violent modality. and be part of the extinct ECW. This eventually took its toll and after his death in 2016 (from cardiac arrest) it was revealed that he suffered from CTE.
Andrew ‘Test’ Martin
The wrestler and actor was found dead in his Tampa, Florida, apartment in 2009.; his death was the product of an overdose. Doctor Omalu decided to analyze his body and found damage to his brain as a result of the disease.
