by Daniel Johnson

September 24, 2024

The Harvard University study surveyed 1,980 former NFL football players who played between 1960 and 2020.

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One-third of former NFL players surveyed said they believe that they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. 

According to NPR, Harvard University conducted a study of 1,980 former NFL players who played between 1960 and 2020, with 681 indicating they believe they have developed the brain disease. Over 230 players said that they had experienced suicidal thoughts while another 176 reported an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis or another form of dementia.

Even after the researchers controlled for predictors of suicidal thoughts or ideation, retired players who believed that they had CTE were still twice as likely as others to report that they had experienced frequent suicidal thoughts or self-harm. The only sure way to diagnose the disease currently, however, is an examination of the brain post-mortem, which is problematic because it is difficult to determine what symptoms are due to the development of CTE in living former NFL players. 

New study says a third of former ⁦@NFL⁩ players surveyed believe they are living with CTE. Without knowing the specifics of who was surveyed, I’m genuinely surprised the percentage isn’t significantly higher. https://t.co/J0XA7IQlNE

— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) September 24, 2024

According to Rachel Grashow, a Harvard University neuroscientist and the lead author of the study, it is key to identify and treat any symptoms before players begin to believe that they have CTE, which could lead them to depression or thoughts of self-harm. 

“A key takeaway from this study is that many conditions common to former NFL players, such as sleep apnea, low testosterone, high blood pressure, and chronic pain, can cause problems with thinking, memory, and concentration,” Grashow said.

Grashow continued, “While we wait for advances in CTE research to better address living players’ experiences, it is imperative that we identify conditions that are treatable. These efforts may reduce the chances that players will prematurely attribute symptoms to CTE, which may lead to hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm.”

More than 300 former NFL players have been posthumously diagnosed with CTE, and many of those players had allegedly developed symptoms of cognitive decline like memory loss and mood swings. 

Former University of Southern California and San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, who shot himself in the chest in 2012 and died by suicide, was declared to have CTE after his brain was examined by the National Institutes of Health. 

According to ABC 10, Seau spoke to The Athletic’s Jim Trotter when he was still working for ESPN, and Seau cautioned tha f football needed more focus on player safety. Trotter now believes that Seau’s comments about former players were actually about him. 

“Those who are saying that the game has changed for the worst; they don’t have a father that couldn’t remember his name because of the game. If everybody had to wake up with their dad not knowing his name, not knowing his kid’s name, being able to function at a normal rate. I mean, they will understand that the game needs to change,” Seau told Trotter in the interview. 

Although the relationship between CTE and suicidal thoughts is still unclear, Dr. Ross Zafonte, one of the study’s authors and a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, told NPR that the suicidal thoughts experienced by players could be from other symptoms and not necessarily CTE. 

“It may be related to things like isolation, chronic pain, depression, cognitive impairment, or even cardiovascular disease—all of which have relationships in former players, all of which could contribute to making any pathology worse, all of which can actually produce problems,” Zafonte said.

Zafonte continued, “So to assume everyone gets it is a problem. People are very obsessed, appropriately, with their concerns about CTE. We’re not trying to invalidate that in any way. But treating people for the common things that can only make that pathology worse might make your symptoms better.”

RELATED CONTENT: Testimony From O.J. Simpson In 1970 Trial May Have Set CTE Research Back Decades 

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