New Study Finds CTE In 40% Of Athletes Who Died Before 30

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Friends,

The Boston University CTE Center released a new study on Monday (Aug. 28), finding CTE in more than 40% of youth, high school, and college athletes who had repetitive head impact from contact sports and died before turning 30 years old.

The study examined 152 brains and is one of the most comprehensive CTE studies to date.

Each of these athletes was between the age of 13 and 29 at the time of their death, and they primarily played football, with a few soccer, ice hockey, and rugby players, too.

This is one of the most comprehensive athlete CTE studies to date, especially considering their age. And 63 out of 152 donated brains having CTE is substantial because research indicates that less than 1% of the general population dies with CTE.

So today, we’ll examine the complex topic of CTE, including concrete data provided by the study and its impact on professional sports, financially and medically.

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CTE, otherwise known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), is a progressive and fatal brain disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), including concussions and repeated blows to the head, commonly found in sports.

Symptoms include memory loss, depression, aggressive behavior, and sometimes suicidal thoughts. CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously (after death), and there is currently no known cure for the disease.

The most common reference of CTE is in football. That’s because NFL players Junior Seau, Aaron Hernandez, Vincent Jackson, Demaryius Thomas, and many others were all diagnosed with CTE after death. And the NFL was ordered to pay $1 billion to thousands of former players who had dementia or concussion-related health issues as part of a class action lawsuit settled in 2013.

Notable NFL Players Who Were Found To Have CTE After Death

• Mike Webster (died at 50 of a heart attack) 

• Junior Seau (died at 43 by suicide)

• Andre Waters (died at 44 by suicide) 

• Jovan Belcher (died at 25 after killing his girlfriend and shooting himself)

• Aaron Hernandez (died at 27 by suicide after a 2013 murder conviction) 

• Phillip Adams (died at 32 after shooting & killing 6 people before killing himself) 

• Dave Duerson (died at 50 by suicide) 

• Vincent Jackson (died at 38 of alcohol abuse)

• Demaryius Thomas (died at 33 of seizure disorder complications)

Furthermore, according to a February 2023 study, the Boston University CTE Center found that 345 out of the 376 former NFL players (91.7%) they examined had CTE.

This revelation has had a significantly negative impact on the sport.

For example, from 2006 to 2017, the number of people of all ages participating in tackle football dropped from 8.4 million to 5.22 million — a 37.8% decrease. High school football saw a 10.3% decline in participation from 2008 to 2018, and participation in tackle football for children ages 6 to 12 has dropped 29% since 2016.

But it’s not like the NFL is going to sit back and watch their $20 billion annual revenue business disintegrate. So the world’s most profitable sports league has spent millions on NFL Flag — their own flag football league with over 500,000 youth athletes (ages 4 to 17) across 1,600+ teams in all 50 states.

The goal isn’t to transition people from tackle into flag football. But if the NFL can use flag football to safely teach kids the game of football while delaying the amount of hits to the head they receive until high school, that is a win in their book.

It’ll take time to see how that investment plays out. And with NFL salaries continuing to grow every year, it’s unclear if medical advice would even stop people from playing.

But many people also discount how important this subject is in other sports.

Take soccer, for instance. It’s not nearly as physical of a game as football, and many parents would have no problem with their kids playing the sport (especially over football). However, hundreds of retired professional soccer players have been diagnosed with CTE or dementia due to head-to-head contact and high-speed headers.

And hockey isn’t in the clear, either. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has routinely downplayed a link between hockey and CTE, telling NPR in earlier this year, “There have been isolated cases of players who have played the game [who] have had CTE. But it doesn't mean that it necessarily came from playing in the NHL.”

Still, BU’s CTE center disagrees, publishing a study in 2022 that says each additional year a person plays hockey may increase their chance of developing CTE by 23%. Another study from the Concussion Legacy Foundation on the brains of 17 former NHL players found that 16 out of 17 (94%) had CTE, including hall of famer Henri Richard.

So, are people just going to stop playing sports altogether? Well, no, of course not.

Sports are an intricate part of society. They teach children things like hard work, leadership, and teamwork, and thousands of people make a living playing pro sports.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better solution. For example, the NFL has implemented many rules to limit head-to-head contact. They have reduced the amount of full-contact practices in the collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA. They have head-injury spotters in the press box of every NFL game, including doctors and neuro-trauma specialists on the sidelines. And they have even mandated the use of Guardian Caps during practices, which can reduce the force of helmet-to-helmet impact by 20%.

There are other solutions, too. One tool used across many sports — football, soccer, lacrosse, and others — is the Q-Collar.

The Q-Collar is a silicone collar worn around the neck that applies light pressure to the jugular veins. This pressure causes a slight increase in blood volume inside the head and helps reduce the brain’s movement upon impact, which is the primary cause of brain injury. The FDA has approved the device, and it costs $199.

NFL players like Tony Pollard, Shaq Thompson, and Boston Scott wear one every game, and hundreds of other athletes across college football, lacrosse, soccer, and high school sports have been spotted wearing the device, too.

The NFL has invested hundreds of millions in concussion and helmet research. They donated $45 million to USA Football to promote safe tackling at the youth football level, and the NFL also held a $3 million grant competition focused on helmet safety that provided a “top-performing helmet” to 99.9% of players in the 2021-22 season.

Still, the writing is on the wall. There is mounting evidence that indicates repetitive head trauma leads to CTE — and many parents are already taking action.

So, while the NFL is still the world’s most profitable sports league today (by a mile), they will have to continue to innovate if they want to maintain that position in the future.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We’ll talk on Monday.

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Huddle Up is a 3x weekly newsletter that breaks down the business and money behind sports. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join 100,000+ others who receive it directly in their inbox each week.

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