The National Football League has survived more public relations crises in the past year than most multi-billion dollar organizations endure in a decade. Yet the greatest existential threat to the NFL — if not to the existence of football itself — still remains Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or “CTE.”
As former All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau’s documented struggle with CTE demonstrated, the presentation of symptoms that occurs in those stricken with the disease are not always readily apparent. Concussions and sub-concussive impacts on the brain cause the rapid brain decay that is a precursor to CTE. Eventually, the lobes of the brain blacken and lose density—causing depression, early on-set dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and eventual death.
Terrifyingly, the vast prevalence of the disease may not have been known until fairly recently.
