Junior Seau’s Damaged Brain

In May, we reported on the death of premier NFL linebacker Junior Seau. Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. At the time, we wondered whether Seau was the latest victim of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

And now the results are in, and the answer is YES.

Seau’s family donated his brain to the National Institutes of Health for testing for the traumatic brain injury. ESPN and ABC News are reporting that Seau’s brain did indeed show signs of CTE:

Earlier this year, a “master complaint” was filed in federal court against the NFL. The complaint presents over 3000 present and former NFL players who contend that the NFL failed to provide proper information to players linking football-related head trauma to irreparable memory loss, brain damage, and other debilitating long-term health issues.

The NFL maintains that player safety is of primary importance to them and that they are supporting research to “advance the science and medical understanding of the management and treatment of concussions.”