john grimsley, andre waters, ted johnson, terry long, 2012

REPORT: Autopsy reveals sixth NFL player suffered from head trauma related brain damage.
Latest research indicates that damage may accumulate in the brain from repetitive head trauma, even if injuries are allowed to heal.
Chris Nowinski knows well the impact of concussions. He was a football star at Harvard before wrestling professionally with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Tom McHale, who played guard for three NFL teams from 1987 to 1995, was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), brain damage caused by repeated head trauma, when he died from a multiple-drug overdose last year, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine announced today.

Over the past two years, researchers have examined the brains of seven former NFL players, including McHale, all of whom died by the age of 50. Six turned out to have had CTE, which is characterized by the buildup of toxic proteins that form dangerous tangles in the brain, and that at the moment, can be found only by autopsy. CTE can cause victims to lose control of their emotions and impulses and to suffer memory loss and depression and can eventually lead to dementia.

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