A third of former NFL players believe they have CTE, study shows

With two Philadelphia Eagles players in concussion protocol after Sunday’s game, there’s renewed attention on brain injuries in football. 
A new study released Monday outlines those concerns among former NFL players.  
Brain injuries can be difficult to diagnose, and there’s a wide range of symptoms. This new study says many former football players are worried about how the game has affected their brains.
A third of former professional players believe they have football-related brain damage, according to the largest study of its kind involving more than 2,000 players who were in the NFL between 1960 and 2020. 
“Most had cognitive symptoms,” said Rachel Grashow, who conducted the research for the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University. “They had trouble with memory, with concentration.”
The players interviewed believed they suffered specifically from chronic traumatic encephalopathy — CTE — which is linked to football players and athletes with repetitive brain trauma.
“We actually can’t know whether any of the players in our study actually have CTE. It’s only determined on autopsy. But what we can look at is how do they feel about it,” Grashow said.
Most but not all of the players in the study sustained concussions while they were playing, Grashow said. 
The NFL now has strict concussion protocols and better technology. 
Researchers say it’s not known if all concussions lead to CTE, but they raise the risk.  
“What we do see is a risk of suicidality and thoughts of self-harm in former players who think that they may have CTE,” Grashow said.
Players in the new research describe a range of symptoms including depression, pain and sleep apnea.
“We cannot change that they had head injury, but we do know that they’re suffering from conditions that are treatable,” Grashow said.
Researchers say football players with symptoms need to talk to their doctors and know that the glory days in the NFL shouldn’t end with suffering in silence.
Doctors hope the research will eventually lead to a way to diagnose CTE while people are still alive.
The study was funded in part by the NFL Players Association.