The New York Times
November 16, 2023
They all died young. Most played football. Only a few came close to reaching the pros.
But like hundreds of deceased N.F.L. players — including the Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Webster,
Junior Seau and Ken Stabler — they, too, had C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated
hits to the head. For now, it can be positively diagnosed only posthumously.
The brains of Wyatt and 151 other young contact-sport athletes, both men and women, are part of a
study recently released by researchers at Boston University.
Researchers examined 152 brains of contact-sport athletes who died before turning 30.
Donations came from families seeking answers.
Of the 152 athletes studied, more than 40% had C.T.E.
These are just some of the 63 young athletes who later died with C.T.E.
Most played at no higher than the high school or college level.
Of the 63, 48 played football.
The main sports for the other athletes in the study who had C.T.E. included hockey, soccer and
wrestling.
*The second half of this article is behind a paywall.