It's been confirmed that Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who took his own life at the age of 27 while in prison, had a severe case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The degenerative brain disease has now been found in the brains of 111 former NFL players whose brains were donated to science after their deaths -the disease is associated with damage sustained from severe blows to the head.
Boston University confirmed that his brain had stage three traces of the condition - stage four is the most severe.
Ken Belson has been covering this case for The New York Times - he joined Off The Ball this evening. He said that the level of cases of NFL players with CTE has hit an "alarming" level:
"That suggests something in the order of an industrial disease, black lung disease or something of that order. If I were looking at putting my son in a football game, I'd have to look at that seriously. I think that's certainly the existential crisis the NFL and American football more broadly is having," he told Ger Gilroy.
His estate is now seeking damages from both the New England Patriots and the NFL.
Hernandez had been serving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013.
He played three seasons in the NFL from 2010 to 2012, before he was arrested for Lloyd's murder.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please contact Samaritans 24-hour Freephone helpline: 116123 or online at www.samaritans.org.
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