It was announced in 2017 that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) was found in 99% of deceased NFL players’ brains that had been donated to science, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA.
CTE is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries, particularly common in football players. It results from repeated concussions and blows to the head, causing the accumulation of an abnormal form of tau protein that interferes with brain function.
It is believed that individuals with CTE show symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion, and depression, which may appear years or many decades after the trauma.
FACT: These symptoms often appear years or decades after the brain injuries occur. Currently, CTE can only be definitively diagnosed through a brain autopsy after death.
Previously called dementia pugilistica (DP), i.e. “punch-drunk syndrome” it was believed the condition only impacted boxers who stayed in the ring too long. Today, however, CTE is seemingly more commonly found in professional athletes participating in the NFL, NHL, and pro wrestling.
In 2016, former NFL quarterback Ken Stabler was found to have had CTE after post-mortem tests were done on his brain. What made that diagnosis so alarming is quarterbacks, unlike linemen and running backs, don’t engage in frequent head-on collisions.
In 2007, famed wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before taking his own life. After tests were conducted on Benoit’s brain, results showed it was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient.” He was reported to have had an advanced form of dementia with caused extreme depression and made him a threat to himself and others. Hence, it was concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioral problems.
Former football stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson committed suicide with self-inflicted gunshots in 2012 and 2011, respectively. When the brains of both men were donated to science, studies showed Seau and Duerson suffered from neurodegenerative disorders. And in Seau’s case, it was determined he suffered from CTE. Moreover, a host of living former NFL players, including Dallas Cowboys great Tony Dorsett, are believed to have CTE.
A 2024 survey found that one-third of former NFL players believe they have CTE. Out of 1,980 participants in a Harvard University study:
681 thought they had CTE
Over 230 reported suicidal ideation
176 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia
Will CTE threaten boxing – a sport where head trauma is seemingly more common?
Perhaps time will tell.
Based on his actions over the past five years, former middleweight boxing champ Jermain Taylor might be a candidate. One could also make a case for the late Leon Spinks and the recently retired James Toney. However, aside from them, we haven’t seen many active and former high-profile fighters develop seemingly unnatural debilitating punch-related illnesses while still in their 40s, 50s, or 60s, or at any age.
Muhammad Ali had Parkinson’s Syndrome which is also a mainstream degenerative disease that impacts people who never played a contact sport a day in their life.
Sure, boxers have suffered from dementia in their late 70s and 80s but it’s a mainstream condition and its onset is usually diagnosed in that age range, regardless of whether someone competed in sports or suffered previously abnormal brain trauma.
As someone who participated in organized football (ages 10-17) and boxing (ages 18-25), the shots to the head are very different per activity. In some ways, violent helmet-to-helmet contact hurt more yet was less likely to produce a knockout than a punch.
As a varsity linebacker, I’d always suffer nasty headaches due to head-to-head collisions during summer training camp but was never worried because they’d always stop after the first two weeks in training camp.
Perhaps I’d developed a tolerance to the pain which may have given me a false sense of security.
Aside from a concussion I suffered at 15, I don’t remember getting light-headed or terribly woozy in football but vividly recall the stinging migraines that would last several days during the opening weeks of training.
As a boxer, I never had headaches after sparring. The punches hurt and would make me dizzy sometimes, but I never experienced cognition issues or intracranial pain.
In boxing, most of the headshots are taken in the face while in football, the hardest helmet-to-helmet shots are absorbed in the top and sides of the head and perhaps closer to the brain.
Also, the impact from a helmet-to-helmet collision covers more area of the head than that of a boxing glove which is much smaller (and softer) than a football helmet.
Perhaps those who participate in American football are, in fact, more likely to develop long-term debilitating head injuries than boxers.
