BOSTON, Mass. — Roughly three of every four retired NFL players who died from 2008 through 2023 had the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a population-wide estimate released Wednesday by a Boston University-led research team.
The researchers put the figure at 74.5%. CTE, a degenerative condition tied to repeated hits to the head, can be confirmed only through an autopsy.
Earlier counts relied on donated brains, and families of players who showed symptoms before death were about five times as likely to donate as other families. The new work set out to correct for that skew. Of the 387 donated brains the team examined, 362, or about 94%, showed some degree of the disease. The researchers then drew on federal death records for all 2,362 former players who died in the period, including how many had dementia or died of neurodegenerative disease.
The study was a joint effort of Boston University, Mass General Brigham and a foundation focused on concussions and CTE, and it builds on an August analysis by the same group that could only narrow prevalence to a range of 25% to 98%.
The team cautioned that the estimate covers former players after death only. It does not say how many living retirees or current players have the disease. CTE turns up in fewer than 1% of brains donated to community brain banks, and the lead author said the gap points to a need for more family support and for ways to diagnose and treat the disease during life.
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