A new study finds that at least around a quarter of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The research, conducted by Mass General Brigham, analyzes brain pathology to determine whether CTE is present, reporting a prevalence of nearly 25% in the examined group.
The findings add to long-running questions about how common CTE is among professional football players. While CTE has been linked to repeated head impacts, its overall prevalence in all players remains uncertain because the study focuses on deceased former players whose brains are available for research. Different outlets describe the same overall estimate (roughly 25%) and emphasize that the question of how widespread CTE is continues to be studied.
The study uses brain tissue from the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University, as reported by sports coverage. Overall, outlets agree on the main number, the time frame of the deaths, and the basic source of the brain samples, while not indicating that the study directly measures CTE risk for living players.
