At least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal on Aug. 25. Out of 878 former players who died during that period, 235 donated their brains for study, with 215 of those brains found to have CTE, per Yahoo Sports.
The study used brain samples from the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University. Yahoo Sports reported that researchers characterized the findings as "higher than previously shown," suggesting the true figure could be even greater than the 25 percent identified. CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts and can only be definitively diagnosed through brain examination after death.
Pro Football Talk noted that the New York Times raised questions about whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should become involved in addressing the issue.