Description

Happy American football season! Let’s talk about head trauma.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease that’s especially common in athletes. CTE has cascading effects that can cause memory loss, aggression, and other disturbing cognitive and personality changes, and football ranks second-highest on the list of sports with the most CTE exposure. This episode will teach you more about this upsetting disease, why certain positions in football may carry a higher risk (it’s not all about concussions), and how the NFL dismissed the problem for decades while players suffered and died. 

Trigger Warning: Violence, suicide, sexual assault

References

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5094259/

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/neurodegenerative-disorder

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20370921

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.938163/full

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/subconcussive-head-impacts#vs-concussion

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/concussion/symptoms-causes/syc-20355594

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6748163/

https://www.britannica.com/sports/American-football

https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/jim-thorpe

https://usopm.org/jim-thorpe/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Camp

https://footballplayershealth.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/40_App_J.pdf

https://blog.networldsports.co.uk/american-football-positions-explained/

https://www.inverse.com/article/37934-nfl-funded-study-brain-injury

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4628259/

https://www.bumc.bu.edu/camed/2023/02/06/researchers-find-cte-in-345-of-376-former-nfl-players-studied/

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5484101/manhattan-shooter-cte-nfl-explainer

https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=1972285

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/injury-violence-prevention/recognizing-patterns-truth

https://www.gq.com/story/nfl-players-brain-dementia-study-memory-concussions

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/18/474702082/concussion-update-u-s-appeals-court-affirms-deal-between-nfl-retired-players

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/15/470513922/in-a-first-nfl-executive-admits-football-is-linked-to-brain-damage

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1113196-tracing-the-evolution-of-player-safety-throughout-nfl-history

https://theconversation.com/new-nfl-helmet-accessory-reduces-concussions-but-players-and-fans-may-not-be-ready-to-embrace-safety-over-swag-236928

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10650906/

https://theconversation.com/new-nfl-helmet-accessory-reduces-concussions-but-players-and-fans-may-not-be-ready-to-embrace-safety-over-swag-236928

https://www.reuters.com/article/sports/arrests-in-us-general-population-higher-than-for-nfl-players-study-idUSKCN0QU2EL/

https://www.allprobailbond.com/blog/news/sports-and-crime-rates/

https://www.biography.com/athletes/aaron-hernandez

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/aaron-hernandez-timeline-murders-trials-prison-suicide/1886y82a8bgyx123qxcgg04lb5

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/aaron-hernandez-found-to-have-had-severe-case-of-cte/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/youre-rich-aaron-hernandezs-suicide-note-to-fiancee-released/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/202006/the-nfl-has-race-related-ejection-problem

https://lasallefalconer.com/2022/01/the-complicated-legacy-of-ben-roethlisberger/

https://web.archive.org/web/20190420024228/https://www.si.com/vault/2010/05/10/105935652/the-hangover-roethlisberger

https://sports.yahoo.com/ben-roethlisberger-talks-past-porn-alcohol-addictions-not-the-best-christian-i-can-be-000140079.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHiklcHUILx8e76VAtwOm84XFvGFN9qJmB3QPJ5KAvM4kdaouLqFCpVq9r26hUQz6eVKWbVd1vtniiEXVGGlGhIdUticYZFGIbujfVIOI_FZHFRC-Qi_Ji6-gdUcGXk2J3tka1YzuuDR_DUNVBbUvzue9I1_r5MrsX-WZJOQ_C0l

https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=5099224

https://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/16/roethlisberger.incident/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/sports/football/deshaun-watson-suspension-11-games.html?name=styln-deshaun-watson®ion=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=Article&variant=show&is_new=false

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/sport/deshaun-watson-no-criminal-charges-spt/index.html

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31208850/nike-suspends-sponsorship-deshaun-watson-amid-sexual-assault-allegations

https://sports.yahoo.com/third-civil-suit-filed-against-houston-texans-quarterback-deshaun-watson-alleging-sexual-assault-173153176.html

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/03/where-deshaun-watson-ranks-among-the-25-most-expensive-contracts-in-the-nfl.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2022/06/21/deshaun-watson-settles-20-of-24-suits-alleging-sexual-misconduct/?sh=c0c1374237ab

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