New Study Estimates 74.5% of NFL Players Who Died Over 15-Year Period Had CTE

A new study estimates that 74.5 percent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative brain disease known as CTE, which is commonly linked to high-impact sports like football.

The study was published in JAMA Network Open by researchers at Boston University, Mass General Brigham and the Concussion & CTE Foundation.

The cross-sectional study found that, of 2,362 former NFL players tested in the 15-year period, "93.5 percent of players who were brain donors with neuropathologic evaluation had CTE. After adjustment for differential brain donation, the estimated prevalence of CTE neuropathology among all 2362 decedents was 74.5 percent."

The researchers noted that the findings apply only to deceased NFL players and do not predict the prevalence of CTE in living NFL players. Additionally, the study does not address CTE's prevalence in college or youth football players.

In August, some of the same researchers published a paper finding that an estimated 1 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE.

CTE is currently only diagnosable after death, though a solution to testing during life is ongoing, ESPN's Samantha Surendran noted.

The 74.5 percent estimate is "concerning," according to Julia Gallini, the lead author of the paper, and measures need to be taken "to support families, diagnose CTE during life, and treat CTE-related symptoms."