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CTE was first described in 1928, when Dr. Harrison Martland described a group of boxers as having “punch drunk syndrome.” Over the next 75 years, several researchers reported similar findings in boxers and victims of brain trauma, but fewer than 50 cases were confirmed. In 2002, Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American nueropathologist discovered CTE in former football players, specifically Mike Webster of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Webster's brain revealed that after many years of excessive and repeated hits to the head, one can experience the many symptoms of CTE, which include problems controlling mood, paranoia, aggression, depression, even affecting one's thinking and memory.
In May, 2007, Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz and Dr. Juliand Bailes, who had already published a study on concussions and early-onset Alzheimer's, published the results of another survey of 2,552 players in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. The survey was administered as a general health questionnaire, which examined former players whose average age was 53.8 and whose average professional football career lasted 6.6 years. Compared to players who had never had a concussion, players who suffered at least one concussion were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression, while players who suffered at least three concussions were three times more likely to receive that diagnosis. While this research did not necessarily aim for CTE directly, their work in the field of brain research in regard to concussions, and the NFL was significant.
Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz
In July, 2017, a new study based off of previous work done by the CTE center at Boston University, revealed that in the examination of 111 former football players' brains, 110 of them showed evidence of CTE. This study was monumental at the time of it's release, and sparked the movement of awareness of concussions and the dangers involved in football. Following this, the NFL began to implement strict concussion protocols for all the teams to follow, which if not correctly carried out, can result in fines for the team. Such fines are not of serious concern for the franchises as of late, but with more protest and awareness of the effects of concussions and CTE, perhaps more repercussions for the damage which CTE can do to the body will be put in place.
Citations
Mckee, Ann. “What Is CTE?” What Is CTE, Concussion Legacy Foundation, 13 Apr. 2018, concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE.
Rapaport, Daniel. “Timeline: 6 Studies That Helped Link NFL to CTE.” SI.com, Time Inc., 26 July 2017, www.si.com/nfl/2017/07/26/nfl-concussion-head-trauma-studies-football-timeline.
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