Junior Seau, the former San Diego Chargers linebacker who committed suicide in May, suffered from chronic brain damage, according to five brain specialists consulted by the National Institutes of Health, reports ESPN.com.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE as it is commonly known, has previously been found in dozens of deceased former players, including former safety Dave Duerson, who also committed suicide and suffered from a neurodegenerative disease linked to concussions.
Seau was one of the top linebackers in all of football for a number of years and also played on the New England Patriots team that went 16-0 during the 2007 regular-season.
Junior Seau, who committed suicide in May, two years after retiring as one of the premier linebackers in NFL history, suffered from the type of chronic brain damage that also has been found in dozens of deceased former players, five brain specialists consulted by the National Institutes of Health concluded.
Seau's widow and son spoke in an interview with ESPN and claimed that researchers at the National Institutes of Health informed them of the diagnosis after completing a thorough examination of Seau's brain.
"I think it's important for everyone to know that Junior did indeed suffer from CTE," Gina Seau said, according to ESPN.com. "It's important that we take steps to help these players. We certainly don't want to see anything like this happen again to any of our athletes."
According to the report, the family was told that Seau's disease was a result of "a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL. And that it gradually, you know, developed the deterioration of his brain and his ability to think logically."
From ESPN.com: "CTE is a progressive disease associated with repeated head trauma. Although long known to occur in boxers, it was not discovered in football players until 2005. Researchers at Boston University recently confirmed 50 cases of CTE in former football players, including 33 who played in the NFL."
The NFL has tried to address player safety and concussions in recent years, through studies as well as rule changes that make the game safer. But no matter what the league does, it will have to figure out a way to deal with player-health issues related to retired stars. Seau shot himself on May 2, stunning his family and the greater football world.
Seau was a popular athlete in the San Diego area following his retirement after spending 13 of his 20 year career in the city with the Chargers. Seau put up Hall of Fame-like numbers during his career with the Chargers and helped the team make its first and only Super Bowl appearance in 1994. Seau was a consistently healthy player throughout his career, playing in at least 14 games in 13 out of his first 14 seasons in the NFL.
The linebacker spent time with the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots following his run with the Chargers, retiring in 2009 after playing in seven games for the Patriots. Seau recorded over 100 tackles in eight seasons with San Diego and had a career-high 155 tackles in 1994. Seau had 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions during his career and was named to 12 Pro Bowls throughout his career.
The family received calls soon after Seau's death about the possibility of using his brain for medical study. The family chose the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., to oversee the research, saying it was a "complete, comprehensive, unbiased scientific institution of the highest level."
The NFL in a statement said the NIH's "finding underscores the recognized need for additional research to accelerate a fuller understanding of CTE."
"The NFL, both directly and in partnership with the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and other leading organizations, is committed to supporting a wide range of independent medical and scientific research that will both address CTE and promote the long-term health and safety of athletes at all levels. The NFL clubs have already committed a $30 million research grant to the NIH, and we look forward to making decisions soon with the NFL Players Association on the investment of $100 million for medical research that is committed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We have work to do, and we're doing it," the NFL said.
Dr. Russell Lonser, the former chief of surgical neurology at the NIH who helped coordinate the study, said in an interview that Seau's brain was "blinded" to ensure its independence since there was so much publicity around the study.
Lonser said that three independent neuropathologists from outside the NIH looked at unidentified tissue from three different brains, including one that was Seau's along with another who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and a third from a person that did not have any past traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative disease.
According to ESPN.com, "Dr. Lonser said the three experts independently arrived at the same conclusion as two other government researchers: that Seau's brain showed definitive signs of CTE. Those signs included the presence of an abnormal protein called "tau" that forms neurofibrillary tangles, effectively strangling brain cells."
"The NFL had no influence whatsoever," Lonser said.
The study of Seau's brain also connects to the case against the NFL by 4,000 former players who are suing the league for ignoring and denying the link between the game of football and serious brain issues. The NFL has made strides in player safety and rule changes, but some in the media have said the league has been too slow in acting on head trauma for players.
Asked if she believed the NFL was slow to address the issue, Gina Seau said: "Too slow for us, yeah."
Seau and his wife were divorced since 2002, but remained close since then and had three children while they were together.
"The difference with Junior ... from an emotional standpoint (was) how detached he became emotionally," Gina said. "It was so obvious to me because early, many, many years ago, he used to be such a phenomenal communicator. If there was a problem in any relationship, whether it was between us or a relationship with one of his coaches or teammates or somewhere in the business world, he would sit down and talk about it."
Mike Greenberg spoke about the findings on ESPN Radio on Thursday.
"You can't live with a business when one of the results can be Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. It's a hard word to even pronounce. It's a brain disease," Greenberg said.
Seau attended college at the University of Southern California, where he was a first team All-American selection in 1989 while recording 19 sacks. He was drafted by the Chargers with the fifth overall pick in the first round. He was part of the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team and was named first-team All-Pro eight times, including from 1991 to 1996.
