Shocking new study finds 96% of deceased NFL players test positive for brain disease just months after league paid out $1billion to settle roughly 5,000 head injury lawsuits

  • An examination of 91 deceased professional football players found that 87 tested positive for brain disease 
  • The men suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE
  • The NFL agreed in April to pay $1billion to settle roughly 5,000 lawsuits with former players who had sued the league over head injuries 
  • Those who suffer from CTE report having memory loss, depression and dementia 
  • These findings suggest the biggest threat to players is not violent hits to the head that lead to concussions, but rather repeated minor hits

By Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:25 EST, 18 September 2015 | Updated: 19:29 EST, 18 September 2015

A socking number of football players tested positive for brain disease in a new study. 

Researchers working for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University tested deceased football players and found out that 87 out of 91 individuals who played in the National Football League suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

That breaks down to about 96% of professional football players.

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Shocking: An examination of 91 deceased professional football players found that 87 tested positive for brain disease (Jusior Seau above in 2005, who tested positive after his death)

Shocking: An examination of 91 deceased professional football players found that 87 tested positive for brain disease (Jusior Seau above in 2005, who tested positive after his death)

Frontline reports that chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is caused by repetitive trauma to the head.

Those who suffer from CTE report having memory loss, depression and dementia. 

This comes just months after the decision by the NFL in April to pay $1billion to settle roughly 5,000 lawsuits with former players who had sued the league over head injuries.

It also comes just before the release of the new Will Smith film Concussion, which tells the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who discovered CTE after performing an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers star Mike Webster in 2002.

Webster, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, became homeless before his death and suffered from dementia, amnesia and depression.

CTE has since been discovered in players like including Hall of Famer, Junior Seau, Dave Duerson and Terry Long - who committed suicide in 2005 by drinking antifreeze.

'People think that we’re blowing this out of proportion, that this is a very rare disease and that we’re sensationalizing it,' said Dr. Ann McKee, who runs the lab. 

'My response is that where I sit, this is a very real disease. We have had no problem identifying it in hundreds of players.'

She also said these new numbers are 'remarkably consistent' with past studies.

It is not just professional football that is a threat either it seems, with CTE also being found in 79% of all football players.

These findings suggest that the biggest threat is not violent hits to the head that lead to concussions, but rather repeated minor hits to the head.

A spokesperson for the NFL said in a statement; 'We are dedicated to making football safer and continue to take steps to protect players, including rule changes, advanced sideline technology, and expanded medical resources. 

'We continue to make significant investments in independent research through our gifts to Boston University, the [National Institutes of Health] and other efforts to accelerate the science and understanding of these issues.' 

That being said, Dr. McKee said there are still some with a 'vested interest' in football who do not want to believe the findings of these studies.

'I think there’s fewer of those people, but that’s still one of our major hurdles,' she said. 

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