Sports

Study: Up to 98% of NFL Players May Have CTE

Is this a genuine crisis or are alarming statistics skewed by selection bias in brain donation research?

Published AUG 25

Study: Up to 98% of NFL Players May Have CTE

Story

Above: The NFL shield logo on a ball. Image credit: Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

The Facts

A study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal found that at least 25% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), with researchers estimating the maximum possible prevalence at 97.7%.
NPR
New York Post
Of the 878 former NFL players who died during the study period, 235 donated their brains for research, and 215 — or 91.4% — were diagnosed with CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can only be confirmed after death.
NBC News
CBS News
The study, conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Boston University and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, also found that more than 90% of brain donors with Stage IV CTE — the most advanced form — were also diagnosed with dementia.
BU
UPI
Lead author Dr. Daniel Daneshvar said that NFL players have "about a four times higher rate of death from neurodegenerative disease than the general population" and noted that nearly 70% of head impacts occur during practice, not games.
CNN
BBC News
The NFL said that it "continuously strives to make the game of football safer," while the NFL Players' Association (NFLPA) called the findings "a sobering reminder that football carries real risks" and described them as "a call to action across the entire football ecosystem."
UPI
ESPN
Researchers noted that most cumulative head impacts on former NFL players occurred at the collegiate, high school and youth levels. They urged that practice contact reductions already adopted by the NFL be extended to lower levels of the sport.
BU
The Times of India

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The NFL has a serious CTE problem and can't keep looking the other way. The estimates being made based on this latest study are conservative. Kids as young as 5 are still being taught to tackle, absorbing repeated head impacts that cause irreversible brain damage. That's simply unconscionable when flag football exists as a safer alternative.

Jill Arrington on X

Paul Kuharsky on X

The Washington Examiner

Narrative B

These statistics are driven by severe selection bias. Brains donated for research almost exclusively come from families who already noticed something was wrong. Star quarterbacks from football's most brutal era are aging just fine, which the doom-and-gloom narrative can't explain. Even the researchers themselves admit the messaging has outpaced the actual evidence.