Study finds that one in four former NFL players suffers from degenerative brain disease CTE

First seen Aug 25, 2026 · 1:52 PM UTC

Fantasy Implication reviewed impact +0.0

This is a public-health/research story with no bearing on current NFL rosters, depth charts, or weekly fantasy decisions. It concerns former players who died between 2016-2021 and their posthumous brain donations — none of the named individuals (Namath, McMahon) are active players, and Brady's mention appears incidental/context-setting rather than health-related. There is no actionable fantasy signal here: no snap counts, injury designations, or roster moves are implicated.

At least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 was found to have had chronic ⁠traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a study released on Tuesday. Out of the 878 former players who died during that time frame, 235 donated their brains for study, researchers said, with 215 ⁠of those donated brains ⁠found to have CTE, a degenerative disease that can only definitively be diagnosed after death. CTE is associated with repeated blows to the head, including concussions.

Coverage from Yahoo Sports Nfl · read original