Marshawn Kneeland – the Dallas Cowboys star who died by suicide at the age of 24 last year – had been suffering with Stage 1 CTE, according to researchers.
Kneeland shot himself in the head in a porta-potty in Plano, Texas, after evading police in an astonishing pursuit, which sparked when he failed to pull over for a traffic violation in neighboring Frisco on November 6.
His family have since revealed, via a release from the Boston University CTE Center, that researchers diagnosed Kneeland with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
‘Unfortunately, I was not surprised to find CTE in the brain of Mr. Kneeland, because we have found this progressive brain disease in nearly half of the athletes we’ve studied who have died before the age of 30,’ Dr. Ann McKee, director of the Boston University CTE Center, said.
Dr. Chris Nowinski, Concussion & CTE Foundation CEO, added: ‘Mr. Kneeland played in the modern era of concussion protocols and better helmets, and yet he still developed CTE
‘We have no reason to believe the current generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations. Concussion protocols do not prevent CTE, because CTE is caused by repeated head impacts, not just concussions.
‘If we want to reduce CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the game.’
More to follow…
Kneeland took his own life following a police chase in suburban Dallas in November
