Manhattan Shooter Claims NFL Gave Him CTE: What Is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

Asianet News English

A shocking tragedy shook New York. The Manhattan shooter, identified as Shane Tamura, left behind a note blaming the NFL for his struggles with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head injuries in contact sports. The attack, targeting an office building housing the NFL’s headquarters, reignites the national debate about mental health, football-related brain trauma, and public safety. But what exactly is CTE?&nbsp;

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00:00New York officials say that the gunman who stormed a Manhattan skyscraper and killed four people

00:10believed he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, i.e. CTE, a neurodegenerative

00:17disease that has affected hundreds of American football players. The man may have been targeting

00:25the National Football League or NFL headquarters, located inside the building. New York Mayor

00:31Arik Adams said that the 27-year-old Manhattan shooter carried a note referencing CTE and appeared

00:38to have blamed the NFL for his condition. The gunman never played in the NFL but was reportedly a star

00:46player at high school level. Here is a key background about the brain condition and its link to contact

00:53sports. So what is CTE? CTE, which cannot be tested for in living individuals, is a degenerative

01:01brain disease caused by repetitive head trauma. It has been linked to an array of behavioral symptoms

01:08including aggression, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and suicidal tendencies, as well

01:15as progressive cognitive symptoms such as memory loss. Awareness of the condition rose through the

01:22groundbreaking work of Dr. Bennett Omalu, a Nigerian-American forensic pathologist who

01:28discovered CTE in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster in 2002. Webster died

01:35at 50 after years of erratic behavior and physical decline. Omalu's research was initially dismissed and

01:43discredited by the NFL. But the league eventually acknowledged a link between concussions sustained in

01:49football and CTE in 2009. The 2015 film Concussion starring Will Smith as Omalu brought wider popular

01:59awareness to the issue. A year later, the NFL announced a $1 billion legal settlement aimed at providing financial

02:07assistance to players suffering from dementia and other neurological conditions linked to concussions.

02:18CTE has been cited in a number of violent deaths involving former NFL players. In 2010, 50-years-old former

02:27Chicago Bear safety Dave Durison died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Before taking his life,

02:34Dave Durison sent a text message to family members requesting that his brain be sent for analysis at

02:40the Boston University School of Medicine, which has led research into CTE. Tests by researchers at the

02:47university later confirmed that Durison had been suffering from CTE linked to concussions sustained

02:53during his career. There have been numerous similar incidents. In 2021, former NFL player Philip Adams,

03:0032 years old, shot dead six people before killing himself. A post-mortem examination of Adams' brain

03:06found that he had been suffering from CTE, citing unusually severe damage to his brain.

03:13A coroner said Adams, who began playing gridiron in school, had complained of excruciating pain as well

03:19as memory issues and difficulty sleeping. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez

03:26was also found to have CTE after committing suicide in prison, where he was serving a life sentence

03:32for murder. Several other players have also been found to have had CTE after taking their own lives.

03:41Because no test exists for CTE in living people, studies have been limited to examining the brains

03:48of players after their deaths. A 2023 study by the Boston University CTE Center said that of 376 brains

03:56of former NFL players, 345 of them were found to have CTE. While that sample is potentially skewed,

04:04the center is often asked to analyze brains from family members of players who have shown symptoms

04:11of CTE. The findings suggest a high incidence of the condition among NFL athletes. A 2024 survey of

04:18nearly 2,000 former NFL players conducted by a team of researchers from the Football Players Health

04:24Study at Harvard University showed that one-third believed that they had CTE, citing health issues

04:31such as cognitive problems, depression, headache, and chronic pain.

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