At least one in four NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic

cte nfl research (Getty Images)

At least one in four NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease better known as CTE. The research, led by scientists from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston University, focused on 878 former NFL players who died in that six-year period. Of that group, at least 215 of them, or 24.5 percent, had CTE. And here is the part that should make the NFL uncomfortable: researchers say that 25 percent figure is likely the floor, not the ceiling. When applied to active players, that would mean about 400 of the current 1,696 active players could develop CTE.

The estimate of 25 percent is on the “low end,” said Dr. The study found that the maximum possible prevalence of CTE was around 97 percent, but the true rate “is somewhere in the middle,” Daneshvar said. The NFLPA said in a statement: “This study is a sobering reminder that football carries real risks, and those risks can have lasting consequences for players and their families.

A study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal has put a number to what many in football have long feared. Daniel Daneshvar, the study’s lead author. That is not a projection the NFL or the NFLPA can easily dismiss. The findings should serve as a call to action across the entire football ecosystem. “

When the touchback changed to the 35 and teams became incentivized to put more kickoffs in play, concussions spiked. Moving the touchback line from the 30 to the 35 brought more returns, more collisions, and more concussions. The average age of the former players whose brains were donated was around 66 years old, meaning most of their professional football careers took place before 2005, when CTE was first diagnosed in a former NFL player.

Because the new BMJ study adds statistical pressure to what some team officials have already been saying privately, that matters.

As one source put it, it was “the elephant in the room” at the annual league meetings in March. One researcher noted this “may not represent the NFL in 2026,” given the rule changes and safety improvements made since then. The timing of this study lands in the middle of a live debate inside the league. Specifically for the player returning the kick and the player tackling him. Those concussions, accumulated over careers, are precisely what researchers link to CTE development. There is also an important caveat worth noting. That is a reasonable qualifier. But it does not make the numbers disappear.