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Another Autopsy Links NFL Hits to Brain Damage

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 27, 2009 5:14 PM CST

(Newser) – A sixth former NFL player has been diagnosed posthumously with a rare brain disease, lending credence to claims that concussions sustained playing football can have a cumulative, even deadly, effect, the Tampa Tribune reports. Tom McHale, who played for the Buccaneers, died from an overdose of painkillers and cocaine in May. But doctors think his poor judgment could have been the result of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly associated with boxers.

CTE has now been diagnosed in all six former players, ages 36 to 50, who donated their brains for study after death, the New York Times notes. It is a rare disease, and doctors don’t see a coincidence. McHale’s brain damage could not have been caused by drug abuse, and his symptoms fit those of CTE. “You would expect the symptoms of lack of insight, poor judgment, decreased concentration,” one doctor said. The NFL says there is as yet too little scientific evidence to draw firm conclusions.

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Lisa McHale, widow of former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Tom McHale. (AP Photo)

Dr. Ann McKee, of Boston University School of Medicine, talks about damaged human brains during a news conference about chronic traumatic encephalopathy. (AP Photo)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger gives the thumbs up as he is taken off the field after sustaining a concussion. (AP Photo)

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I’m hoping that six of six is finally going to turn people’s heads. If they can finally let players know what the risks are, it won’t bring Tom back, but it would make his death a great deal less meaningless. - Lisa McHale

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