Lawyers: Aaron Hernandez had Severe CTE
Lawyers filed a lawsuit against the NFL, Patriots on behalf of Hernandez’s daughter.
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez killed himself in his prison cell last April as he served a life sentence for a 2013 murder charge at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, MA.
His lawyers revealed today that tests on Hernandez’s brain “showed severe signs of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).” They also said that his daughter plans to sue the NFL and the Patriots “for leading Hernandez to believe the sport was safe.”
From Sports Illustrated:
Hernandez’s brain, which was donated after his death, was examined by Dr. Ann McKee at Boston University. Dr. McKee diagnosed Herandez with Stage 3 CTE (out of four) and released images of his brain which show early brain atrophy and “severe deposition” of the protein associated with CTE. The disease is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head, which is why it often affects football players, hockey players and boxers.
Stage III CTE is “usually seen in players with a median age of death of 67,” Hernandez’s lawyers wrote in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
According to Baez, Hernandez’s CTE “was the most severe case they had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age.”
ESPN explained that repeated trauma can cause CTE, which exhibits “symptoms such as violent mood swings, depression and other cognitive difficulties.” Unfortunately, doctors can only diagnose CTE in an autopsy.
The lawsuit was filed today:
The $20 million lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston on Thursday claims that the team and league deprived Avielle Hernandez of the companionship of her father. It is separate from a $1 billion settlement in which the league agreed to pay families of players who suffered brain damage because of repeated head trauma while playing football.
An NFL spokesman said, “We have not seen a copy of the suit and cannot comment at this time.”
The New York Times reported that if anyone under the age of 45 had CTE they “can receive as much as $4 million” and those players “who died after the settlement was approved in April 2015 are not eligible for an award, but Hernandez’s family could argue for an exemption.”
Hernandez is not the only who doctors found with CTE:
Hernandez is the latest former N.F.L. player to have committed suicide and then been found with C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, joining Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, Andre Waters, Ray Easterling and Jovan Belcher, among others. Seau and Duerson deliberately shot themselves in the chest so that researchers would be able to examine their brains. Hernandez was found hanging in his prison cell.
Seau, Duerson and Waters were all older than 40, making him one of the youngest former N.F.L. players to have been found with C.T.E. In July, researchers at Boston University released findings that showed that they had found C.T.E. in the brains of 110 of the 111 former N.F.L. players they had examined.
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Comments
Load of crap…he was a thug gangster lowlife before the NFL
Maybe so, but does that fact go to the issue of liability, or damages?
I say damages.
What should the Patriots have done? – Opened his skull for inspection at the end of each season?
Good idea. Examine every NFL player’s brain every year.
Players are not passive fixtures. They have a stake in their wellbeing. Players have equal access to the research regarding potential injury as the owners and managers and are not solely dependent on others to assure their safety. Football was never promoted to the players as a risk free enterprise. The players need to accept responsibility for their own wellbeing.
It is not the team’s responsibility to further compensate the players for the outcome of the player’s choice to engage in a risky game. One would assume that acceptance of probable harm is one element of the substantial earnings enjoyed by the players.
According to Baez, Hernandez’s CTE “was the most severe case they had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age.”
Including other players. The families medical expert could be their worst witness.
Is it because Hernandez already suffered numerous head blows before playing football possibly even early stage CTE. As pointed out there is no way the NFL could diagnose it.
In a workers comp claim when a person has an injured back, did he injure his back working for the company, or did he injure his back in that car accident he admits to two years ago.
More horsesh-t. Hernandez was trouble way before he played football.
As for ‘sudden outbursts’ and the like, Hernandez was accused multiple murders, all which were premeditated.
Hey, maybe that’s what affects that idiot Pumpernickel (or whatever name is.)
Anyone know if Hernandez’s victim sue Hernandez’s estate?
IIRC, Odin Lloyd’s family did file a wrongful death lawsuit against Hernandez. Not sure if the other two victims have done so yet. But if it looks like the suit against the NFL might generate some cash, they probably will (if they haven’t already).
Even though I cannot see this particular case being laid at the NFLs feet, tghe NFL does have a lot to answer for in terms of CTE.
the question is – can there be any better headgear to protect
Pro and amateur players?
——————————-
popsci.com
New Football Helmet Could Save the Sport
By Tom Foster posted Dec 18th, 2012 at 12:07pm
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-08/helmet-wars-and-new-helmet-could-protect-us-all
The even better question is whether the injuries leading to CTE occurred in the NFL rather than previously. Or is there an apportionment in order.
Hernandez did not just start playing football and colliding with others in the NFL. I do not care for the NFL but like college ball, and I am concerned where this is going to lead for colleges and the NCAA. I surmise that we will start getting more evidence as decedents that played college football and at the levels below have their brains analyzed after death.
she just wants to be paid – otherwise the suit would be to end pro football.
sorry that the daughter lost the murderer –
btw any money given by NFL/ESPN should go to the family of the murdered victim(s) NOT the low-life daughter.
“…researchers at Boston University released findings that showed that they had found C.T.E. in the brains of 110 of the 111 former N.F.L. players they had examined.”
There are only three possible ways this statement could be true.
1) CTE is a massive, deadly thing in football (which is strange, because the number of players dropping dead from it seems rather low for this)
2) Fraud
3) The ability of a researcher to find what they are looking for (and paid to look for) despite evidence to the contrary, i.e. are these autopsies *double-blind* or is the autopsy team only autopsying football players? I’m suspecting the latter, in which case I’d put very little credibility on the results.
Science is made with skeptics.
Science Fiction is made with blind trust.
It would be interesting to find out it those players with the Dx of CTE were also users of anabolic steroids.
Steroids will diminish the inflammatory process in which damaged tissue
is responded to and healed.
If that process is depressed/diminished then repeated traumatic events, improperly healed, might cause this chronic condition.
Just wondering
I don’t have the link in front of me, but the 110 of 111 number comes from donated brains from families who strongly suspected their (now deceased) family member suffered from CTE. So, this was in no ways a randomized study. It would be like me donating food from my fridge that I strongly suspected has gone bad and some scientist telling me that they found harmful bacteria in 110 of 111 food samples from my fridge.
Total BS
Between this and BLM BS the NFL is doomed.
They were selling tickets today for the SF game for 15$ apiece, and kit was still half empty
It would be interesting to find out it those players with the Dx of CTE were also users of anabolic steroids.
Steroids will diminish the inflammatory process in which damaged tissue
is responded to and healed.
If that process is depressed/diminished then repeated traumatic events, improperly healed, might cause this chronic condition.
Just wondering
Won’t it get laid at the feet of whoever has the most money, the deepest pockets?
I am not convinced that CTE really exists or, at least, exists as it is currently defined. For example, CTE is supposed to increase suicidal thoughts. However, former NFL players have a suicide rate that is only 60% of the general population. Read here.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/does-cte-really-exist-expert-questions-studies-find-rare-brain-disease-ex-nfl-players-268125
And the study of 110 out of 111 NFL brains having CTE is extremely biased. Those brains were donated from families who strong suspected their loved ones had CTE.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-07-25/110-of-111-deceased-nfl-football-players-brains-had-cte-study-finds
This is just dialing for dollars.
He appears to have been a sociopath before he was in the NFL and got in fights as a minor.
Just another criminal that could also play football and the heirs are trying to cash in on their meal ticket one last time.
Bingo!!
I don’t see how Hernandez CTE can be pinned on the NFL. If my recollection is correct he was violent and erratic in college and just continued the same pattern of actions/reactions. INAL but it seems to me that proving the NFL was at fault with his history will be extremely difficult.
One is surprised that Bristol Central HS and the University of Florida aren’t named as well, given his extensive football experience with those organizations.