At Least 24.5% of Former NFL Players Who Died 2016-2021 Had CTE, Study Finds
A new study puts a number on football's hidden toll: at least 24.5 percent of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE. One in four. And the researchers say the true figure is likely much higher.
The study, based on brain samples from the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University, examined tissue from players in that five-year window. CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head hits. It can only be diagnosed after death.
That last point is why the number matters. Brain bank samples don't represent all former players. Families who suspect CTE are more likely to donate, and most players who die never have their brains examined. So the 24.5 percent isn't the actual rate. It's the floor. The study's authors state plainly that the true share could be far larger.
For the NFL, the timing is uncomfortable. The league has tweaked rules and practice schedules in response to the head-trauma crisis. But the damage happens over decades. A player who retired in the 1990s can show CTE in the 2020s. The study covers deaths from 2016 through 2021, meaning most of these players spent their careers before modern safety protocols existed. That doesn't make the findings less relevant. It makes them a baseline.
What's next? The NFL should fund broader research and work toward a living diagnostic tool. The league has resources. The players who built it deserve more than a wait-and-see response.
This study is not an indictment of every former player, and it isn't a reason to call the game unforgivable. It is a reminder that the human cost of football is real, measurable, and still being counted. The sooner the league accepts that, the sooner it can actually do something about it.