Tony Dorsett, Joe DeLamielleure and Leonard Marshall all have two things in common; they played in the NFL, and they are showing signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. ESPN.com released a report on Wednesday that said the former players had brain scans and clinical evaluations at UCLA, and afterwards discovered signs of CTE. The authors of the article, William Weinbaum and Steve Delsohn, explained that CTE is “a degenerative condition caused by head trauma and is linked to depression and dementia.” A protein is released into the brain when the disease takes hold, and that protein “strangles brain cells in areas that control memory, emotions and other functions.”
Dorsett told ESPN’s Outside the Lines that he wanted to undergo further evaluation after he started experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts. Dorsett also says that is having memory loss, and when driving, finds himself lost. He said that when he takes his daughters to sports activities, he gets turned around. “I’ve got to take them to places that I’ve been going to for many, many, many years, and then I don’t know how to get there,” said Dorsett. Dorsett then added: “I’ve thought about crazy stuff, sort of like, ‘Why do I need to continue going through this?’ I’m too smart of a person, I like to think, to take my life, but it’s crossed my mind,” said Dorsett.
Three players are also taking action in a lawsuit against the NFL, charging the league of trying to hide obvious connections between the sport and brain damage.
