Study estimates about 75% of NFL players who died in 2008-2023 had CTE
Photo: CBS NewsA Boston University study estimates that about 75% of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to findings published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Boston University, Mass General Brigham and the Concussion & CTE Foundation examined brains donated by 387 players, a subset of the 2,362 former NFL players who died in that period. Ninety-four percent of donors had some form of CTE. The team estimated that players with cognitive symptoms were five times more likely to have their brains donated, and from that arrived at an overall estimate of 74.5%. CTE is linked to repeated blows to the head and can only be definitively diagnosed after death. An August paper in The British Medical Journal estimated that 25% to 98% of players who died from 2016 to 2021 had CTE. Lead author Julia Gallini called the figure concerning and said more must be done to support families, diagnose CTE during life and treat symptoms. The NFL said it continuously works to make the game safer.
Right-leaning outlets Daily Mail and Daily Caller lead with the 75% figure. The Mail uses dramatic headline framing, quotes Gallini, includes the NFL's statement and notes that many cases may have been early stage and possibly symptom free. The Caller stresses the study's limits: it covers only dead NFL players, makes no prediction for living players or for college and youth players, and gives no symptom information. It also calls the study the first comprehensive effort of its kind. Left-leaning CBS News leads with expert reaction and the need to collect more data. It spends more space on method, including the 387-of-2,362 sample, the 94% rate, the five-times donation adjustment and the uncertainty behind the earlier range. Both sides share the core figure, the researchers and the postmortem diagnosis limit. Alternative or independent outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left- and right-leaning outlets had.
How the sides differ Right sources stress the headline figure, NFL response and study limits; left sources center expert reaction, the need for more data and how the estimate was calculated.
Headline, comparison and summary written by AI from the articles below. AI can make mistakes, so check the original articles before relying on a detail.
CBS News leads with expert reaction and the call for more data, then explains the study's method: the donor sample, the 94% rate, the donation adjustment and the earlier uncertainty range.
Not covering this story. None of the alternative or independent outlets Crosswire tracks has reported it yet. What one side leaves out can be as telling as what the others report.
Daily Mail and Daily Caller lead with the 75% figure. The Mail adds lead author Julia Gallini and an NFL statement; the Caller emphasizes what the study does not cover.