As researchers have found evidence of CTE in numerous dead NFL players, it’s natural that living players would begin to worry about what’s going on in their own brains.
In a recent interview with Fox17 in Nashville, former Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who played a key role in the Music City Music Miracle, said he is “sure” he has the degenerative brain disease.
“The punishment I took, the concussions and the dings and all that stuff,” he said. “I’m sure. You can’t test for CTE unless you’re dead.”
Here’s how Wycheck, who estimates he took 297,000 hits in his life, described his symptoms:
“Migraine headaches, just being depressed, just not wanting to socialize, sensitivity to light. I go into a room and forget why I went there. You asked me and I’m just being honest.”
Wycheck is only 45 years old, 13 years removed from an NFL career that lasted 11 seasons and earned him three Pro Bowl nods.
We can’t know for sure whether Wycheck has CTE because, as he points out, there’s no test for living patients, but it’s certainly possible. CTE has been found in the brains of dead players including Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Frank Gifford, Dave Duerson, Jovan Belcher and Kenny Stabler, among others. Numerous living players have reported symptoms of the disease.
We can only hope that Wycheck’s self-diagnosis is incorrect and he does not have CTE. We can also hope researchers find a way to reliably detect CTE in living people and that some kind of cure or treatment isn’t too far behind. And maybe that football finds a way to ensure its players don’t continue to wind up practically incapacitated in their 40s.
[Fox17]
