By RICK MAESE • Washington Post

Researchers studying thelinkbetweenfoot­ ball and chronic traumatic encephalopathy found that 99 percent of the brains donated by families of former NFL players showed signs of the neurodegenerative disease, according to a new study published Tuesday.

In all, researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System examined 202 brains that belonged to men who played football at all lev­

ls and were later donated for research. They found CTE in i77 of them – 87 percent.
While they found evidence of the disease Kross all levels of play, the highest percent- 1ge was found among those who competed at the highest level; all but one of the Ill belonging to ex-NFL players were dia-post-mortem with CTE.

177 of 202

Former players diagnosed with CTE in the study.

110 of 111

Former NFL players diag­ nosed with CTE in the study.

“Obviously, this doesn’t represent prevalence in the general population, the fact that we’ve been able to gather the number of cases in such a short period says that this disease is not uncommon neuropathologist Ann McKee, the resE credited with some of the most high­ CTE diagnoses. “In fact, I think it’s much common than we currently realize. An importantly, this is a problem in football weneedto address and weneedto address in order to bring some hope and option football players.”