The Lost Children of Football.

In the car the next day, on the way to San Marcos to begin the procedural processes of death - closing up Myers' apartment, identifying his body, speaking to investigators who had no doubt that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted - Wilbourn was on a call with the medical examiner when, out of nowhere, she heard herself asking if they could save Myers' brain, if they could have it studied. "We're seeing changes in brain architecture, shrinkage of the brain, damage to brain structures, inflammation, evidence of vascular disease - meaning the tiny blood vessels of the brain are probably injured and leaky." Now considered the public face of CTE awareness - he's the guy Newsweek called after Hernandez died by suicide in prison, and the person families typically contact if they want to donate the brain of a loved one suspected of having CTE - Nowinski not only believes that the connection between repetitive, low-level head impacts and mental illness is strong enough that developing a mood disorder could prove to be a risk factor for developing CTE, but he also believes that the connection is strong enough to be worrisome in its own right. He started playing tackle football this past year, despite his family's experience with CTE, despite Wilbourn's admonishments, despite the fact that his father sits nervously on the sideline of each game, watching his son's head and the movements of his body, looking for signs of disaster. [Extracted from the article]