A study published in the New York Times this week found that at least 24.5 percent of former National Football League (NFL) players whose brains were examined after death had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers analyzed the records of 878 former players who died between 2016 and 2021, identifying the progressive neurological disease in at least 215 individuals. Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, the study’s lead author, stated that the primary predictor of CTE is the cumulative force of head impacts over a lifetime.
The findings follow previous scrutiny of the NFL's management of player health, including a prior dispute over "race-norming." That practice involved using race-based assumptions to evaluate cognitive impairment in Black former players seeking compensation under the NFL concussion settlement. The league generated more than $23 billion in revenue in 2024 and has previously agreed to halt race-norming and review affected brain injury claims.
Current research suggests that the risk of CTE can be modified by changing cumulative head impact exposure. Dr. Daneshvar suggested that reducing hits during practices and limiting youth participation in tackle football could lower these risks. While the study identified a rate of nearly one in four, the report noted this figure serves as a baseline because the majority of the 878 deceased players did not have their brains examined for the disease.
The scale of the issue translates to a significant portion of the workforce in a multi-billion dollar industry. Because the NFL reported $23 billion in revenue in 2024, the financial capacity exists for the league to influence safety standards across all levels of the sport. If the findings lead to policy changes, such as the elimination of contact in practices or age restrictions on tackle football, it would fundamentally alter the training pipeline and operational costs for schools, amateur leagues, and professional teams.
The precedent for league-wide change was set by the previous abandonment of race-norming, showing that the NFL's internal frameworks for evaluating harm are subject to revision when challenged by external data and legal pressure. What happens next depends on whether the league adopts the researchers' suggestions regarding practice hits and youth football. While no specific legislative deadlines or court dates were reported in the study, the findings provide a statistical basis for potential future litigation under mass tort law, which addresses injuries arising from common occupational exposures.