According to the New York Times, a recent autopsy reveals that young football players, even those on the college level, might be at risk in developing CTE.  

A brain autopsy of a University of Pennsylvania football player who killed himself in April has revealed the same trauma-induced disease found in more than 20 deceased National Football League players, raising questions of how young football players may be at risk for the disease.

What is CTE? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE,  is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain mostly found in athletes. When athletes suffer from brain trauma, the brain tissue starts to degenerate, and an abnormal protein, called tau, begins to accumulate. CTE is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, paranoia, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and progressive dementia.

Owen Thomas, was a “popular 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior lineman” at the University Pennsylvania. Playing football since he was nine, Owen was a third generation college football player. His father played for Millersville University, and Owen’s father played for UVA.   At Penn, Owen was student at the Wharton School of Business. Owen started college playing freshmen football, and he played his last two seasons on the varsity team. Owen even earned “second-team all-Ivy League honors in 2009” as he helped the Quakers win the Ivy title.

Despite being a successful athlete and having no previous history of depression, Owen sadly “hanged himself in his off-campus apartment after what friends and family have described as a sudden and uncharacteristic emotional collapse. Doctors at Boston University subsequently received permission from the family to examine Thomas’s brain tissue and discovered early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

More startling, Thomas never was diagnosed with a concussion or complained of headaches.  Doctors have concluded that Owen probably dismissed symptoms of head trauma as he withstood numerous brain injuries, most of these injuries occurring while Owen’s brain was still developing.

However, doctors and experts maintain that CTE cannot be solely responsible for an individual’s suicide.  Still, brain trauma “might have exacerbated his sudden depression and compromised his ability to think clearly about his actions.”

Erasing old notions that only NFL veterans fall victim to CTE, Owen is the youngest player ever to be diagnosed with a clear case of CTE.  

Thomas’s parents, the Rev. Tom Thomas and the Rev. Kathy Brearley, requested that their son’s case be made public to educate other families about the possible and perhaps addressable risks of football at all levels. About 1.4 million children ages 14 to 18 play high school football every fall and about three million others play in youth leagues at younger ages. As the Ivy football season is almost upon us, we should all remember the words of Owen’s father, “I want people to take this seriously.”