Former professional football player Phillip Adams suffered from a degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), when he shot six people before killing himself in April, medical specialists said on Tuesday.
A post-mortem examination of Adams’ brain, performed by neuropathologists at Boston University, revealed that the 32-year-old man had signs of “unusually severe” brain damage. “He had an extraordinary amount of pathologies associated with the frontal lobe, the area of the brain behind the forehead,” said Ann McKee, one of the directors of the establishment.
CTE, which cannot be detected in living individuals, is a degenerative disease of the brain caused by repeated head trauma. It can cause a variety of behavioral symptoms, including aggression, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, paranoia, suicidal tendencies, as well as progressive cognitive symptoms such as memory loss.
The ETC specter has haunted the NFL since the early 2000s.
Several scientific studies have shown a link between this cerebral degeneration and repeated shocks to the head, causing concussions and other head injuries which too often mark a player’s career.
The most recent of these studies, in July 2017, notably analyzed the brain tissue of 111 players who passed through the NFL and often died prematurely: ETC was detected in 110 of them.
Victim of several concussions during his career
A prevalence that has forced the league, sued in the early 2010s by 4,500 former players or their beneficiaries, to pay compensation of one billion dollars for the victims, while modifying certain rules. Thus, since 2018, helmet-to-helmet impact is prohibited.
According to his family, Adams suffered “several concussions” during his career, spent between 2010 and 2015 with the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders and the Atlanta Falcons.
He shot dead Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife Barbara, 69, two of their grandchildren aged 9 and 5, and two men working on an air conditioning system at the Lesslie’s home in Rock Hill, SC. , on April 7, 2021, before being found dead soon after, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a nearby house.
A toxicological analysis also revealed the presence in her body of prescription amphetamines, as well as kratom, an over-the-counter plant extract which, in low doses, acts as a stimulant.
“We have a better understanding of the mental turmoil that Phillip faced in the last moments of his life. We are not surprised by these results. However, it is shocking to hear how serious his condition was, ”his family said.
“We hope to raise awareness of this disease so that players can understand the risks … Phillip is not the first to fight against this disease and he will not be the last,” she concluded. .
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