According to the BBC, a new study says as many as 97.7% of NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 could have had brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. Researchers examined 878 former players who died in that period, including 235 who donated their brains to research, and found chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in 215 of them. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also found dementia was common among brain donors.

Lead author Daniel Daneshvar, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said NFL players had about four times the death rate from neurodegenerative disease compared with the general population. Researchers estimated a conservative minimum CTE prevalence of 24.5% among those who died in the six-year period, rising to a maximum of 97.7%. They urged the NFL to take steps to reduce repetitive head impacts at all levels of the sport. An NFL spokesperson said the league continues to work to make football safer by reducing concussions and head impacts, and said it remains committed to providing resources for former players.