Jovan Belcher, the former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who killed his girlfriend and himself in 2012, had signs of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. A doctor who performed a post-mortem on Belcher at the behest of Belcher's family found in his brain a buildup of tau protein, which is associated with the disease, according to ESPN's Outside the Lines.
Neuroscientists believe repeated head trauma dramatically increases the risk of CTE, a disease that can lead to depression, memory loss, and aggressive behavior. A damning Frontline report last year documented the prevalence of CTE in NFL players and the league's decades-long denial about the dangers of head trauma.
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