Bo Jackson opens up about football’s CTE risk

Bo Jackson knows football, but he didn’t know that much about the risk of head injuries that can come with playing the game, he said in a recent interview with USA Today.

The Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Pro Bowler, who also had a baseball career, would have never played football if he had known more about the health risks, he said in the interview, which published Thursday.

“If I knew back then what I know now,” Jackson told USA Today Sports, “I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody.

“The game has gotten so violent, so rough. We’re so much more educated on this CTE stuff (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), there’s no way I would ever allow my kids to play football today.”

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What is CTE?

Most scientists believe that CTE, a progressive degenerative brain disease, is associated with repeated blows to the head, such as those suffered while playing football.

The brain can shake inside the skull whenever the head gets hit, which can trigger the buildup of an abnormal protein in the brain called tau, leading to progressive degeneration of brain tissue.

In March, the NFL publicly acknowledged a connection between football and CTE.

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Brain disease in football

“I think that the NFL has a responsibility – one could say an obligation – to really focus on player health and game safety. And by doing so, it would have a watershed effect on football, reaching into the NCAA and down into youth football. But I think the watershed effect extends to all sports and will affect men and women, so I think that’s a good thing,” Dr. Betsy Nabel, the NFL’s chief health and medical adviser, told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a 2015 interview.

“Any contact sport is going to have a risk of injury. We see that, for example, in women’s soccer,” she said. “I think what’s critical is knowing how to play the game right, knowing how to play the game safely. If you understand the best way to tackle, if you’ve got good equipment in place and you know how to recognize injuries, then you’re going to know how to play the game as safely as possible. “

Indeed, athletes from other sports, such as boxing, soccer, and rugby, also can suffer CTE. Last year, US soccer player Brandi Chastain announced that she plans to donate her brain to Boston University for CTE research.

Many athletes from other sports have made that same commitment including three-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr.

CTE can cause Alzheimer’s like symptoms. They can include cognitive impairment, impulsive behavior, depression, memory loss, difficulty planning or carrying out tasks, emotional instability, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Former pro football player Kevin Turner, shown here during a 1998 NFL game, had the most advanced stage of CTE when he died in March at the age of 46. Dr. Ann McKee of Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation said that Turner's CTE brought on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head trauma. Scientists believe repeated head trauma can cause CTE, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain. Symptoms include depression, aggression and disorientation, but scientists can definitively diagnose it only after death.

BMX star Dave Mirra, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot in February, was found to have CTE.

Charles "Bubba" Smith, a former football player and actor who died in 2011, was also diagnosed with CTE. Smith played for the Baltimore Colts, the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers.

Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Fred McNeill died in November 2015 due to complications from ALS. However, an autopsy confirmed that he suffered from CTE. What makes McNeill's case even more remarkable, though, is that he was potentially the first to be diagnosed while alive. Doctors used an experimental new technology to examine his brain.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, a former NFL MVP who died in July 2015, suffered from CTE, researchers at Boston University said.

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before killing himself in December 2012. Pathology reports show he probably had CTE.

Hall of Fame offensive lineman Mike Webster was the first former NFL player to be diagnosed with CTE. After his retirement, Webster suffered from amnesia, dementia, depression, and bone and muscle pain.

The death of 36-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk put the link between football and CTE in the national spotlight. Strzelczyk was killed in a 2004 car crash crash after a 40-mile high-speed chase with police in New York.

Evidence of CTE was found in the brain of football player Lew Carpenter after his death in 2010 at the age of 78.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Louis Creekmur, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1959, suffered decades of cognitive decline before his death.

Linebacker John Grimsley of the Houston Oilers died of an accidental gunshot wound to the chest in 2008. Analysis of his brain tissue confirmed damage to the neurofibrillary tangles that had begun to affect his behavior and memory.

Chris Henry played five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals before dying at the age of 26. He died after falling from the bed of a moving pickup during a fight with his fiancée. His young age prompted concern over how quickly athletes start to suffer from CTE.

Offensive lineman Terry Long of the Pittsburgh Steelers committed suicide by drinking antifreeze. Although the antifreeze caused swelling of the brain, football-related brain injuries were a contributing factor to his death.

Pro Football Hall of Famer John Mackey suffered from dementia for years before dying at the age of 69.

Ollie Matson, who played 14 NFL seasons starting in the 1950s, suffered from dementia until his death in 2011.

Andre Waters spent most of his 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles before his suicide at age 44.

Tom McHale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, right, died in 2008 of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 45.

Junior Seau took his own life in 2012 at the age of 43. The question of CTE came up immediately after his death; scientists at the National Institutes of Health confirmed the diagnosis in January 2013.

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit was found dead at his suburban Atlanta home along with his wife, Nancy, and son in an apparent murder-suicide. Testing found that the damage to his brain was similar to that of an elderly Alzheimer's patient.

Reggie Fleming, who played for six NHL teams, was the first hockey player to be diagnosed with CTE.

Hockey player Bob Probert was found to have CTE after dying of heart failure at the age of 45.

Ryan Freel became the first Major League Baseball player to be diagnosed with CTE nearly a year after he committed suicide at age 36.

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Out of 94 ex-NFL players’ brains that have been studied to date at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University, 90 have been diagnosed with CTE, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Legendary sportscaster and Hall of Famer Frank Gifford, who died in 2015 of natural causes at the age of 84, is among some of the players diagnosed with CTE – as well as Hall of Famer and San Diego Charger Junior Seau, who killed himself in 2012 at the age of 43, former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Fred McNeill who died at 63, and former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler who died at 69.

“Unfortunately the only definitive way to determine CTE is with an autopsy,” said Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent.

Although, as reported by CNN last year, McNeill is believed to be the first person diagnosed before death with CTE. His diagnosis was confirmed by an autopsy after he died.

“There’s a lot of work now focused on trying to pinpoint biomarkers and brain imaging that can potentially lead to a diagnosis when a player is still alive – and hopefully that can also lead to new therapies. Currently there is no way to treat the disease,” Gupta said. “The only thing we know is that it’s a result of repeated hits to the head, and if we cut down that exposure, that may help.”

Bo Jackson isn’t the only former athlete to weigh in on the brain injury risks of football.

Last year, former NFL wide receiver Antwaan Randle El told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that “If I could go back … I would play baseball.”

In 2015, former NFL defensive end Neil Smith told 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City that he regrets playing football due to health problems and if “he had to do it all over again, probably not.”

Chris Borland, a former rookie linebacker in the NFL, retired early from the game in 2015 citing concerns about brain injuries.

In 2013, former NFL running back Tony Dorsett was diagnosed with signs of CTE in a preliminary study and he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “I can’t put a price on my health.”

In an effort to make the sport safer, the NFL appointed Nabel to her post in 2015.