Jason Kelce’s ‘Guaranteed To Have CTE’ Admission Triggers Five-Word Response From Antonio Brown

CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative disease that NFL players suffer due to recurrent head injuries and concussions. As per a recent autopsy report, 345 of 376 NFL players had CTE. Eagles star Jason Kelce seems to have added himself to the list. Having played in one of the most physical positions in the game, Kelce’s admission doesn’t come across as a shocker. What’s shocking is predicting having a disease that can only be detected post-death.

Yesterday, Jason Kelce took to “X” to share a conspiracy article about the iconic “Secretariat” horse having been fed steroids. The Eagles shared an autopsy report on bodybuilders who abused steroids and drew parallels between the horse’s autopsy and the bodybuilders’ autopsy showing enlarged hearts. Kelce sharing an article with unsubstantiated claims led a user to troll the NFL star by wondering if he is suffering from CTE to believe in a conspiracy like this.

Surprisingly, Kelce replied to the user and said that he guaranteed he had CTE. He felt it was reasonable to assume he has the disease to some extent.

“I mean I can virtually guarantee that I have CTE,” said Kelce. “All the research would suggest I have some degree of it. I think it is entirely reasonable to assume I have some degree of that pathology.”

Kelce’s surprise nonchalance in admitting such a serious disease shocked all. However Antonio Brown had a peculiar reaction to Jason’s admission. He reacted to Kelce’s statement by saying the first step is acknowledgement. “First step is admitting it,” tweeted Brown followed by #CTESPN.

For those out of the loop, there was a time when netizens trolled Antonio Brown’s antics by alluding he had CTE. He hence chose to capitalise on the CTE comments on him by launching a clothing brand called CTESPN. Fans were also intrigued by Brown’s comments. While a few fans wondered if Kelce was trolling or not, they hoped for his good health and asked Brown to help Jason.

The other trolls meanwhile joked if Jason is joining the CTESPN team.

While Brown’s tone and intention with the comment are ambiguous, it doesn’t take away the fact that CTE is a serious disease. After all, some of the most brutal CTE cases have come from the NFL.

The Most Brutal CTE Cases in NFL History

From the shocking Aaron Hernandez case to Andre Waters, a common theme in some of the famous CTE gone wrong cases is that the victim completely loses their sanity in the final stages before treading the waters of suicide. Case in point – Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide in his jail cell just moments after getting a clean chit on his trial of double homicide.

Former Eagles star Andre Waters in 2006 shot himself to death in the pool for no real reason. Upon autopsy, it was revealed that CTE damaged his brain so much that his brain tissue was likened to an 85-year-old’s brain in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The examining doctor, Bennet Omalu, MD quoted at the end of his autopsy that “Football Killed Him”.

NFL linebacker Junior Seau’s suicide however was the turning point in the league’s stance towards the disease. In 2012, Seau shot himself in the chest with no clear motive. Seau’s death was eerily similar to former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson, who similarly committed suicide just a year ago in 2011.

Upon autopsy, the common link between both cases was CTE. The two cases coupled with Aaron Hernandez’ shocker made the league invest a $30 million sum to the NIH to study CTE and help come up with better solutions to protect athletes.

CTE is unfortunately the brutal side of the game we love. NFL athletes despite getting paid a lot also put their lives at risk day in and day out. Every week we see cases of players sitting out due to concussion protocols. However, with the game rules getting softer, and fouls being called easily, we can hope the game continues to go in a safe direction.