Frank Gifford suffered from CTE caused by concussions

According to a statement released Wednesday by his family, NFL legend Frank Gifford suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

Amid rising concerns over the long-term health dangers of playing professional football, another prominent figure of the NFL community has been diagnosed with concussion-related brain disease. Though Hall of Fame Giants running back Frank Gifford passed away last August, his family issued a statement today that confirmed Gifford had been suffering from CTE long before his death from natural causes.

“Our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed when a team of pathologists recently diagnosed his condition as that of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)–a progressive degenerative brain disease,” the statement said.

According to the report, his family decided to release the pathologists’ findings to the public because in his later years, “Frank dedicated himself to understanding the recent revelations concerning the connection between repetitive head trauma and its associated cognitive and behavioral symptoms – which he experienced firsthand.” The statement goes on to point out that Gifford had long been a champion of players’ safety, as he was one of the founding members of the NFL Player’s Association back in the 1950s.

Gifford was also the play-by-play commentator of Monday Night Football for 27 years.

The news comes at a time when NFL viewership and ratings have never been higher, despite growing awareness of CTE and revised policies regarding concussion testing and protocol during games.

Perhaps the most prominent controversy involving football and its negative repercussions on the human brain came in the form of All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau’s suicide in 2012. It was later revealed that Seau’s brain had CTE, and the condition may have played a part in his depression. According to brain specialists consulted by the National Institutes of Health, evidence of CTE has been found in “dozens” of deceased former players.

Columbia Pictures also plans to release the film “Concussion” at the end of this year. The movie is a biographical sports drama that takes a hard look at the NFL’s efforts to suppress research on the “brain damage suffered by professional football players.”