Brain illness ‘in nearly all NFL players’

ALL but one of 111 top American football players’ brains showed signs of degenerative disease, researchers found.

Tests on donated ex-NFL players’ brains found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), caused by repeated blows to the head.

Dr Ann McKee, of Boston University, said there was “no question” football had a problem, adding: “We urgently need to find answers for others exposed to head trauma.”

Here there is growing evidence linking heading the ball and early-onset dementia. Ex-West Brom striker Jeff Astle died of CTE, aged 59, in 2002.