Ex-Patriot Hernandez had CTE; lawsuit filed
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had a severe case of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, researchers in Boston said on Thursday. Hernandez’s attorney announced a lawsuit against the NFL and the team for hiding the true dangers of the sport.
Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the CTE Center at Boston University, said Hernandez had Stage 3 (out of 4) of the disease, which can cause violent mood swings, depression and other cognitive disorders.
“We’re told it was the most severe case they had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age,” attorney Jose Baez said.
The 27-year-old Hernandez committed suicide in April in the prison cell where he was serving a lifewithout-parole sentence for murder. Baez said Hernandez had shown signs of memory loss, impulsivity and aggression that could be attributed to CTE.
“When hindsight is 20-20, you look back and there are things you might have noticed,” Baez said. “But you don’t know.”
CTE, which can be diagnosed only in an autopsy, has been found in former members of the military, football players, boxers and others who have been subjected to repeated head trauma. A recent study found signs of the disease in 110 of 111 NFL players whose brains were inspected.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston claimed that the league and Patriots failed to protect their players’ safety, leading to the disease that deprived Hernandez’s 4-year-old daughter, Avielle, of her father’s companionship.
“Defendants were fully aware of the dangers of exposing NFL players, such as Aaron, to repeated traumatic head impacts,” the lawsuit said. “Yet, defendants concealed and misrepresented the risks of repeated traumatic head impacts.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment. A Patriots spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The league recently agreed to pay $1 billion to retired players who claimed it misled them about the dangers of playing football.
Rams edge 49ers
Jared Goff threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns and Todd Gurley ran for two TDs and caught another to help the Los Angeles Rams put up another big offensive performance with a 41-39 victory over host San Francisco on Thursday night.
The win didn’t come easy as the Rams (2-1) nearly blew a 15-point lead, giving up two late touchdowns, fumbling a kickoff return and failing to recover an onside kick. But Los Angeles managed to stop a potential tying two-point conversion and then used an offensive pass interference penalty and a fourth-down sack by Aaron Donald to stop the 49ers (0-3) after the onside kick.
Brian Hoyer threw for 332 yards and two TDs and ran for another score for San Francisco.