The brain of former NFL football star and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez showed severe signs of the degenerative brain disease "chronic traumatic encephalopathy" (CTE) said his attorney Jose Baez on Thursday.
Aaron Hernandez had stage 3 CTE, per attorney Jose Baez. Brain was studied at Boston University. Family will sue NFL and Patriots.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) September 21, 2017
CTE is linked to the sort of repeated head traumas common in football has been proven to lead to aggression and dementia.
Reports claim Hernandez's daughter will sue the NFL and the New England Patriots for leading her father to believe the sport was safe.
Relatives of the 27-year-old former athlete had asked that his brain be tested for CTE after his body was found hanging in a Massachusetts prison where he was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of an acquaintance.
Researchers at Boston University, the leading center studying CTE, assessed Hernandez's brain, said attorney Jose Baez, who successfully defended the athlete in a double-murder case this year.
Boston University distributed graphic showing "early brain atrophy & large perforations" in Aaron Hernandez's brain: https://t.co/ld765QArhC pic.twitter.com/13STZ7PRh8
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) September 21, 2017
There are four stages of CTE, Stage 4 being the most severe.
— Nathan Fenno (@nathanfenno) September 21, 2017
Representatives of the NFL and the New England Patriots have yet to respond.
