Former NFL safety Sash diagnosed with CTE

Former NFL player Tyler Sash, who died this past September at the age of 27, had the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Sash’s brain was donated and examined by Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which reported the findings. CTE, thought to result from repeated blows to the head, has been discovered in many former football players, including Hall of Famers Junior Seau, who committed suicide in 2012, and Frank Gifford, who died past year at 84.

The New York Times relays these facts in a harrowing story about Sash’s life after being cut by the Giants, and the toll football took on it. Sash only played for the Giants for two seasons after a standout career at the University of Iowa, but overall he played football for 16 years.

Sash was a 2011 sixth-round draft pick of the Giants out of Iowa, where he grew up, and a member of the team that won Super Bowl XLVI.

Sash is now part of a growing list of former players who were posthumously diagnosed with CTE.

Pennington reports that Sash displayed troubling signs when he returned home to Iowa, including memory loss, confusion, and fits of temper.

The medical examiner has ruled Sash died from an accidental overdose of painkillers.

McKee told the Times that “very classic lesions of CTE” found on Sash’s brain help “explain his inattention, his short fuse and his lack of focus”.

“I want other parents to realize they need to have a conversation with their kids and not just think it’s a harmless game – because it’s not”, Barnetta Sash said.

Sash suffered three concussions prior to his stint with the Giants. In high-contact sports such as football, those types of traumas frequently go undiagnosed, the Times’ report said.

Barnetta Sash did not immediately return phone calls placed by the Register on Tuesday evening.