An Arizona study looking for players to submit to a study that will detect Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy in living patients has found nine, so far. They’re looking for 191 more.
Former Pro Bowl tight end Steve Jordan and eight others provided blood, saliva, and urine samples on Wednesday. They also competed a 140-question form.
“If we can detect CTE in living patients, that’s going to be a huge win,” Jordan said, via Kent Somers of azcentral.com.
The goal is to get 200 volunteers, none of whom will be paid for participating. The goal is to identify CTE biomarkers in bodily fluids, allowing the condition to be diagnosed without examining brain tissue.
Jordan, whose son, Cameron, plays for the Steelers, hopes that increased information will help the game become safer.
“You go to these meetings with former players, and the hope is we’ll be able to do something that will make it better for future players and our own kids,” Jordan said. “Most of us who are former players, we have kids who play or have played youth sports.”
The league surely fears that the ability to identify CTE in living players will be the tipping point that causes NFL, college, and high school players to abandon the sport. Which likely helps explain this week’s stunning decision to ban from the game the lowering of the helmet to initiate contact in any and all circumstances.