FORMER PATRIOTS TIGHT END AARON
HERNANDEZ'S LAWYER SAYS HIS BRAIN SHOWED SIGNS OF SEVERE
CASE OF CTE.
SO THIS INVOLVES AARON HERNANDEZ WHO YOU MAY OR
MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN THAT HE WAS A TIGHT END FOR THE PATRIOTS AND
HE WAS CONVICTED OF A MURDER IN 2013 AND SENTENCED TO LIFE IN
PRISON.
HE WAS FOUND HANGED IN HIS JAIL CELL.
ACCORDING TO
STUDIES THAT HAVE BEEN DONE, CTE, OR CHRONIC TRAUMATIC
ENCEPHALOPATHY HAS BEEN LINKED TO REPEATED CONCUSSIONS.
INVOLVES BRAIN DAMAGE, PARTICULARLY IN THE FRONTAL
REGION THAT CONTROLS MANY FUNCTIONS INCLUDING JUDGMENT,
EMOTION, IMPULSE CONTROL, SOCIAL BEHAVIOR, AND MEMORY.
IT LEADS
TO SYMPTOMS LIKE VIOLENT MOOD SWINGS, DEPRESSION, AND OTHER
COGNITIVE DIFFICULTIES.
THEY ALSO PRESENTED THE ACTUAL BRAIN
SCANS WHICH WE CAN LOOK AT SO THE DARKENED AREAS, LARGELY
ATTRIBUTED TO SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS AND A PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF
THE CTE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE BRINGING INTO THE DISCUSSION
WHETHER THIS LED TO SOME OF THE BEHAVIOR SURROUNDING THE MURDERS
BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN LINKED AS IT HAS BEEN SAID, TO MOOD SWINGS
AND ALSO, OTHER PARTS OF THE DISCUSSION ARE THE FACT THAT HE
HAS A HISTORY OF BEING AFFILIATED WITH CERTAIN GROUPS
THAT PARTICIPATED IN VIOLENCE, SO YEAH.
THE QUESTION IS, IS
CTE BEHIND THIS?
YEAH.
SO A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE.
IT MIGHT BE RELATED TO
THE MURDERS.
IT OBVIOUSLY COULD BE RELATED TO THE SUICIDE WHICH
IS WHAT IT OFTEN LEADS TO.
HIS FIANC…E THINKS IT WAS NOT A
SUICIDE AND I WAS A LITTLE SKEPTICAL IN THE BEGINNING
BECAUSE OF THE TIMING.
HE GOT CONVICTED FOR THE 2013 MURDER.
HE WAS UP ON TWO DIFFERENT MURDER CHARGES, BUT HE WAS STILL
APPEALING THAT AND IT WAS JUST RIGHT AFTER HE WAS ACQUITTED FOR
THE SECOND SET OF MURDERS, ACTUALLY THE EARLIER MURDERS, IN
2012, A DRIVE-BY SHOOTING OF TWO MEN IN BOSTON.
HE GOT ACQUITTED
FOR THAT AND THEN THEY FIND HIM HANGING IN HIS CELL AND IN AN
APPARENT SUICIDE.
I WAS LIKE, WHY WOULD HE KILL HIMSELF RIGHT
AFTER HE WAS ACQUITTED AND HE STILL HAS AN APPEAL ON THE OTHER
CHARGES, AND THIS GUY HAD A CONTRACT FOR $40 MILLION SO THAT
WOULD GIVE A NORMAL PERSON HOPE THAT YOU COULD TURN YOUR LIFE
AROUND.
UNLIKELY HE WOULD MAKE IT BACK INTO FOOTBALL, AND
HE HAD ALREADY MADE A LOT OF MONEY BEFORE.
IT JUST SEEMED
WEIRD THAT HE COMMITTED SUICIDE, BUT IT MIGHT NOT BE WEIRD IF YOU
HAVE CTE WHICH VERY OFTEN LEADS TO SUICIDE.
SO WHAT I FOUND REALLY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS, AND I
DIDN'T KNOW IN OUR PRIOR REPORTING ON CTE.
A PERSON AT
LEAST WITH THE MEDICAL PROCEDURES THAT WE HAVE NOW, AND
THE MEDICAL TESTING WE HAVE NOW, A PERSON THAT SUFFERING FROM CTE
CAN'T GET DIAGNOSED UNTIL AFTER THEY'VE ALREADY DIED.
YOU CAN
ALSO DIAGNOSE A PERSON THROUGH AN AUTOPSY AND SO WHAT I'M
CURIOUS ABOUT IS, IN TERMS OF THE PROSECUTION OF ANY
INDIVIDUAL, WHEN IT COMES TO A TRIAL, USUALLY IF THERE ARE
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THAT COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THAT ALLEGED
CRIME, THOSE ISSUES COME UP AS PART OF THE DEFENSE WHETHER IT'S
INSANITY OR WHATEVER AND SO I'M WONDERING, THIS IS A REAL
PROBLEM AND IT'S AFFECTING ALL SORTS OF ATHLETES, ESPECIALLY
FOOTBALL PLAYERS, PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN MARTIAL ARTS.
WRESTLERS TOO.
OF THIS KIND OF STUFF COMES UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN, ARE THEY
GOING TO COME UP WITH BETTER TESTING METHODS TO SEE IF
PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING FROM THIS CONDITION?
IF THEY'RE BEING PROSECUTED.
THERE ARE ATTEMPTS TO FIND NEW WAYS TO DIAGNOSE IT.
DOCTOR
SAM GANDY AT MOUNT SINAI IN NEW YORK IS TRYING TO DEVELOP A NEW,
HE'S MORE OF A ALZHEIMER'S EXPERT AND IS TRYING TO FIND NEW
WAYS TO DIAGNOSE IT WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALIVE.
I'D IMAGINE
THAT IN SOME SORT OF PROSECUTORIAL CASE, SINCE THERE
IS SUCH A PREVALENCE OF IT FOR THOSE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE NFL
STUDY, THEY STUDIED 111 BRAINS OF FORMER NFL PLAYERS AND OF
THOSE 111, 110 SHOWED SIGNS OF CTE.
THE BRAINS OF DECEASED FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
THAT'S OBVIOUSLY OVER 99% OF NFL PLAYERS, BUT THEY ALSO
STUDIED COLLEGE FOR BALLPLAYERS IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS, SHOCKINGLY HIGH.
ABOUT 75% OF
THEIR BRAINS HAD CTE.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS, 25%.
AS A FORMER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER, THAT SCARES THE HELL OUT
OF ME.
AND BY THE WAY, OF COURSE, REMEMBER THAT THE STUDY
IS A PEOPLE WHOSE FAMILIES GAVE THEIR BRAINS INTO STUDY SO IT'S
NOT PERFECTLY.
IT'S NOT A REPRESENTATIVE OR RANDOM SAMPLE, BUT STILL.
THE
NUMBERS ARE SO STARK THAT IT IS AS YOU CAN ISSUE.
MY GUESS IS
THAT ANNA IS RIGHT.
DEFENSE LAWYERS WILL START BRINGING THIS
UP.
NO, IT'S OKAY.
THE CTE MADE HIM DO IT.
IT'S NOT GOING TO BE
A GREAT DEFENSE, NOR SHOULD IT BE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT
ANSWER IS.
I LOVE FOOTBALL.
I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE LOVE
WATCHING MIX MARTIAL ART STYLE AND WATCHING WRESTLING WHEN I
WAS A KID, AND THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT PLAY AND IT DEPENDS
ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS SO YOU CAN'T, YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF THE
GUY WHO DID SOMETHING VIOLENT ACTUALLY HAS CTE OR DOZENS, BUT
THEY ALSO DO A LOT OF STEROIDS IN ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS, SO
THERE'S BEEN A NUMBER OF CASES OF EX-WRESTLERS AND MMA GUYS AND
FOR BALLPLAYERS ABUSING THEIR LOVED ONES, SOMETIMES KILLING
THEM, ETC.
AND YOU'VE GOT A COMBINATION OF PENT-UP
AGGRESSION AND BY THE WAY, YOU MAKE A LIVING BY ACTING OUT
VIOLENTLY.
IT'S BETTER THAT IT'S IN A CONTROLLED AREA LIKE
THE NFL, AND THEN YOU GOT ROIDS AND THEN YOU GOT CTE.
THAT'S A
BAD COMBO.
I NEVER BOUGHT THE, THEY WORK IN A VIOLENT INDUSTRY AND THEY
BRING THAT HOME.
IT'S JUST SO STRANGE TO ME BECAUSE IT'S NOT
LIKE VIOLENT TRAUMA, LIKE PEOPLE WHO GO TO WARFARE AND COME BACK
WITH, PTSD AND ON THE OTHER HAND, ANOTHER SITUATIONS
LIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE SURGEONS DON'T COME HOME AND PERFORM
SURGERY ON THEIR FAMILY, YOU KNOW?
. AND POINTING BOTH DIRECTIONS.
I CAME OUT WEIRD.
WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, SOME PEOPLE CLAIM, HEY, PORN MAKES
SEXUAL ASSAULT MORE LIKELY BECAUSE THEY GET, THEY SEE SOME
VERSION OF THAT OR WHATEVER, AND THE OTHER SIDE, IN THAT CASE,
THEY'VE DONE A LOT OF STUDIES ON IT.
ANOTHER'S ONE WHICH IS NO
ACTUALLY, ONCE THEY'VE ORGASM, THEY DON'T CARE AT ALL.
ACTUALLY MAKES THEM LESS LIKELY TO COMMIT SEXUAL ASSAULT, BUT IN
THIS CASE, PART OF THE REASON I PLAYED FOOTBALL, BECAUSE I WAS A
REALLY AGGRESSIVE DUDE AND IT ALLOWED ME TO TAKE OUT MY
AGGRESSION IN THAT CONTEXT WHICH IS A GOOD CONTEXT AND WAS
REWARDED ETC.
INSTEAD OF TAKING OUT IN THE WRONG CONTEXT.
THERE
IS A CASE TO BE MADE THAT IF YOU DO A RIGHT IT WILL LEAD TO LESS
VIOLENCE SO I HEAR YOU ON THAT BUT WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF
VIOLENCE SURROUNDING THESE AREASÖ TO STUDY A LOT MORE TO
SEE IF IT IS ACTUALLY CONNECTED TO CTE BUT AARON HERNANDEZ'S
CASE IS ACTUALLY TRAGIC FROM THE PEOPLE WHO DIED EARLIER AND NOW
FERNANDEZ HIMSELF DONE HIS CASE, WE DO KNOW.
WHETHER IT LED TO
HIS CRIMES OR SUICIDE, HE HAD A PRETTY BAD CASE OF CTE AND
SOMETIMES IT DOES LEAD TO THOSE THINGS.