NFL's Kneeland Diagnosed With CTE After Death

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was in the earliest stage of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, when he died by suicide last year, his family disclosed Tuesday. The diagnosis, confirmed by Boston University's CTE Center, found that the 24-year-old had stage one of the degenerative brain disease, which is linked to repeated head impacts and can be confirmed only after death, reports the Los Angeles Times. Kneeland had played tackle football since age 7.

On the night he died in November, Kneeland had been pursued by police in Frisco, Texas, over a traffic violation. He fled in his vehicle and then on foot, and was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, per the Athletic. His relatives, including girlfriend Catalina Mancera, said the findings "provide important context" about his death. "We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with," the family said.

BU researcher Dr. Ann McKee said that CTE has been detected in nearly half of the athletes studied who died before 30 and that growing knowledge of early-stage disease is moving the field closer to diagnosing it in the living. (Kneeland's son was born months after his death.)