A long-awaited CTE test may finally be getting closer, and for former Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, that possibility hits close to home.
Johnson, 46, said nearly a decade ago that he believes he has CTE, the brain disease tied to repeated head impacts. Right now, there is still no definitive way to tell whether someone has it. The Mayo Clinic says CTE causes the death of nerve cells in the brain.
Researchers at Mass General Brigham have found that at least 25% of football players who appeared in at least one NFL game and died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE. The issue has also touched the Chiefs family this summer, with the family of former Kansas City offensive lineman Jordan Devey, who died by suicide at 38, believing he had the disease.
Michael Alosco, a neuropsychologist at Boston University, told ESPN’s Stephen Holder that scientists are “close” to developing a test. Holder reported that more than 300 former players, along with Alzheimer’s patients who did not play football, have been followed since the study’s first phase began in 2015, and researchers are now searching for patterns in the testing.
“Clarity from such a test might inform how doctors treat current or former players experiencing symptoms associated with CTE.”
For Johnson, the concern has never been abstract. He spent seven seasons with the Chiefs from 2003-09 and was used like a battering ram, especially in 2005 and 2006.
Over those two years, he carried the ball 752 times and caught 74 passes, totaling 826 touches. In 2005 alone, he handled the ball 457 times, which ranks second-most in NFL history.
“My short-term memory was so bad, I could literally go into a store and 30 minutes later come out and not know where my car is parked,” Johnson told ESPN. “Or, I’m driving and I just get blanked and I don’t even know where I’m going or know where I’m at.”
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