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Former NFL linebacker Jovan Belcher had signs of CTE, says report

Posted at 11:24 PM, Sep 29, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-30 00:16:55-04

The life of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher ended tragically one December afternoon in the parking lot of his team's practice facility.

KSHB: "Whatever drove Jovan Belcher to kill the mother of his child drove him here in remorse. ... As police started to arrive, Belcher started walking away, fell to his knees, and ended his life."

Now, ESPN reports the young linebacker, like many NFL players before him, showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

ESPN's investigative reporting show "Outside The Lines" says the neuropathologist who examined Belcher's brain after his death found, "detected neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein, which is identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The tangles were distributed throughout Belcher's hippocampus, an area of the brain involved with memory, learning and emotion."

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