Former Chicago teammate Dave Duerson holds up his drivers license that shows he is an organ donor at Chicago’s Soldier Field during a public memorial service for former Chicago Bears great Walter Payton, 06 November 1999. Payton, the NFL all-time leading rusher, died 01 November from liver disease. (Photo Credit: Getty Images, By Tannen Maury)
BOSTON (CBS) – Researchers from Boston University are set to announce autopsy results Monday morning for former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson, who committed suicide in February.
Duerson shot himself in the chest and died at his home in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. His family believes he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease, and he has donated his brain to Boston University for research.
The New York Times reports Monday morning that if the autopsy shows Duerson did suffer from the disease, it could shape future debate in the NFL about handling concussions.
While about two dozen retired NFL players have been found to suffer from CTE, Duerson is the only one to commit suicide, the New York Times reports.
The NFL has already changed its approach to concussions in the past few years, with new rules to limit their occurrence, and on how to handle when they do happen, the newspaper reported.
