Yahoo Sports: That Aaron Hernandez Had CTE Deals Major Blow to NFL

Yesterday, it came to light that Aaron Hernandez had severe CTE—and that his family would be suing the NFL and New England Patriots.

All of that spells chaos for the NFL, as Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel argues. Especially, the CTE diagnosis, which was noted to be the severest case ever found in a football player as young as Hernandez (he was 27 and had played just three NFL seasons).

Wetzel calls it “a chilling moment for a sport that is trying everything to both make the game safer and convince young athletes, and their parents, that it is worth playing.” This was clearly a young, talented player, who may have been showing the side-effects of CTE as early as his freshman year of college when he assaulted a Gainesville, Florida, bar owner at the age of 17.

While Hernandez’s CTE diagnosis is not an entrée to (or excuse for) a life of ultraviolence, “in terms of public relations, this is a devastating case for the sport of football,” writes Wetzel. “Not merely the NFL, but already youth leagues and high schools dealing with decreased participation.”