Football Legend Joe Namath Might Donate His Brain For Research

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[news]

Football legend Joe Namath wants to help scientists better understand brain injuries and diseases long after he's gone. 

During a pre-Super Bowl 50 event last week, the 72-year-old Hall of Famer said it's possible he will donate his brain to research.

"Would I consider donating my brain for research?" Namath said. "Absolutely, of course I would, yes."  

"When it comes to head blows, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, we talk about it in football a lot," Namath said. "But I'm going to tell you something: There's children out there falling down on a daily basis. There are mothers, there's fathers, there's people in car accidents." 

A representative for Namath did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 







Namath for the past several years has been an advocate of neurological research focusing on traumatic brain injuries and diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE -- the latter of which has raised serious safety concerns and questions about football's future. 

Namath was knocked out cold five times in his 13-season career as a quarterback. Now, he openly fears that he -- like many of his NFL colleagues -- has suffered irreparable brain damage. 

Conditions like CTE, which are linked to repetitive hits to the head, can only be diagnosed after death. CTE manifests itself in different ways, including cognitive disorders like memory loss and mood disorders like depression and rage. As of 2015, the disease had been diagnosed in 87 out of 91 former NFL players who agreed to have their brains tested posthumously.

Speaking last year to ESPN The Magazine, "Broadway Joe" revealed he, too, had experienced memory issues and depression. Namath helped open a neurological research center in Florida a year prior, and says on its website that it was the 2012 death of ex-NFL linebacker Junior Seau that drew his attention to the neurological tolls football takes on its players. 

At 43, Seau was just one year retired from the league when he shot himself. Researchers diagnosed Seau with CTE after his family donated his brain to science. 

"We don't know enough about traumatic brain injuries at this time," Namath said Friday. "What we're trying to do is learn more about it and learn how to help people that have had traumatic brain injuries, not just football players."

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